Steering the ship at a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) became more lucrative in the last year. The average salary for a CCRC/life plan community Executive Director hit $161,025 in 2017—and increase of 4.15% from 2016.

That’s according to the latest edition of the Continuing Care Retirement Community Salary & Benefits Report, an annual publication from the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service, endorsed by provider association LeadingAge. This year’s report includes data from 532 CCRCs/life plan communities, with about 18% being for-profit and the remainder being nonprofit.

The 4.15% increase in executive director pay reflects data from CCRCs that participated this year and last year. That spike is substantially higher than the 2.97% increase recorded between 2015 and 2016, and is the greatest increase this year among all salaried positions tracked in the report.

These are the five CCRC job titles with the largest increases in salary between 2016 and 2017:

Among hourly positions, non-certified nurse aides registered the largest wage increase in the last year, going up 3.55% from $10.99 an hour on average to $11.38.

For all CCRC management positions nationally, base pay increased 2.70% between April 2016 and March 2017, the report shows. Base pay for non-management positions—excluding clinical roles such as RNs, LPNs, and CNAs—increased 2.64% in that time period.

Larger increases are planned this year, with survey respondents forecasting a 2.74% increase in pay for management positions and a 2.69% bump for non-management roles.

Senior living providers across the country have been contending with tighter labor markets, as the unemployment rate has fallen across the board. New competition in the senior housing sector also is vying for qualified workers.

Despite labor challenges, the improving economy—including a housing market that has resulted in seniors’ home equity reaching high levels—has CCRC owners and operators feeling bullish about their pricing power.

There are regional wage variations, of course, and the report breaks these out as well. For instance executive directors in Pennsylvania—a hotbed of CCRCs—recorded an average salary of $164,707, a bit higher than the national average. There were 45 CCRCs from the Keystone State participating in this year’s survey, more than from any other state.

Written by Tim Mullaney

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