Personal care worker vs primary caregiver

The differences between personal care workers and primary caregivers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a primary caregiver has an average salary of $29,576, which is higher than the $29,490 average annual salary of a personal care worker.

The top three skills for a personal care worker include patients, home health and good communication. The most important skills for a primary caregiver are home health, senior care, and PET.

Personal care worker vs primary caregiver overview

	Personal Care Worker	Primary Caregiver
Yearly salary	$29,490	$29,576
Hourly rate	$14.18	$14.22
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	129,522	50,392
Job satisfaction	5	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

Personal care worker vs primary caregiver salary

Personal care workers and primary caregivers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Personal Care Worker	Primary Caregiver
Average salary	$29,490	$29,576
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $38,000	Between $22,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Lynn, MA	-
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	-
Best paying company	Tyson Foods	-
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between personal care worker and primary caregiver education

There are a few differences between a personal care worker and a primary caregiver in terms of educational background:

	Personal Care Worker	Primary Caregiver
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	-	-

Personal care worker vs primary caregiver demographics

Here are the differences between personal care workers' and primary caregivers' demographics:

	Personal Care Worker	Primary Caregiver
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 16.4% Female, 83.6%	Male, 29.2% Female, 70.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 10.2% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 7.5% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between personal care worker and primary caregiver duties and responsibilities

Personal care worker example 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.

Primary caregiver example responsibilities.

Assist patient with ADL's.
Handle all referrals to housing, detoxification, rehabilitation, organization, and agencies.
Verse and familiar with caring for a patient with mild to advance Alzheimer's disease.
Step away from full-time work to serve as caregiver to grandmother diagnose with Alzheimer's disease.
Provide routine personal care and companionship.
Provide transportation within community, supervise and provide companionship for clients during physician appointment, shopping and errands.

Personal care worker vs primary caregiver skills

Common personal care worker skills

Patients, 24%
Home Health, 20%
Good Communication, 13%
In-Home Care, 12%
Companionship, 5%
Patient Care, 2%

Common primary caregiver skills

Home Health, 44%
Senior Care, 19%
PET, 16%
Autism, 11%
Dementia Care, 4%
Taking Care, 2%

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Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Personal Care Worker
Personal Care Worker vs Primary Caregiver

Updated January 8, 2025

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