---
title: "Personal Care Aide"
description: "Provide personalized assistance to individuals with disabilities or illness who require help with personal care and activities of daily living support…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/personal-care-aide"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Personal Care Aide

**Category:** Healthcare Support · **SOC code:** 31-1122 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 31-1122.00

Provide personalized assistance to individuals with disabilities or illness who require help with personal care and activities of daily living support (e.g., feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and ambulation). May also provide help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry. Work is performed in various settings depending on the needs of the care recipient and may include locations such as their home, place of work, out in the community, or at a daytime nonresidential facility.

Also advertised as: Care Provider; Caregiver; Direct Care Worker; Home Care Aide; Medication Aide; Personal Care Aide; Personal Care Assistant (PCA); Personal Care Attendant (PCA).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $35,800 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $17.21/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $27,040 to $45,040, with the middle half between $31,920 and $39,470
- **Total US employment:** 4,305,810
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +17.0% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 765,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 60/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 4,305,810 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,040 |
| 25th | $31,920 |
| 50th (median) | $35,800 |
| 75th | $39,470 |
| 90th | $45,040 |
| Mean (average) | $36,120 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $47,730 | $44,602 | 103,260 |
| OR | $44,410 | $42,966 | 42,330 |
| RI | $43,680 | $42,706 | 7,490 |
| DC | $42,700 | $38,853 | 12,810 |
| VT | $41,600 | $42,467 | 7,700 |
| MA | $40,910 | $38,683 | 117,940 |
| AK | $39,740 | $38,824 | 6,530 |
| NY | $39,620 | $36,712 | 663,140 |
| ND | $39,440 | $44,335 | 7,730 |
| CT | $38,990 | $37,632 | 49,510 |
| NH | $38,760 | $37,210 | 9,440 |
| ME | $38,580 | $39,753 | 18,630 |
| CO | $38,540 | $37,399 | 44,650 |
| MN | $38,370 | $38,907 | 128,680 |
| HI | $38,110 | $34,661 | 6,150 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/personal-care-aide/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/personal-care-aide.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 4,347,700 in the 2024–2034 base year to 5,087,500 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 739,800 jobs, or +17.0%. Much faster than average: 17.0% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 765,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 47.8% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 22.5% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 17.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 6.2% |
| Some College Courses | 6.0% |

## What the work involves

- Administer bedside or personal care, such as ambulation or personal hygiene assistance.
- Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor.
- Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them.
- Care for individuals or families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption, or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care, or help in adjusting to new lifestyles.
- Perform healthcare-related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses or physiotherapists.
- Instruct or advise clients on issues, such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene, nutrition, or infant care.
- Participate in case reviews, consulting with the team caring for the client, to evaluate the client's needs and plan for continuing services.
- Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Service Orientation — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Social (S), Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| S — Social | 6.19 |
| C — Conventional | 3.92 |
| R — Realistic | 3.51 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.55 |
| I — Investigative | 1.80 |
| A — Artistic | 1.79 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESFJ | 82.4 |
| ISFJ | 76.1 |
| ESFP | 71.8 |
| ENFJ | 63.9 |
| ESTJ | 60.4 |

Best-fitting types: ESFJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Home Health Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/home-health-aide) — median $35,800
- [Nursing Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nursing-assistant) — median $42,260
- [School Social Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/school-social-worker) — median $59,550
- [Nanny](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanny) — median $34,980
- [Social and Human Service Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/social-and-human-service-assistant) — median $45,930
- [Psychiatric Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/psychiatric-aide) — median $44,910
- [Occupational Therapy Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-therapy-aide) — median $39,160
- [Rehabilitation Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rehabilitation-counselor) — median $46,850
- [Physical Therapist Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-aide) — median $35,240
- [Licensed Practical Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/licensed-practical-nurse) — median $64,400

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/personal-care-aide