Elderly caregivers take care of elderly people that can't look after themselves. They assist in personal care and provide emotional support to their clients. They also monitor and report changes in the health, behavior, and overall well-being of their clients, earning a sum of $16 per hour, which amounts to $32,000 per year.
Elderly caregivers are in direct contact with the elderly, and they provide companionship because feelings of loneliness in older adults can lead to serious health issues, including depression. Since the clients can not take care of themselves as such due to injury, mobility, or memory issues, the caregivers assist them with their activities of daily living.
Elderly caregivers are patient and warm toward their clients in a bid to create a positive environment and, as such, improve the overall well-being. They generally have a high school diploma, although a higher academic degree might prove beneficial. Most employers prefer to hire candidates with experience in the field and a willingness to work flexible hours.
What is an Elderly Caregiver?
What Does an Elderly Caregiver Do
There are certain skills that many elderly caregivers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, integrity and interpersonal skills.
How To Become an Elderly Caregiver
If you're interested in becoming an elderly caregiver, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 24.1% of elderly caregivers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.3% of elderly caregivers have master's degrees. Even though some elderly caregivers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Elderly Caregiver Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an elderly caregiver can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as certified nursing assistant, progress to a title such as registered nurse and then eventually end up with the title nursing director.
Average Salary for an Elderly Caregiver
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Elderly Caregiver
There are several types of elderly caregiver, including:
Home Health Aid
Role:
While, you may believe home health aides only work in their clients' homes, that's certainly not correct. Aides can also work in group homes or even day service programs. Generally, you'll only need a high school diploma to become a home health aid.
Your days and responsibilities as a home health aide will vary, depending on how many clients you work with. Some days you'll only work with one client for the entire day, then other days you may find yourself with 4-5 clients for shorter time periods. It's definitely a job that will keep you on your toes. You'll never know what to expect each day.
- Average Salary: $27,249
- Degree: High School Diploma
Direct Support Professional
Role:
- Average Salary: $32,077
- Degree: High School Diploma
Aide
Role:
Home health aides are the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S., with an increase in demand of 70% from 2010 to 2020. This tendency is likely to continue in rapid growth up to 2030, as the Baby Boomer generation reaches seniority.
Aides make $18 per hour, on average, and generally work 40 hours a week, sometimes taking night shifts and working on weekends, too. Part-time and live-in arrangements are both common as well, so you have a lot of options to figure out what works best for you.
- Average Salary: $27,793
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Elderly Caregiver Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active elderly caregiver jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where elderly caregivers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Elderly Caregiver Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennsylvania | 3,623 | $35,145 |
| 2 | California | 2,084 | $31,015 |
| 3 | New York | 1,721 | $41,116 |
| 4 | Illinois | 1,401 | $26,906 |
| 5 | Florida | 1,382 | $21,222 |
| 6 | Texas | 1,223 | $22,222 |
| 7 | New Jersey | 1,175 | $41,508 |
| 8 | Ohio | 964 | $30,043 |
| 9 | Michigan | 923 | $33,734 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 888 | $45,259 |
| 11 | Georgia | 817 | $25,101 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 744 | $25,493 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 652 | $25,105 |
| 14 | Indiana | 602 | $24,734 |
| 15 | Virginia | 557 | $29,827 |
| 16 | Washington | 554 | $35,565 |
| 17 | Oregon | 527 | $36,128 |
| 18 | Missouri | 525 | $25,046 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 478 | $31,030 |
| 20 | Connecticut | 449 | $47,659 |
| 21 | Arizona | 435 | $28,150 |
| 22 | Maryland | 406 | $40,468 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 404 | $22,344 |
| 24 | Minnesota | 395 | $33,770 |
| 25 | Alabama | 320 | $25,882 |
| 26 | Colorado | 299 | $30,393 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 266 | $31,341 |
| 28 | New Mexico | 199 | $30,441 |
