Personal Care Aides

United States SOC 31-1122.00 Caregiving Confidence ★★★☆☆

Also called: Aide, Blind Aide, Blind Escort, Care Caregiver, Care Companion, Care Provider, Caregiver, Caretaker

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).

Median annual pay
—
National statistics
Top pay (est.)
—
Top 10% —
Pay in 5 years
—est.
2031
Pay in 10 years
—est.
—
Outlook score
59/100
★★★☆☆ Average
AI replacement risk
22%
Low
Job growth (10 yr)
—
BLS projections

What personal care aides do

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.

Typical tasks

Personal Care Aides salary

No pay statistics are available for this occupation yet.

How median, percentiles and the pay range are defined →

Projected pay for Personal Care Aides (3, 5 and 10 years)est.

No projection yet because pay statistics are missing.

Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →

Outlook score for Personal Care Aides

59/100
★★★☆☆
Average · ranked #261 of all U.S. occupations
AI resistance
78 pts
Entry barrier
12 pts

Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.

Will AI replace Personal Care Aides? AI replacement risk

22%
Low
Ranked #147 safest from AI among all U.S. occupations
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

How AI is changing this job

A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.

AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →

Labor demand for Personal Care Aides

Employment
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BLS OEWS
Projected employment
—
BLS projections
Projected change
—
Annual openings
—
growth + replacement needs
Demand score
—
Typical entry education
—
Work experience
—
in a related occupation
On-the-job training
—

Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (10-year). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.

Skills, education and requirements for Personal Care Aides

Key skills

Service Orientation
3.9
Social Perceptiveness
3.1
Monitoring
3.1
Critical Thinking
3.1
Active Listening
3.0
Reading Comprehension
3.0
Speaking
3.0
Coordination
2.9

O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).

Key knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service
4.4
Psychology
4.3
English Language
3.6
Therapy and Counseling
3.5
Transportation
3.2
Education and Training
3.1
Computers and Electronics
2.9
Personnel and Human Resources
2.8

What the work involves

Assisting and Caring for OthersEstablishing and Maintaining Interpersonal RelationshipsOrganizing, Planning, and Prioritizing WorkMonitoring Processes, Materials, or SurroundingsIdentifying Objects, Actions, and EventsPerforming General Physical ActivitiesPerforming for or Working Directly with the PublicHandling and Moving Objects

Important abilities

Oral ComprehensionOral ExpressionSpeech ClaritySpeech RecognitionNear VisionTrunk Strength

Education of workers

High school diploma
48%
Associate's degree
22%
Post-secondary certificate
6%
Some college
6%

Training before entry

Up to 1 month
62%
None / short demo
9%
6–12 months
6%
1–3 months
5%

Related work experience

6–12 months
25%
1–3 months
24%
1–2 years
24%
Up to 1 month
21%
None
5%
3–6 months
1%

Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)

Difficulty of entry: ★★☆☆☆ Fairly easy (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)

How to become personal care aides

Typical education
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BLS
Related experience
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On-the-job training
—

A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.

Career path and how to earn more as personal care aides

Career-path guidance is being prepared.

Pay and employment figures are national statistics. Projected pay, outlook scores and AI replacement risk are estimates from the Shigoto Zukan model, not guarantees. To request a correction, use the contact form. How to read the data
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS; Employment Projections); O*NET 31.0 Database by USDOL/ETA (CC BY 4.0), modified by Shigoto Zukan. Pay ranges, projections and scores are Shigoto Zukan estimates.