How to hire a resident care assistant

Resident care assistant hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring resident care assistants in the United States:

HR departments typically spend 15% of their expenses on recruitment.
It usually takes about 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
It typically takes 36-42 days to fill a job opening.
The median cost to hire a resident care assistant is $1,633.
Small businesses spend an average of $1,105 per resident care assistant on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
There are currently 19,778 resident care assistants in the US and 199,892 job openings.
Englewood, FL, has the highest demand for resident care assistants, with 10 job openings.
Ann Arbor, MI has the highest concentration of resident care assistants.

How to hire a resident care assistant, step by step

To hire a resident care assistant, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a resident care assistant:

Here's a step-by-step resident care assistant hiring guide:

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

What does a resident care assistant do?

Resident care assistants work with a group to care for residents with Alzheimer's disease, administer treatments, and chart their conditions. They manage intermediate care patients with EKG monitoring and epidural infusions. They assist residents with various forms of dementia to live while providing for their well-being. The assistants may also facilitate activities and games to engage residents with dementia. They assist residents in the dementia care unit with including dressing, showers, and bed baths. This position may require traits like integrity, compassion, and physical stamina.

Learn more about the specifics of what a resident care assistant does

Post a resident care assistant job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

Before you post your resident care assistant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a resident care assistant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

Determine employee vs contractor status

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

A resident care assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, resident care assistants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

The following list breaks down different types of resident care assistants and their corresponding salaries.

Type of Resident Care Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
Resident Care Assistant	Nursing assistants, sometimes called nursing aides, help provide basic care for patients in hospitals and residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes. Orderlies transport patients and clean treatment areas... Show more	$11-18
Hospice Aide	A hospice aide is responsible for assisting patients in their daily activities, usually in a medical institution or private household. Hospice aides monitor the patients' conditions, administer medication, and report updates to the attending physician or other health care professionals... Show more	$10-17
Nurses' Aide	A nurses' aide is responsible for providing healthcare and welfare assistance to patients in long-term care facilities while under the supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed colleague with extensive expertise. A nurses' aide is mostly involved in basic hygienic tasks, such as helping a patient in bathing and dressing, using the toilet, preparing meals, feeding, and performing basic chores... Show more	$11-18

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Resident Care
- Customer Service
- Patients
- Home Health
- Compassion
- Assist Residents
- CPR
- Vital Signs
- Blood Pressure
- Direct Care
- Senior Care
- Quality Care
- Oral Hygiene
- RCA
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
- Perform patient care, to include ADL's and assistance with ambulation and activities in an Alzheimer's unit.
- Provide care and assistance with ADL's to the residents of the memory care and rehab units.
- Work with a team to care for 48 residents with Alzheimer's disease, chart conditions, administer treatments
- Assist client with: elastic support hose, condom catheter, indwelling catheter, emptying collection bag, hygiene.
- Maintain distribution and tracking of telemetry packs for entire hospital.
More resident care assistant duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your resident care assistant job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A resident care assistant can vary based on:

Location. For example, resident care assistants' average salary in florida is 43% less than in washington.
Seniority. Entry-level resident care assistants 38% less than senior-level resident care assistants.
Certifications. A resident care assistant with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a resident care assistant's salary.

Average resident care assistant salary

$14.87hourly

$30,930 yearly

Entry-level resident care assistant salary

$24,000 yearly salary

Updated December 16, 2025

Average resident care assistant salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Massachusetts	$36,729	$18
2	Oregon	$35,315	$17
3	New York	$32,459	$16
4	Minnesota	$32,069	$15
5	Michigan	$31,646	$15
6	Ohio	$31,097	$15
7	Arizona	$29,681	$14
8	Colorado	$29,589	$14
9	Wisconsin	$29,410	$14
10	Pennsylvania	$28,871	$14
11	Kentucky	$28,705	$14
12	Maryland	$28,287	$14
13	Missouri	$28,018	$13
14	Texas	$26,119	$13
15	Kansas	$26,067	$13
16	Nebraska	$25,771	$12
17	Tennessee	$24,973	$12
18	Alabama	$24,881	$12
19	South Carolina	$23,386	$11
20	Arkansas	$22,953	$11

