Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between personal care assistants and health care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care assistant has an average salary of $34,892, which is higher than the $26,643 average annual salary of a personal care assistant.
The top three skills for a personal care assistant include patients, CPR and home health. The most important skills for a health care assistant are patients, customer service, and healthcare.
| Personal Care Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $26,643 | $34,892 |
| Hourly rate | $12.81 | $16.77 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 36% |
| Number of jobs | 256,869 | 242,669 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.67 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 48 | 50 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Personal care assistants are employed to help individuals who may need special attention or assistance. They are usually trained to care for individuals with specific conditions, whether physically or mentally. Personal care assistants manage their meal plans, medicine intake, daily schedule, and therapy, among others. They help their clients move, eat, bathe, and dress. They also run errands and provide any other assistance that their clients may need. Personal care assistants also provide emotional and moral support to their clients. They are also in touch with medical professionals and provide updates on the health of their clients.
A health care assistant primarily performs support tasks to help nurses in providing care and assistance to patients. Their duties usually include assisting patients with their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, going to the toilet, dressing, and brushing their teeth. They may also prepare meals according to protocols and guidelines, feed patients, assist them when walking, and run other errands as necessary. Most importantly, a health care assistant monitors the patients' condition and their treatment progress, coordinating with the nurses and physicians regularly.
Personal care assistants and health care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Care Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $26,643 | $34,892 |
| Salary range | Between $18,000 And $37,000 | Between $25,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Antioch, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Massachusetts General Hospital | Medical University of South Carolina |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Education |
There are a few differences between a personal care assistant and a health care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Personal Care Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between personal care assistants' and health care assistants' demographics:
| Personal Care Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 48 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0% | Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.7% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 5% |