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The differences between personal care assistants and patient care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, 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 patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Personal Care Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $26,643 | $32,799 |
| Hourly rate | $12.81 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 256,869 | 261,345 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.67 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 31% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | 3 |
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 patient care assistant is responsible for attending patients' needs with the supervision of a health care professional. Duties of a patient care assistant also include performing basic medical tasks such as taking patients' temperature, monitoring food intake, preparing medicines, recording health conditions, assisting on lab tests and other medical procedures, and providing information and important updates to the patient's family. A patient care assistant must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties efficiently and accurately.
Personal care assistants and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Care Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $26,643 | $32,799 |
| Salary range | Between $18,000 And $37,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Massachusetts General Hospital | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a personal care assistant and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Personal Care Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 31% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between personal care assistants' and patient care assistants' demographics:
| Personal Care Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
| 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, 10.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |