Broad Category Salary

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide salary data for nursing home activity directors in particular, but for nursing home recreation workers who organize and promote activities such as crafts, games, music and social events. Their average salary as of May 2010 was $12.12 per hour, or $25,220 per year. The median salary, or the number in the precise middle of all the salary figures for nursing home recreation workers, was $10.70 per hour, or $22,260 per year.
  
  

Salary Range

• The median annual salary for a nursing home activity director as of May 2011 was $34,912, according to Salary.com. That translates to about $16.80 per hour. The middle 50 percent of nursing home activity directors were earning $30,834 to $39,909 per year. The bottom 10 percent had salaries at or below $27,121 per year, and the top 10 percent were earning $44,459 per year and higher.
  
  

Geography

• Salaries for nursing home activity directors vary somewhat with geography, but not to an extreme degree, according to Salary.com. The median annual pay rate as of May 2011 for these workers in Birmingham, Alabama, for example, was $32,607, while it was $37,181 in Modesto, California. The median annual salary for nursing home activity directors was $33,864 in Green Bay, Wisconsin; $34,585 in Dover, Delaware; $34,597 in Phoenix, Arizona; $35,051 in Cleveland, Ohio; and $38,403 in Seattle, Washington. The top 10 percent of nursing home activity directors in Seattle were making more than $48,900 per year.
  
  

Outlook

• While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates good job opportunities for recreational workers in general, the agency sees keen competition for career positions in contrast to the more typical part-time jobs. Candidates with graduate degrees should have the best prospects for upper-level positions and higher pay.