Home Health Aides

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$35,800

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$31,920 – $39,470

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

4,305,810

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+18.1%

Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)

Openings a year (projected)

760,500

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

BLS publishes one wage and employment figure for home health and personal care aides combined (code 31-1120). The pay and employment figures above are for that whole group, not for home health aides alone. So is the projection.

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Monitor the health status of an individual with disabilities or illness, and address their health-related needs, such as changing bandages, dressing wounds, or administering medication. Work is performed under the direction of offsite or intermittent onsite licensed nursing staff. Provide assistance with routine healthcare tasks or activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, toileting, or ambulation. May also help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry depending on the patient's abilities.

Main tasks

• Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
• Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
• Bathe patients.
• Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
• Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
• Check patients' pulse, temperature, and respiration.
• Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.
• Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction in areas such as caring for infants, preparing healthy meals, living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: short-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Nursing Assistants

  $42,260 median · +2.6% projected

• Personal Care Aides

  $35,800 median · +18.1% projected

• Paramedics

  $60,600 median · +5.7% projected

• Psychiatric Technicians

  $45,130 median · +22.3% projected

• Occupational Therapy Aides

  $39,160 median · +3.6% projected

• Psychiatric Aides

  $44,910 median · +1.9% projected