# Home Health Aides

> 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.

- Edition: Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition
- Page: https://www.collegesref.com/careers/home-health-aides
- SOC code: 31-1121.00
- Career family: Healthcare support
- Median annual pay: $35,800 (10th percentile $27,040, 90th percentile $45,040)
- Projected growth: Much faster than average, +18.1%
- Openings a year: 760,500
- Typical entry education: High school diploma
- Bright outlook: yes
- Data years: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections
- Pay and outlook are for the broader BLS group "Home health and personal care aides".

## Interest profile (code SRC)

| Interest area | Score (0–100) |
| --- | ---: |
| Realistic (R) | 54 |
| Investigative (I) | 36 |
| Artistic (A) | 8 |
| Social (S) | 89 |
| Enterprising (E) | 13 |
| Conventional (C) | 42 |

## What you'd do

- Assisting and Caring for Others (importance 95/100)
- Getting Information (importance 87/100)
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates (importance 86/100)
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems (importance 86/100)
- Thinking Creatively (importance 78/100)
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work (importance 77/100)
- Developing and Building Teams (importance 76/100)
- Handling and Moving Objects (importance 76/100)
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events (importance 75/100)
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge (importance 75/100)

## Skills

Service Orientation, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Time Management, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Judgment and Decision Making

## Knowledge

Psychology, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Public Safety and Security, Therapy and Counseling, Production and Processing, Sociology and Anthropology, Foreign Language, Education and Training

## Also called

Care Worker, Caregiver, CHHA (Certified Home Health Aide), CMA (Certified Medical Aide), CNA (Certified Nurses Aide), Companion, Day Support Professional (DSP), Digital Health Caregiver, Direct Care Professional, Direct Care Worker

## Majors that lead here (NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk, 4-digit CIP)

- [Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies](https://www.collegesref.com/programs/5126) (CIP 5126, 93 colleges)

## Colleges with strong outcomes (College Scorecard, 2025)

| College | Program | Earnings 1 yr | Earnings 4 yrs | Median debt |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| [Piedmont Technical College](https://www.collegesref.com/college/piedmont-technical-college-2110) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | $35,288 | $48,358 | $16,369 |
| [Carrington College-Mesa](https://www.collegesref.com/college/carrington-college-mesa-415) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | $30,467 | $34,955 | $9,500 |
| [Central Louisiana Technical Community College](https://www.collegesref.com/college/central-louisiana-technical-community-college-464) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | $21,709 | $27,344 | $9,500 |
| [Northwest Louisiana Technical College](https://www.collegesref.com/college/northwest-louisiana-technical-college-1949) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | $21,845 | $23,162 | not reported |
| [Louisiana Delta Community College](https://www.collegesref.com/college/louisiana-delta-community-college-1540) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | $24,088 | $22,738 | $9,500 |
| [Northshore Technical Community College](https://www.collegesref.com/college/northshore-technical-community-college-1942) | Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies | not reported | $19,442 | not reported |

## Related careers

- [Nursing Assistants](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/nursing-assistants): $42,260 median pay
- [Personal Care Aides](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/personal-care-aides): $35,800 median pay
- [Paramedics](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/paramedics): $60,600 median pay
- [Psychiatric Technicians](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/psychiatric-technicians): $45,130 median pay
- [Occupational Therapy Aides](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/occupational-therapy-aides): $39,160 median pay
- [Psychiatric Aides](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/psychiatric-aides): $44,910 median pay

## Sources

- [O*NET Database](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), version 31.0 (CC BY 4.0)
- [BLS Employment Projections](https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables.htm), version 2025-35, data year 2025 (Public domain (U.S. government work))
- [BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm), version 2025, data year 2025 (Public domain (U.S. government work))
- [NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/resources.aspx?y=56), version 2020, data year 2020 (Public domain (U.S. government work))

O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.