How to hire a personal care worker

Personal care worker hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring personal care workers in the United States:

There are currently 120,219 personal care workers in the US, as well as 129,522 job openings.
Personal care workers are in the highest demand in Glenwood Springs, CO, with 11 current job openings.
The median cost to hire a personal care worker is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new personal care worker to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a personal care worker, step by step

To hire a personal care worker, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a personal care worker:

Here's a step-by-step personal care worker hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a personal care worker job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new personal care worker
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a personal care worker do?

A personal care worker is responsible for providing quality health care services for elders and disabled persons. Personal care workers are usually employed in a private household setting or a special healthcare institution, assisting patients with their daily activities, and monitoring their conditions. They update the patients' medical charts, administer medication from the physician's prescriptions, and manage their food intake. A personal care worker must be highly-organized, especially when attending to patients' needs, inquiries, and concerns.

Learn more about the specifics of what a personal care worker does

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Identify your hiring needs

The personal care worker hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a personal care worker to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a personal care worker that fits the bill.

Here's a comparison of personal care worker salaries for various roles:

Type of Personal Care Worker	Description	Hourly rate
Personal Care Worker	Personal care aides help clients with self-care and everyday tasks. They also provide social supports and assistance that enable clients to participate in their communities.	$10-18
Nanny	Nannies are family employees who are primarily responsible for taking care of children in the family's house. They are usually tapped to take care of the kids while the parents are at work or away on vacation... Show more	$12-29
Baby Sitter	A Baby Sitter is responsible for the welfare and safety of children while their parents or guardian are away. The tasks will vary on the age, behavior, or needs of the children... Show more	$10-21

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Patients
- Home Health
- Good Communication
- In-Home Care
- Companionship
- Patient Care
- CPR
- Care Plan
- ADL
- Medication Reminders
- Meal Planning
- Oral Hygiene
- Meal Prep
- Walkers
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Manage provider network to include verifying claims and benefits for healthcare providers/members and insurance companies.
- Assist in transfers using a gate belt or a hoyer lift.
- Use a Hoyer lift to transport patient out of bed to their wheel chair
- Perform light maintance which include switching window screens and storm windows, installing and removing air conditioning units.
- Care for mentally and physically disable individuals, bathing, feeding, house cleaning duties, tolieting, medicines, CPR certify
- Travele to different client homes to assist with ADL's i.e., laundry, bathing, grooming, cleaning, etc.
More personal care worker duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in the personal care worker job description is a good way to get more applicants. A personal care worker salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

For example, the average salary for a personal care worker in Indiana may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level personal care worker. Additionally, a personal care worker with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

Average personal care worker salary

$14.18hourly

$29,490 yearly

Entry-level personal care worker salary

$22,000 yearly salary

Updated January 21, 2026

Average personal care worker salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Massachusetts	$36,574	$18
2	Wisconsin	$29,637	$14
3	New Mexico	$29,525	$14
4	New York	$29,265	$14
5	Colorado	$29,205	$14
6	Minnesota	$28,381	$14
7	New Jersey	$27,597	$13
8	Pennsylvania	$27,066	$13
9	Florida	$25,496	$12
10	Michigan	$25,165	$12

Average personal care worker salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Tyson Foods	$34,305	$16.49	2
2	Erickson Senior Living	$33,626	$16.17	5
3	Hospice of The Valley	$33,625	$16.17	3
4	University of Michigan Health System	$33,411	$16.06
5	Charter Schools USA	$32,407	$15.58
6	Physicians East	$32,148	$15.46	4
7	Bryn Mawr Urology	$31,867	$15.32
8	Trinity Health	$31,620	$15.20	379
9	Colorado Visiting Nurse Association	$31,342	$15.07
10	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$31,177	$14.99
11	University of Michigan	$31,104	$14.95	18
12	Residential Options	$30,470	$14.65
13	Prestige Care	$30,350	$14.59	14
14	Community Health Systems	$30,311	$14.57	111
15	InnovAge	$29,700	$14.28	5
16	Boundless Bio	$29,346	$14.11	5
17	Good Shepherd Services	$29,129	$14.00	3
18	LHC Group	$29,106	$13.99	213
19	Community Care	$28,879	$13.88	12
20	Opportunities Inc. of Jefferson County	$28,749	$13.82

Writing a personal care worker job description
A good personal care worker job description should include a few things:
- Summary of the role
- List of responsibilities
- Required skills and experience
Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a personal care worker job description:
Personal care worker job description example

1. Shall be trained in the provision of personal care services, and in each skill that the personal care worker is assigned.

2. Shall provide documentation of required training to the personal care provider for the providers records.

3. Shall be a person who is not a legally responsible relative of the client.

4. Shall have the skills, education, experience, and ability to fulfill the employees job requirements.

5. Shall have atleast 6 months of experience as a caregiver, will to train the right candidate.

DUTIES

Provide service to individuals in their own homes and communities, who need assistance caring for themselves as a result of old age, sickness, disability, and/or other inflictions. Personal Care may include assistance with the activities of daily living, housecleaning, laundry, meal preparation, transportation, companionship, and respite.

The personal care worker shall perform all the following duties:

1. Perform tasks assigned by the RN supervisor.

2. Report in writing to the RN supervisor on each assignment.

3. Promptly report any significant changes observed or reported in the client's condition to the RN supervisor.

4. Confer as required with the RN supervisor regarding the client's progress.

5. Practice infection control measures as recommended by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

Responsible for ensuring service is delivered in a caring and respectful manner, in accordance with relevant Agency policies and industry standards.

The personal care worker shall be assigned by the supervising RN to specific recipients to do specific tasks for those recipients for which the personal care worker has been trained. The PCW training for those specific tasks shall be assured by the supervising RN. The PCW is limited to performing only those tasks and services as assigned for each recipient and for which he or she has been specifically trained.

Covered personal care services include:

-Assistance with bathing

-Assistance with getting in and out of bed

-Teeth, mouth, denture, and hair care

-Assistance with mobility and ambulation including use of walker, cane or crutches

-Changes the recipient’s bed and laundering the bed linens and the recipients personal clothing

-Skin care, excluding wound care

-Care of eyeglasses and hearing aids

-Assistance with dressing and undressing

-Toileting, including use and care of bedpan, urinal, commode, or toilet

-Light cleaning in essential areas of the home used during personal care service activities

-Meal preparation, food purchasing, and meal serving

-Simple transfers, including bed to chair or wheelchair and reverse

-Accompanying the recipient to obtain medical diagnosis and treatment

Company DescriptionAngels at home is a woman owned minority business located in Madison, WI. We provided in home care supportive care to seniors and individuals that are developmentally disabled, so that they can remain living independently in their homes.
Post your job
There are a few common ways to find personal care workers for your business:
- Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
- Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
- Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
Post your job online:
- Post your personal care worker job on Zippia to find and recruit personal care worker candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Your first interview with personal care worker candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new personal care worker
Once you've decided on a perfect personal care worker candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a personal care worker?

Before you start to hire personal care workers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire personal care workers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

Personal care workers earn a median yearly salary is $29,490 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find personal care workers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $10 and $18.

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Updated January 21, 2026

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How to hire a personal care worker