- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the national average annual salary for psychiatric attendants and aides was $27,430 in 2009. This equates to an hourly wage of $13.19. Ten percent were paid less than $16,910 a year, and 25 percent received less than $20,020. The median annual salary was $25,650. The top 10 percent earned $41,540 a year or more.
- Psychiatric attendants and aides received the largest salaries in general medical and surgical hospitals, where they were paid $29,020 a year on average. This was followed by psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, nursing care facilities, the offices of physicians and the offices of other health practioners, the last of which offered an annual average income of $28,300. The sector that employed the most psychiatric attendants was psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, which paid an average of $28,730 a year.
- The BLS states that psychiatric assistants were paid the most in Massachusetts in 2009, at an average of $40,190 a year. Alaska and the District of Columbia followed, with $39,930 and $37,940 a year. Michigan was fourth, at $36,620 annually, followed by New York, at $35,700 a year on average. On a city level, psychiatric assistants were paid the most in the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown area in New York State, followed by Anchorage, Alaska, at $40,670 and $39,590 respectively.
- Although a high school diploma is the minimum formal qualification needed, courses in psychiatric aide training are required. Failing this, career entrants may take up additional training in community colleges or vocational schools. A formal training program is legally required in some states. For attendants working in nursing care facilities, the Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) program must be completed.
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