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The differences between elderly caregivers and direct care workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an elderly caregiver has an average salary of $37,109, which is higher than the $29,343 average annual salary of a direct care worker.
The top three skills for an elderly caregiver include adaptive, oral care and companionship. The most important skills for a direct care worker are direct care, patients, and CPR.
| Elderly Caregiver | Direct Care Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $37,109 | $29,343 |
| Hourly rate | $17.84 | $14.11 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 36% |
| Number of jobs | 71,532 | 140,788 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | High School Diploma, 32% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An Elderly Caregiver provides personal and emotional support to people who cannot look after themselves. They are either hired by a client or their family, or report directly to a physician or a nurse.
A Direct Care Worker's responsibility revolves around overseeing clients' welfare and health care from different ages and conditions. Most of the duties will involve assistance in basic hygienic tasks such as bathing or going to the toilet, performing light chores such as preparing healthy meals and cleaning a bedroom, and ensuring the patient's medication intake aligns with the schedule. Furthermore, it is also the duty of a Direct Care Worker to empathize and build rapport with clients to make them feel more at ease.
Elderly caregivers and direct care workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Elderly Caregiver | Direct Care Worker | |
| Average salary | $37,109 | $29,343 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $59,000 | Between $23,000 And $36,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Portland, ME |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Washington |
| Best paying company | CARE | Arizona Training & Evaluation Center |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Professional |
There are a few differences between an elderly caregiver and a direct care worker in terms of educational background:
| Elderly Caregiver | Direct Care Worker | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | High School Diploma, 32% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Psychology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between elderly caregivers' and direct care workers' demographics:
| Elderly Caregiver | Direct Care Worker | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.5% Female, 85.5% | Male, 23.4% Female, 76.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 7.4% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |