How to become a CNA
A state-approved program of at least 75 hours, a competency exam, then your state nurse aide registry. The community college courses run 5 to 15 weeks.
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A nursing assistant checks a resident's blood pressure at the bedside in a long-term care facility.
What a CNA does
A CNA, or certified nursing assistant, gives hands-on daily care to patients and residents under a nurse's supervision: bathing, dressing, toileting, moving people between bed and wheelchair, taking vital signs, serving meals, and reporting changes to the nurse. Job postings use nursing assistant, nurse aide, and CNA for the same work. The official title is set by each state (BLS).
Nursing assistants held about 1.4 million US jobs in 2024, with 35% in nursing care facilities, 33% in hospitals, and 11% in continuing care retirement communities and assisted living (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024 data). BLS describes nursing assistants as often the principal caregivers in nursing and residential care facilities, where some patients stay for months or years.
How long it takes to become a CNA
Nurse aide programs at the community colleges below run 5 to 15 weeks, and the competency exam and registry listing come after. How many hours you owe depends on your state, and the spread is wide.
| Federal floor | 75 clock hours. At least 16 must be supervised practical training, and 16 hours on communication, infection control, safety, resident independence, and residents' rights must come before any direct contact with a resident (42 CFR 483.152). |
|---|---|
| Texas | 100 hours: 60 classroom and 40 clinical (26 Tex. Admin. Code 556.3, 2026). |
| New York | At least 100 hours, including at least 30 hours of supervised practical experience in a nursing home (10 NYCRR 415.26, 2026). |
| California | 160 hours: 60 classroom theory and 100 supervised clinical (California Department of Public Health, 2026). |
| Missouri | 175 hours: 75 instructional and 100 supervised on-the-job (19 CSR 30-84.010, 2026). |
| Calendar time | 5 to 6 weeks at Aims Community College in Colorado, 8 weeks at Austin Community College, 7.5 or 15 weeks at the Community College of Denver depending on how many days a week you attend (program pages, 2026). |
Texas, New York, California, and Missouri are examples. Look up your own state's number on its registry or health department site before you pay for a program, because a 75-hour course won't certify you in California.
The training program you need
You need a state-approved nurse aide training program with classroom instruction and supervised clinical hours. No college degree is required. BLS lists where the programs run: high schools, community colleges, vocational and technical schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.
Ask the nursing homes and hospitals near you whether they train, because facility-run training can be free. If a facility employs you, or has made you a job offer, on the day your training starts, federal law forbids charging you for any part of the program, textbooks included. Pay your own way and then get hired or receive an offer within 12 months of finishing, and your state has to reimburse you pro rata over the time you work as a nurse aide.
At a college you pay for it yourself. Aims Community College charges $550 in-district tuition for its 5-to-6-week certificate before fees and health paperwork, Austin Community College lists $1,108 in tuition for 126 course hours before additional fees, and the Community College of Denver puts the all-in figure at about $1,532 for Colorado residents once the background check, immunizations, BLS card, scrubs, equipment, books, and exams are counted (program pages, 2026).
Whether classroom hours can be taught online is a state decision. Texas lets its 60 classroom hours be taught in person, virtually, or through the state's own computer-based training, and the 40 clinical hours happen at a facility.
Entry rules come from your state and your school. Illinois requires you to be at least 16 and to have finished 8 years of grade school or shown equivalent knowledge before you work as an aide in long-term care. Aims sets its minimum age at 16 and runs a background and drug check, and Community College of Denver applicants pay for a background check, a drug screen, and immunizations on top of tuition.
If you're still deciding which entry-level healthcare job to train for, our guide to healthcare jobs with no experience compares CNA against the other roles that hire without a degree.
Getting certified and listed on the registry
You become a CNA by passing your state's competency evaluation and getting your name on the state nurse aide registry.
BLS notes you have to be on the registry to work in a nursing home. What the exam covers, what it costs, how renewal works, what happens after 24 months without nursing work, and how a certification moves between states are all in our CNA certification guide.
Step by step
- Look up your state's required training hours first. The table above shows how far above the federal floor a state can sit.
- Call the nursing homes and hospitals near you and ask whether they run their own program. If one hires you or offers you a job before training starts, the program can't charge you.
- Check the entry requirements before you enroll: minimum age, background check, drug screen, immunizations, and any grade-school or English requirement your state or school sets.
- Finish the classroom hours and the supervised clinical hours. Attending more days a week shortens the calendar.
- Pass your state's competency evaluation.
- Get your entry on the state nurse aide registry. Until it's there, you can't work in a nursing home.
- Apply. Nursing care facilities and hospitals are the two largest employers of nursing assistants (BLS, 2024).
What CNAs earn
The median wage for nursing assistants was $39,530 a year in May 2024, with the lowest 10% under $31,390 and the highest 10% over $50,140 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). A Lifepoint Health opening in our current listings pays $16.19 to $19.99 an hour (MedJobList, July 2026).
Pay differs by several thousand dollars a year depending on the industry. In May 2024 the median was $40,170 in hospitals, $39,170 in skilled nursing facilities, $38,500 in continuing care and assisted living, and $36,910 in home healthcare services. The highest of the five industries BLS lists was government outside state and local education and hospitals, at $45,760.
Where the job leads next
One route is a change of setting, since hospital and government employers pay above nursing homes for the same work. Hospitals also post bedside jobs as patient care technician, a title that adds phlebotomy and EKG to CNA-level care (see our PCT certification guide).
The second route is nursing school. CNA work pays while you apply, and it puts you at the bedside before you commit to an LPN or RN program. Our LPN license guide covers what that takes.
Where CNAs are hiring now
Right now 313 active US openings match our certified nursing assistant filter. They come from hospital systems and long-term care operators across the country, including Adventist Health, HealthPartners, UW Health, Lifepoint Health, and FMOL Health System.
The titles include Certified Nursing Assistant, Certified Nurse Aide, and plain Nursing Assistant, plus float pool positions that rotate you between units. Both part-time and full-time listings are posted, and about half the titles name a shift. You can see the current set on our CNA jobs page.
FAQ
The training programs at Aims Community College in Colorado run 5 to 6 weeks, Austin Community College runs 8 weeks, and the Community College of Denver runs 7.5 or 15 weeks depending on how often you attend (program pages, 2026). The competency exam and your registry listing come after the program, so budget a few more weeks before your first shift.
At least 75 clock hours under federal law, including 16 hours of supervised practical training (42 CFR 483.152). States set their own number, and all four we checked go above that floor: Texas requires 100 hours, New York at least 100, California 160, and Missouri 175. Check your own state before you pay for a course.
Part of it. Texas allows its classroom hours to be taught in person, virtually, or through the state's computer-based training, and the clinical hours happen at a facility. Federal rules put at least 16 hours of supervised practical training in any approved program, so no program is fully online.
No. You need a state-approved training program and a passing score on your state's competency evaluation. Entry rules come from the state and the school: Illinois requires you to be at least 16 and to have completed 8 years of grade school, or shown equivalent knowledge, to work as an aide in long-term care. Aims Community College and the Community College of Denver both require a background check and a drug screen, and the Denver program also requires immunizations.
Training can be free. Federal law forbids charging a nurse aide who is employed by a facility, or holds an offer from one, when training begins, and your state must reimburse you pro rata if you pay your own way and are then employed or offered a job within 12 months of completing the program. At a college, Aims charges $550 in-district and Austin Community College $1,108 in list tuition (2026).
The median was $39,530 a year in May 2024, with the lowest 10% under $31,390 and the highest 10% over $50,140 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Setting matters: the median was $40,170 in hospitals and $39,170 in skilled nursing facilities.