Personal Care Aides
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.
Most important skills
- Service Orientation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Speaking
- Instructing
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Transportation
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- Public Safety and Security
- Food Production
- Therapy and Counseling
What the work involves
- Perform healthcare-related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses or physiotherapists.
- 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.
- Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands.
- Care for individuals or families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption, or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care, or help in adjusting to new lifestyles.
- 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.
- Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (47.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (25.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (36.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Personal Care Aides is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 31-1120 (aggregate); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 57% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 74% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 68% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 61% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 51% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 81% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0.68%
- Occasional contact with others: 20.52%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 5.49%
- Constant contact with others: 73.31%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 15.46%
- Fairly important: 13.48%
- Important: 14.16%
- Very important: 7.72%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 6.6%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 4.55%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 15.78%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 56.51%
- Some freedom: 7.51%
- A lot of freedom: 20.21%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 3.47%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.97%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.23%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 26.6%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.46%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 11.69%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.75%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.56%
- Every day: 13.61%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 19.34%
- Fairly serious: 13.26%
- Serious: 1.35%
- Very serious: 5.94%
- Extremely serious: 60.11%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 31-1122.00 · SOC 31-1120 (aggregate, low confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8