How Much Does a Home Health Aide Make in the United States in 2026?

Home Health Aides help people stay in their own homes instead of moving into a facility, and demand for that help keeps climbing. A typical aide earns $17.21 an hour, or $35,800 a year, according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). Employers post the same job under several titles: personal care aide, caregiver, or HHA.

Pay swings widely from one job to the next. State rules, the setting, years on the job, and the training you hold all move the number. Those differences reach a lot of people, since 4,305,810 Home Health Aides work across the country.

A typical Home Health Aide earns $17.21 per hour, which comes to $35,800 over a full year of work. Divided down, that is about $2,983 a month and $688 a week. Actual paychecks depend on how many hours an employer can schedule, and this work is often part time.

Entry-level positions typically offer around $13.00 an hour, or $27,040 a year. The top 10% of earners make over $21.65 an hour, or $45,040. Roughly $18,000 separates the two ends, and experience, the setting, and the state you work in account for most of that gap.

A first job usually starts near the bottom of the range, around $13.00 an hour. Hours are often part time, and the steady assignments go to aides who have proven reliable. After a year or two, pay commonly reaches about $15.35 an hour, or $31,920 a year, then climbs toward the typical $17.21 and $35,800.

Experienced aides often earn upwards of $18.98 an hour, or $39,470 a year. The top 10% make over $21.65 an hour, or $45,040 a year. Reaching that group usually takes several years on the job plus a higher-paying state, an agency or residential employer, and enough scheduled hours to fill a full week.

Pay for this work has climbed since the end of the last decade. Typical annual pay was $25,280 in 2019 and reached $35,800 in 2025, a gain of $10,520, or 41.6%. The most recent year added $900, or 2.6%.

The pace was uneven. Between 2021 and 2025 alone, typical annual pay climbed $6,370, faster than in the years just before. Demand rose while agencies struggled to fill shifts, and wages followed. These are national figures, so the raise you actually see depends on your state and employer.

Where you live is often the single biggest factor in take-home pay. Washington leads at $47,730 a year, or $22.95 an hour, followed by Oregon at $44,410, Rhode Island at $43,680, the District of Columbia at $42,700, and Vermont at $41,600. Metro pay runs higher still, from $53,120 in Grants Pass, Oregon to $48,210 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, $48,110 across Eastern Washington, $47,840 in Longview-Kelso, and $47,810 in Kennewick-Richland.

Louisiana sits at the low end at $22,520 a year, or $10.83 an hour, with Mississippi at $23,860 and Texas at $24,230. About $25,210 separates the highest- and lowest-paying states. The largest workforces are in California, with 970,150 aides at $34,320, New York with 663,140 at $39,620, and Texas with 329,590. Higher-paying states also cost more to live in. The table below lists every state.

Most aides work in two closely related settings. Individual and family services employs 2,312,380 aides at $16.78 an hour, or $34,900 a year. Services for the elderly and persons with disabilities employs 2,274,140 at $16.73 an hour, or $34,810. Both sit about 3% below the national figure.

Residential facilities for intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and substance abuse care pay the most among common settings. Those 321,290 jobs pay $17.98 an hour, or $37,400 a year, about 4% above the national figure. Home health care services employs 1,079,060 aides and pays $17.42, or $36,230. Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities employ 265,100 at $17.82, or $37,060. The table below shows each setting.

Schedules move pay as much as job titles do. Many employers add a shift differential for nights, weekends, and holidays, so the same work pays more overnight. Live-in arrangements follow separate rules, with hours and rates set by the employer and state law rather than a standard formula. Neither is guaranteed, so ask what an employer offers.

Aides working for Medicare-certified home health agencies must complete at least 75 hours of training, including 16 hours of supervised practical training, and pass a competency evaluation under federal rules. States may require more hours or maintain a registry of aides. Personal care aides outside Medicare-certified agencies often face lighter requirements. Meeting the federal standard is what qualifies an aide for agency work.

Who pays for the care matters too. Agency work and private-pay clients follow different rate structures, and state Medicaid reimbursement rates shape what agencies can offer. Aides who specialize in clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities often work in residential facilities, where 282,290 aides earn a typical $17.95 an hour, or $37,340 a year.

The most common next role is certified nursing assistant. A Home Health Aide at $35,800 who becomes a CNA at $42,260 gains $6,460 a year, after state-approved training of 75 to 175 hours, typically 4 to 12 weeks. From there, an LPN or LVN earns $64,400, another $22,140, with practical nursing programs commonly running about 12 months.

Most people make these moves while still working. Studying part time around a caregiving schedule is common, and some employers help with tuition. Hours spent with clients count in the next role, since the clinical judgment and bedside habits carry over, and nursing programs tend to favor applicants who already know the work.

Home Health Aides typically earn $17.21 an hour, or $35,800 a year, up from $25,280 in 2019, and BLS projects the field to keep growing through 2035. Two practical steps: check your state's salary page for local figures, since pay ranges from $22,520 in Louisiana to $47,730 in Washington. Then confirm the training or licensing requirements your state sets before you apply.