Salary expectations: how do you answer? after 9 years as a nurse's aide

I have been out of work for 25 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. There are 9 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I looked up ranges in Albuquerque and they vary a lot. How do you research fairly?

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It made the follow-up calls so much easier.