| 29 | Iowa | 197 | $28,277 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 179 | $23,662 |
| 31 | Louisiana | 162 | $21,631 |
| 32 | Montana | 152 | $31,520 |
| 33 | Arkansas | 151 | $23,102 |
| 34 | Kansas | 122 | $23,185 |
| 35 | Maine | 119 | $45,652 |
| 36 | West Virginia | 118 | $31,988 |
| 37 | Nevada | 116 | $26,122 |
| 38 | Idaho | 107 | $25,617 |
| 39 | Nebraska | 103 | $27,515 |
| 40 | Mississippi | 100 | $21,671 |
| 41 | Delaware | 94 | $35,388 |
| 42 | New Hampshire | 80 | $40,262 |
| 43 | Utah | 75 | $25,272 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 55 | $42,128 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 44 | $32,666 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 36 | $29,794 |
| 47 | Vermont | 35 | $46,770 |
| 48 | Alaska | 33 | $39,730 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 27 | $28,641 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 20 | $25,872 |
Top Skills For an Elderly Caregiver
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 23.3% of elderly caregivers listed adaptive on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and integrity are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Elderly Caregiver Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Elderly Caregiver templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Elderly Caregiver resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Elderly Caregiver Demographics
Elderly Caregiver Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among elderly caregivers, 85.5% of them are women, while 14.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among elderly caregivers is White, which makes up 55.3% of all elderly caregivers.
- The most common foreign language among elderly caregivers is Spanish at 72.2%.
Online Courses For Elderly Caregiver That You May Like
1. Living with Dementia: Impact on Individuals, Caregivers, Communities and Societies
Health professionals and students, family caregivers, friends of and affected individuals, and others interested in learning about dementia and quality care will benefit from completing the course. Led by Drs. Nancy Hodgson and Laura Gitlin, participants will acquire foundational knowledge in the care of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurocognitive disorders...
See More on Coursera2. Supporting Families and Caregivers
This course takes a deep dive into the challenges families and friends of a patient with serious illness face and how you can care for and support them as a provider, social worker or family friend. Supporting Families and Caregivers especially focuses on the children of a patient with serious illness and their caregiver, and teaches you the best way to empower them to get the support they need. By the end of this course, you will be able to provide critical avenues of support for the people...
See More on Coursera3. Transitions in Care from Survivorship to Hospice
This course should be taken after the Symptom Management course and continues building your primary palliative care skills – communication, psychosocial support, goals of care, and symptom management. You will explore transitions in care such as survivorship and hospice. You will learn how to create a survivorship care plan and how to best support a patient. The course also covers spiritual care and will teach you how to screen for spiritual distress. Finally, you will learn the requirements...
See More on CourseraBest States For an Elderly Caregiver
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an elderly caregiver. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts. Elderly caregivers make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $47,659. Whereas in Vermont and Maine, they would average $46,770 and $45,652, respectively. While elderly caregivers would only make an average of $45,259 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
$47,659
Avg. Salary
2. Maine
$45,652
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$45,259
Avg. Salary
How Do Elderly Caregiver Rate Their Jobs?
3.0
3.0
Caregiver • February 2021What do you like the most about working as Elderly Caregiver?
I like helping people and providing for their needs Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
The wages are not live-able at all. Show MoreTop Elderly Caregiver Employers
Most Common Employers For Elderly Caregiver
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visiting Angels | $38,882 | $18.69 | 72 |
| 2 | At Home Healthcare | $38,077 | $18.31 | 22 |
| 3 | ComForCare | $37,986 | $18.26 | 13 |
| 4 | Always Best Care | $37,770 | $18.16 | 17 |
| 5 | Caring Senior Service | $37,508 | $18.03 | 7 |
| 6 | Senior Helpers | $37,418 | $17.99 | 28 |
| 7 | Griswold Home Care | $37,353 | $17.96 | 7 |
| 8 | Home Care Assistance | $36,225 | $17.42 | 17 |
| 9 | Home Health Foundation | $33,923 | $16.31 | 11 |
| 10 | AccentCare | $33,082 | $15.90 | 35 |
Elderly Caregiver Videos
