Healthcare Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 31-1120

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Projected +17% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Occupational Therapy Assistants, Physical Therapist Aides, Massage Therapists, Medical Equipment Preparers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Home Health and Personal Care Aides: Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72K) , Physical Therapist Aides ($35K) , Massage Therapists ($58K) , Medical Equipment Preparers ($48K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

Highest-pay states for Home Health and Personal Care Aides

State names lead when O*NET tasks are absent for this SOC, geography mass differs by occupation even when peer titles overlap.

  1. 1. Rhode Island $43,680
  2. 2. District of Columbia $42,700
  3. 3. Connecticut $38,990
  4. 4. Oregon $44,410
  5. 5. Massachusetts $40,910
  6. 6. Vermont $41,600
  7. 7. Alaska $39,740
  8. 8. North Dakota $39,440
  9. 9. Washington $47,730
  10. 10. New York $39,620

Growing-context peers for Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Same BLS major group, ordered by national median.

  1. 1. Physical Therapist Aides $35,240
  2. 2. Massage Therapists $58,450
  3. 3. Occupational Therapy Assistants $72,300
  4. 4. Medical Equipment Preparers $47,700
  5. 5. Medical Assistants $45,690
  6. 6. Medical Transcriptionists $40,410
  7. 7. Nursing Assistants $42,260
  8. 8. Orderlies $38,290
  9. 9. Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers $38,150
  10. 10. Dental Assistants $48,070
  11. 11. Phlebotomists $45,230
  12. 12. Physical Therapist Assistants $68,380
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +17%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $35,800/yr
$36K
National median
765,800
Annual openings
4,305,810
Estimated US jobs
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $72K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Peer ladder above lists 12 other Healthcare Support Occupations titles , led here by Occupational Therapy Assistants.

BLS projects +17% employment change for Home Health and Personal Care Aides (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $35,800.

BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Rhode Island at $43,680. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Occupational Therapy Assistants at $72,300. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Home Health and Personal Care Aides pay-rank #16 in Healthcare Support Occupations

On the Healthcare Support Occupations median table (17 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Home Health and Personal Care Aides lands at #16, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 31-1120 · national median $35,800 · lower third of Healthcare Support Occupations (#16/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Home Health and Personal Care Aides salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 31-1120

Rhode Island · top state for Home Health and Personal Care Aides

$44K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$43K · behind Rhode Island

Occupational Therapy Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Home Health and Personal Care Aides · $72K

Physical Therapist Aides

Lower-pay peer beside Home Health and Personal Care Aides · $35K

Compare Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Home Health and Personal Care Aides with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Home Health and Personal Care Aides land on the Healthcare Support Occupations median table? ▼
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is pay-rank #16 of 17 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Physical Therapist Aides ($35K), Pharmacy Aides ($38K), Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers ($38K), Orderlies ($38K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What is the OEWS national median for Home Health and Personal Care Aides? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $35,800 as the national median for Home Health and Personal Care Aides. The published 10th-90th range is $27,040 to $45,040. Beside Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72,300), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Home Health and Personal Care Aides projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Home Health and Personal Care Aides at +17% change for 2024-2034, with about 765,800 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Home Health and Personal Care Aides? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Home Health and Personal Care Aides. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Home Health and Personal Care Aides? ▼
Rhode Island ($43,680), District of Columbia ($42,700), Connecticut ($38,990) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Home Health and Personal Care Aides card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 31-1120. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Home Health and Personal Care Aides. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics