Personal care aide jobs: duties, training and pay

A personal care aide helps someone with daily living and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is generally limited to nonmedical services. Training rules for the job vary by state and by employer.

What a personal care aide does

BLS describes the work as helping people with disabilities or chronic illnesses with daily living activities, and as generally limited to nonmedical services such as companionship, cleaning, cooking and driving. The 2018 Standard Occupational Classification definition, as quoted in an HHS report, adds that personal care aides provide personalized assistance with personal care and daily living, such as feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and ambulation, and may help with preparing meals, light housekeeping and laundry. Their work can happen at the person's home, workplace, out in the community or at a daytime nonresidential facility.

Where personal care aides work

BLS lists clients' homes, group homes and day services programs. Many aides work in clients' homes.

Medicaid pays for personal care in some cases. Medicare.gov says Medicaid covers benefits Medicare does not, including nursing home care and personal care services, and federal rules in 42 CFR 440.180 list personal care services among the services a state can provide under a home and community-based services waiver. What a state provides, and who can be paid to provide it, depends on the state.

Training and certification

BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry education, with short-term on-the-job training. Some positions do not require a formal credential. Some employers also ask for first aid and CPR.

The federal 75-hour training minimum applies to home health aides at Medicare-certified agencies and to nursing assistants in nursing homes. See the home health aide and CNA pages. For home health and personal care aides together, BLS says those working in certified home health or hospice agencies must complete formal training and pass a standardized test.

States add their own rules. BLS says some states require a license or certification that may include training, a background check and a competency exam. Carevo does not guess at them. Ask your state board of health and each employer what applies.

Personal care aide pay

BLS reports a national median wage of $17.21 an hour, or $35,800 a year, for home health and personal care aides (SOC 31-1120), May 2025 reference period. BLS publishes the two occupations as one group, so there is no separate personal care aide figure in the data we used.

These are wages paid to workers, not prices charged by agencies, and they are national. Wages in your state and setting can be higher or lower.

How to find personal care aide jobs

Agencies employ many personal care aides. Browse home care agencies and home health agencies in your state and ask whether they are hiring. Some people are paid by a state program to care for a family member. See paid family caregiver programs.

For the wider picture across roles, see caregiver jobs.

Carevo is a connection platform. It is not an employer and it does not place workers.

Caregiver registration is coming to Carevo

Carevo is a connection platform. It is not an employer, it does not place workers and it does not guarantee work. Registration for caregivers is not open yet. If you want to hear when it is, email [email protected].