Home care attendant vs direct care aide

The differences between home care attendants and direct care aides can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a direct care aide has an average salary of $30,429, which is higher than the $26,059 average annual salary of a home care attendant.

The top three skills for a home care attendant include patients, home health and companionship. The most important skills for a direct care aide are home health, foster care, and CPR.

Home care attendant vs direct care aide overview

	Home Care Attendant	Direct Care Aide
Yearly salary	$26,059	$30,429
Hourly rate	$12.53	$14.63
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	235,912	178,038
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 33%	High School Diploma, 35%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Home care attendant vs direct care aide salary

Home care attendants and direct care aides have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Home Care Attendant	Direct Care Aide
Average salary	$26,059	$30,429
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $38,000	Between $22,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Watertown Town, MA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Vermont
Best paying company	Dignity Health	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs
Best paying industry	Media	Energy

Differences between home care attendant and direct care aide education

There are a few differences between a home care attendant and a direct care aide in terms of educational background:

	Home Care Attendant	Direct Care Aide
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 33%	High School Diploma, 35%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Home care attendant vs direct care aide demographics

Here are the differences between home care attendants' and direct care aides' demographics:

	Home Care Attendant	Direct Care Aide
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.0% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 8.0% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between home care attendant and direct care aide duties and responsibilities

Home care attendant example responsibilities.

Manage clients bills, paid them, buy groceries, take complete care of their responsibilities.
Self-Direct and empower, providing hygiene care, hospice and respite care to Alzheimer's patients and patients requiring long-term assistance.
Provide companionship and conversation, stabilization, and assistance with walking, and providing medication and appointment reminders for assign patients.
Maintain all confidential personnel files and CPR compliance records.
Ensure that HHA's are trained to administer the required care.
Interview applicants for HHA training program, and general clerical duties and some front reception coverage.

Direct care aide example responsibilities.

Provide individuals appropriate assistance in completing ADL's, such as showering, toileting, transferring, dressing, and feeding.
Assist mentally disable adults with ADL's such as showering, grooming, oral care, eating, dressing and toileting.
Provide emotional and mental support to unstable patients and are experience in dealing with aggressive residents
Provide caring and companionship to elderly and developmentally disable consumers and provide primary resident care and assistance with daily living activities.
Advocate for disable children, help them thrive through completion of goals and one-on-one supervision SCIP, AMAP and CPR certify.
Dispense and administer medication to patients according to AMAP policies and procedures.

Home care attendant vs direct care aide skills

Common home care attendant skills

Patients, 19%
Home Health, 16%
Companionship, 14%
CPR, 6%
Meal Prep, 5%
Patient Care, 4%

Common direct care aide skills

Home Health, 17%
Foster Care, 10%
CPR, 9%
Patients, 7%
Meal Prep, 7%
Rehabilitation, 6%