There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a playground aide. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.94 an hour? That's $29,002 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 27,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Playground Aide Do

There are certain skills that many playground aides have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed instructional skills, patience and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Playground Aide does

How To Become a Playground Aide

If you're interested in becoming a playground aide, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 31.0% of playground aides have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.0% of playground aides have master's degrees. Even though some playground aides have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Playground Aide Career Paths

Average Salary for a Playground Aide

Playground Aides in America make an average salary of $29,002 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $40,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $20,000 per year.
Average Playground Aide Salary
$29,002 Yearly
$13.94 hourly

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Roles and Types of Playground Aide

There are several types of playground aide, including:

Aide

Role:

Aides make it possible for patients to stay at home with less severe conditions, instead of staying in hospitals or retirement homes. They monitor the patients' condition, keep them company, and help practicing hygiene and with chores around the house. Aides perform basic health care as well and help with transportation, if necessary.

Home health aides are the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S., with an increase in demand of 70% from 2010 to 2020. This tendency is likely to continue in rapid growth up to 2030, as the Baby Boomer generation reaches seniority.

Aides make $18 per hour, on average, and generally work 40 hours a week, sometimes taking night shifts and working on weekends, too. Part-time and live-in arrangements are both common as well, so you have a lot of options to figure out what works best for you.

  • Average Salary: $27,793
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

In-Home Childcare Provider

Role:

An in-home child care provider takes care of children in their home. The age of the children may vary from toddlers to preschool-age, and sometimes they might take on the care of several kids at the same time, but the number is always very limited.

In-home child care providers supervise the children and prepare their meals, attend to their hygiene, and make sure they are well-rested. They come up with fun activities and educational games, play outside with the children, and generally offer every activity a child would do at a public daycare center. The only difference is that, in this case, the children are fewer, they are in a more familiar and secure setting, and they receive the undivided attention of the care provider.

You should consider this job if you are patient and caring, if you are not intimidated by dirty diapers and capricious kiddies, and if you do not mind giving detailed daily reports on the behavior of the children to worried parents. Oh, and if you love children, of course.

  • Average Salary: $32,161
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Baby Sitter

Role:

A babysitter is someone ready to take full responsibility for the welfare and health of children when their parents are not around. You will be given the authority to be involved in every part of their lives, including meals, hygiene, education. Monitoring the everyday activities of the children is also your responsibility. This includes keeping the playground safe and sanitizing play equipment regularly to prevent germs and diseases.

You also need to teach the children the importance of good hygiene, including brushing their teeth twice daily, eating healthy food, using the toilet, and getting adequate rest. You will sometimes need to engage the children to read, assist with their homework and other extracurricular activities, create daily lesson plans that will be educational and interesting at the same time. You are allowed to discipline them, when necessary, encourage good behavior such as treating each other kindly and respecting their parents and elderly ones.

You will also discuss information about each child with their parents to know the scope of your authority and responsibility. As a babysitter, you must be responsible. You must also possess excellent communication skills, be a lover of children, and have problem-solving skills. The salary of a babysitter is $40,418, but you must possess a high school diploma.

  • Average Salary: $30,972
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Playground Aide Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active playground aide jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where playground aides earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Playground Aide Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1New York1,107$36,394
2Texas1,103$22,100
3Pennsylvania944$29,015
4California829$33,189
5Illinois825$28,707
6Michigan785$28,193
7Indiana782$27,752
8Ohio617$28,166
9North Carolina604$25,488
10New Jersey599$33,070
11Georgia595$22,441
12Florida567$25,370
13Minnesota507$31,253
14Massachusetts469$36,013
15Wisconsin410$28,959
16Tennessee367$26,719
17Virginia344$26,444
18Maryland325$28,913
19Iowa302$22,609
20Kansas297$26,286
21Washington295$33,542
22Missouri295$27,351
23Kentucky257$26,736
24Colorado227$32,772
25South Carolina217$23,980
26Oregon211$28,564
27Arizona201$27,615
28Alabama192$22,634
29Nebraska176$26,488
30Oklahoma169$23,712
31Connecticut146$36,013
32Montana127$26,206
33West Virginia114$35,902
34Utah111$22,697
35Maine110$39,051
36New Mexico107$25,362
37Mississippi101$20,801
38Louisiana92$23,548
39Arkansas87$26,041
40Idaho83$23,764
41New Hampshire73$36,280
42Rhode Island64$35,696
43Alaska61$21,970
44Nevada59$31,459
45Delaware55$34,650
46North Dakota54$33,214
47South Dakota53$26,348
48Hawaii46$24,899
49Vermont45$35,771
50Wyoming27$27,516

Playground Aide Education

Playground Aide Majors

16.3 %

Playground Aide Degrees

High School Diploma

32.5 %

Bachelors

31.0 %

Associate

25.4 %

Top Colleges for Playground Aides

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

5. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

8. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

9. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

10. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Top Skills For a Playground Aide

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 66.7% of playground aides listed safety rules on their resume, but soft skills such as instructional skills and patience are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Playground Aide Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Playground Aide templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Playground Aide resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Playground Aide diversity

Playground Aide Gender Distribution

Female
Female
81%
Male
Male
19%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among playground aides, 80.6% of them are women, while 19.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among playground aides is White, which makes up 56.9% of all playground aides.

  • The most common foreign language among playground aides is German at 33.3%.

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Best States For a Playground Aide

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a playground aide. The best states for people in this position are Maine, New York, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Playground aides make the most in Maine with an average salary of $39,051. Whereas in New York and New Hampshire, they would average $36,394 and $36,280, respectively. While playground aides would only make an average of $36,013 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Maine

Total Playground Aide Jobs: 110
Highest 10% Earn:
$47,000
Location Quotient:
1.46

2. West Virginia

Total Playground Aide Jobs: 114
Highest 10% Earn:
$50,000
Location Quotient:
1.31

3. New York

Total Playground Aide Jobs: 1,107
Highest 10% Earn:
$48,000
Location Quotient:
1.51
Full List Of Best States For Playground Aides

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Top Playground Aide Employers

Most Common Employers For Playground Aide

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Madera High School$34,055$16.372
2Sparta Area School District$31,536$15.161
3Salida Union School District$31,258$15.034
4Summit Public Schools$30,772$14.792
5Pleasant View Communities$30,465$14.651
6Brandywine Heights Area School District$30,234$14.541
7Little Rock School District$30,068$14.462
8Supt. Cameron$29,668$14.261
9FLS International$28,947$13.921
10Beverly Hills High School$28,050$13.495