State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.
Home Health Aide Salary (2026): Data, Outlook & How to Become One
Home Health Aides earn a median of $35,800 per year ($17.21/hr) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Employment is projected to grow 17.0% through 2034, with about 765,800 openings a year (BLS EP, 2024–2034). Typical entry-level education: High school diploma or equivalent.
SOC 31-1121Healthcare SupportLast updated August 15, 2026
- Median pay
- $35,800
- Projected growth
- +17.0%
- Openings a year
- 765,800
- Typical education
- High school
BLS OEWS, May 2025
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
Also advertised as: Caregiver, Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA), Certified Medical Aide (CMA), Certified Nurses Aide (CNA), Home Attendant, Home Care Aide.
How much do Home Health Aides make?
10th percentile$27,040
Entry / lowest-paid tenth
25th percentile$31,920
Lower quartile
Median (50th)$35,800
Half earn more, half earn less
75th percentile$39,470
Upper quartile
90th percentile$45,040
Top-paid tenth
| Median annual wage | $35,800 |
|---|---|
| Median hourly wage | $17.21/hr |
| Mean annual wage | $36,120 |
| People employed | 4,305,810 |
Versus all US occupations
At $35,800, Home Health Aides earn 30% below the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $15,180 a year.
Versus healthcare support occupations
Inside the Healthcare Support group, where the middle occupation pays $44,910, this is 20% below the group median.
Pay range
The top 10% earn $45,040 or more while the bottom 10% earn $27,040, a gap of 1.7×. That is a narrow spread, so experience and employer move pay less than in most occupations.
Rank in the bank
This median pays more than 4% of the 923 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.
Highest-paying state
Washington pays the most at $47,730, and still leads at $44,602 once local prices are taken into account.
Which states pay Home Health Aides the most?
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $47,730 | $44,602 | 103,260 |
| Oregon | $44,410 | $42,966 | 42,330 |
| Rhode Island | $43,680 | $42,706 | 7,490 |
| District of Columbia | $42,700 | $38,853 | 12,810 |
| Vermont | $41,600 | $42,467 | 7,700 |
| Massachusetts | $40,910 | $38,683 | 117,940 |
| Alaska | $39,740 | $38,824 | 6,530 |
| New York | $39,620 | $36,712 | 663,140 |
| North Dakota | $39,440 | $44,335 | 7,730 |
| Connecticut | $38,990 | $37,632 | 49,510 |
Is Home Health Aide a growing career?
Home Health Aides17.0%
All US occupations3.1%
+17.0% projected growth vs 3.1% for all occupations.
Much faster than average
BLS projects employment of Home Health Aides to change 17.0% over 2024–2034, roughly 5.5× the 3.1% projected for all occupations. That is 739,800 more jobs.
Annual openings
About 765,800 openings are projected each year, 17.6% of the 4,347,700 jobs that existed in 2024. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
The services that home health and personal care aides provide will be in high demand to care for the rising number of older people.
The locations in which care is offered are affected by both policy changes and lifestyle preferences of older adults and people with disabilities. Long-term care services are shifting from institutional settings, such as nursing homes, to home- and community-based settings. This shift is expected to create many new jobs for home health and personal care aides.
How to become a Home Health Aide
Home health and personal care aides typically need a high school diploma or equivalent, but some positions do not require it. Those working in certified home health or hospice agencies must complete formal training and pass a standardized test.
| Typical entry-level education | High school diploma or equivalent |
|---|---|
| Preparation needed (O*NET job zone) | Little or no preparation |
| Work experience in a related occupation | None |
| Typical on-the-job training | Short-term on-the-job training |
What education people in the job have
O*NET incumbent survey: the highest level of education reported by people already working as home health aides.
- High School Diploma62.6%
- Post-Secondary Certificate20.9%
- Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)8.8%
- Some College Courses7.0%
- Less than a High School Diploma0.6%
What does a Home Health Aide do?
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.
Home health and personal care aides monitor the condition of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses and help them with daily living activities. They often help older adults who need assistance. Under the direction of a nurse or other healthcare practitioner, home health aides may be allowed to give a client medication or to check the client’s vital signs.
Day-to-day tasks
- Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
- Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
- Bathe patients.
- Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
- Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.
- Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
- Check patients' pulse, temperature, and respiration.
- Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
O*NET core tasks, ordered by reported importance.
Where home health aides work
| Individual and family services | 49% |
|---|---|
| Home healthcare services | 24% |
| Residential intellectual and developmental disability facilities | 6% |
| Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly | 6% |
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition.
Core skills
- Active Listening3.8/5
- Critical Thinking3.4/5
- Reading Comprehension3.3/5
- Monitoring3.3/5
- Writing3.1/5
- Speaking3.1/5
- Active Learning3.0/5
- Learning Strategies3.0/5
Transferable skills
- Service Orientation3.6/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.5/5
- Persuasion3.1/5
- Instructing3.1/5
- Time Management3.1/5
- Coordination3.0/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0/5
Tools and software
- Customer relationship management CRM software · in demand
- Data base user interface and query software · in demand
- Document management software · in demand
- Electronic mail software · in demand
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software · in demand
- Object or component oriented development software · in demand
- Office suite software · in demand
- Operating system software · in demand
- Presentation software · in demand
- Spreadsheet software · in demand
- Word processing software · in demand
- Data base reporting software
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
What personality type suits a Home Health Aide?
Interest profile: O*NET Occupational Interests, scored 1–7
Realisticprimary4.2
Investigative3.2
Artistic1.5
Socialprimary6.3
Enterprising1.8
Conventionalprimary3.5
Day to day this is work built around teaching, helping and working directly with other people, combined with hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors.
Closest MBTI types
NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.
Home Health Aide: frequently asked questions
How much do Home Health Aides make?
Home Health Aides earn a median of $35,800 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 30% below the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $17.21/hr. The middle half earn between $31,920 and $39,470. The top 10% earn $45,040 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Home Health Aide?
No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Home Health Aides. BLS also lists short-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 62.6% hold high school diploma.
Is Home Health Aide a growing career?
Yes, strongly. Employment is projected to grow 17.0% over 2024–2034, more than double the 3.1% projected for all occupations (BLS EP, 2024–2034). BLS still projects about 765,800 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Home Health Aide do?
Home health and personal care aides monitor the condition of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses and help them with daily living activities. A core O*NET task: care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care. Employers most often ask for Customer relationship management CRM software, Data base user interface and query software, Document management software.
Which states pay Home Health Aides the most?
The highest state medians for Home Health Aides are Washington ($47,730), Oregon ($44,410), Rhode Island ($43,680) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What personality type suits a Home Health Aide?
O*NET scores Home Health Aides highest on the Social, Realistic and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes teaching, helping and working directly with other people with hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISFJ, ESFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 923 occupations in the bank.