Assisted living administrators see slight dip in pay

Assisted living administrators, on average, saw a base pay decrease of 0.07% in 2018, according the 21st annual “Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report,” just published by the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service.

Average pay for the assisted living administrator position was $89,913 in 2018 compared with $89,978 in 2017, according to national trend data reflecting organizations that participated in the survey in both 2017 and 2018.

Assisted living administrators at assisted living communities earned more than their peers at nursing homes but less than their peers at CCRCs, who made $72,000 and $57,346, respectively.

Regionally, assisted living administrator average pay ranged from $67,024 in Arizona / Colorado / Idaho / Montana / Nevada / New Mexico / Utah / Wyoming to $91,284 in Connecticut / Maine / Massachusetts / New Hampshire / Rhode Island / Vermont.

In individual states, 25 of which have data in the report, average assisted living administrator pay ranged from $63,005 in Georgia to $97,557 in Connecticut.

Generally speaking, assisted living administrators earned more at communities that had 90 or more beds compared with those at communities of 89 or fewer beds. Average pay was higher at not-for-profit organizations compared with for-profit ones.

The report includes responses from more than 1,200 assisted living communities, according to Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, which cooperated in the production of the report. The National Center for Assisted Living also supported the research, for which 90.53% of participants worked for for-profit organizations and 9.47% worked for not-for-profits. They provided compensation data related to 20 management and 29 nonmanagement positions nationwide. Data are reported according to for-profit and not-for-profit status, revenue size, unit size, state, county and geographic region. Also covered are 18 fringe benefits, turnover rates by department and projected salary increases for 2019. Data are effective as of October.

The report may be purchased for $350, $275 for members of LeadingAge or NCAL or $195 for communities that participated in the survey.

The 2019 “Behavioral Health Salary & Benefits” study is now underway, with a deadline of March 11 and publication planned for May. Questionnaires are available online. Those with questions may contact Rosanne Zabka at [email protected] or (201) 405-0075, ext. 11.