Average resident care assistant salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$42,236	$20.31	76
2	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$40,824	$19.63	6
3	Baylor College of Medicine	$37,981	$18.26	1
4	St. Clare Catholic School	$37,038	$17.81	1
5	Charles River Center	$35,004	$16.83
6	East Alabama Health	$34,696	$16.68	4
7	Caritas Family Solutions	$34,376	$16.53	3
8	San Bernardino County	$34,264	$16.47
9	Mercy Children's Hospital	$34,023	$16.36	11
10	Oxford Health of New Jersey	$33,921	$16.31	2
11	Henry Ford Health System	$33,185	$15.95	1
12	Nicklaus Children's Hospital	$33,136	$15.93	5
13	St. Peter's Health Partners	$32,956	$15.84	31
14	Beaumont Health	$32,880	$15.81	1
15	Dean Health Plan	$32,411	$15.58
16	Banfield Pet Hospital	$32,344	$15.55	48
17	Deutsches Altenheim	$32,322	$15.54
18	SSM Health	$32,309	$15.53	97
19	Mille Lacs Health System	$32,197	$15.48	14
20	Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc	$32,095	$15.43	293

Writing a resident care assistant job description
A resident care assistant job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a resident care assistant job description:
Resident care assistant job description example
Indiana University Health is Indiana's most comprehensive health system, with 16 hospitals and more than 34,000 team members serving Hoosiers across the state. We're looking for team members who are inspired by challenging and meaningful work for the good of every patient. People who are compassionate and serve with a purpose. People who aspire to excellence every day.
Looking to build your career at a growing company? Then Apply now - we can't wait to hear from you!

We have an exciting full-time Patient Care Resident opportunity on our Cardiopulmonary unit at Methodist Hospital. This 32 bed unit is unique in that it is an acuity adaptable unit. This means that the nurses care for Med/Surg and progressive level patients. This unit has a strong foundation of excellent team collaboration. Care provided for these higher acuity patients, including ventilated patients, allow for additional growth opportunities for our nurses.

The Patient Care Resident (PCR) works under the direction of the registered nurse (RN) as a non-licensed team member. As a non-licensed team member, the PCR provides care to designated patients and supports the patient care team. Job duties include observation of the registered nurse, provision of activities of daily living, mobility assistance, continuous observation including suicide prevention, and ensuring the patient's surroundings are clean and orderly.

+ Requires PCR to have graduated from nursing education program that is accredited by a national organization.

+ PCR will sit for the NCLEX exam within six-months of hire into this job

+ Requires current Basic Life Support certification

+ Other advanced life support certifications may be required per unit/department specialty according to patient care policies.

+ Requires knowledge of care appropriate to the age and developmental level of the patients served.

+ Requires ability to apply the organization's personnel policies and procedures.

+ Requires up to date knowledge of procedures and standards related to patient care activities.

+ Requires proficiency in interpersonal and communication skills.

+ Requires constant mental awareness and the ability to withstand a high level of tension and stress.

+ Requires ability to maintain concentration when subjected to frequent and varied interruptions and variable noise levels.

+ Requires ability to exercise judgment and initiative in the resolution of problems encountered.

+ Requires ability to set priorities and manage a high workload within a limited time for completion.

+ Requires knowledge of procedures; equipment; software and standards related to patient care activities that PCA/non-licensed role performs.

+ Requires knowledge of principles of infection control.

REQNUMBER: 335588
Post your job
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right resident care assistant for your business:
- Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
- Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
- Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your resident care assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit resident care assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting resident care assistants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.
Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.
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 resident care assistant
Once you've decided on a perfect resident care assistant 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.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new resident care assistant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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 resident care assistant?

Hiring a resident care assistant comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting resident care assistants involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of resident care assistant recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

You can expect to pay around $30,930 per year for a resident care assistant, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for resident care assistants in the US typically range between $11 and $18 an hour.

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Updated December 16, 2025

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How to hire a resident care assistant