What Nursing Assistants earn in Hillsborough County, FL
The median pay for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL is $37,470 per year, which works out to $18.01 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area, the labor market that Hillsborough County, FL belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $38,950, which is 3.9% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 15,120 people working in this occupation across the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Hillsborough County, FL has roughly 1,522,748 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Nursing Assistants in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $35,000 a year ($16.83 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $45,970 or more ($22.10 an hour). That is a gap of $10,970 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $36,540 at the 25th percentile and $39,410 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL is $18.01. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $37,470, and the same salary is $3,123 a month before taxes or about $1,441 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.50 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Hillsborough County, FL compares
Compared with the Florida average
Pay for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL is in line with the statewide figure: $37,470 locally against an employment-weighted Florida average of $37,589, a difference of only $119 (0.3%). Within Florida, the highest median we track for this job is $38,010 in Miami-Dade County, FL.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Nursing Assistants is $41,828 across the contiguous United States. At $37,470, Hillsborough County, FL pays $4,358 less, which is 10.4% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Hillsborough County, FL
Among the 544 occupations with published wages in Hillsborough County, FL, Nursing Assistants ranks number 467 by median pay, ahead of about 14% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $130,450 a year, which is $92,980 more than the median for Nursing Assistants.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $37,470 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $5,234 a year, which leaves $32,236, or $2,686 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $14 goes to taxes and $86 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,720. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,368, an effective 6.3% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,323 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $543. FICA totals $2,866, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Florida
There is no state income tax on wages in Florida, which means Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL keep the full $32,236 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $1,874 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $156 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Hillsborough County, FL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Hillsborough County, FL show an average adjusted gross income of $91,587 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 15.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 6.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Hillsborough County, FL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Hillsborough County, FL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,236 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hillsborough County, FL is $1,648 a month, or $19,776 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,917 a month. For Nursing Assistants, a one-bedroom absorbs 61.4% of take-home pay and 52.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.2% of gross pay for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Florida residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,494 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $1,005, for $2,498 in total. Gasoline in Florida averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,427.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $27,138 a year, 84% of take-home pay. That leaves $5,098 a year, or $425 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 13.6% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Can Nursing Assistants afford to live in Hillsborough County, FL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $37,470 that ceiling is $937 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,648 is $711 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.69 an hour; the median for Nursing Assistants is $18.01, which is 43% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.50 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 24.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,917 a month means $959 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,274 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $13,372.
How fast you can save
At $425 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 24 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 48 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Nursing Assistants pay in Hillsborough County, FL
What is the hourly wage for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL?
The median is $18.01 per hour, based on $37,470 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.83 at the 10th percentile to $22.10 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $37,470 becomes $32,236 a year. That is $2,686 a month, $1,240 every two weeks or $620 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL?
Total taxes are $5,234 a year, an effective rate of 14.0%: $2,368 federal income tax, $2,866 FICA and no Florida income tax.
Is pay for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL above the Florida average?
It is about the same. The local median of $37,470 is within 0.3% of the Florida average of $37,589.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Nursing Assistants salary in Hillsborough County, FL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,648 a month against take-home pay of $2,686, which is 61.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $937 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Nursing Assistants in Hillsborough County, FL?
About $425 a month ($5,098 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $27,138 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Hillsborough County, FL at the 30% guideline?
$31.69 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,776 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Nursing Assistants is $18.01.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Florida rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.