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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Requirements Survey > Publications > Factsheets

Personal care aides

Female helping an older woman walk towards building Provide personalized assistance to individuals with disabilities or illness who require help with personal care and activities of daily living support (e.g., feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and ambulation). May also provide help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry. Work is performed in various settings depending on the needs of the care recipient and may include locations such as their home, place of work, out in the community, or at a daytime nonresidential facility.

For terms and definitions in this profile, see definitions of major terms.

Cognitive and mental requirements

The qualifications that workers need to use judgment, make decisions, interact with others, and adapt to changes in jobs.

In 2025, external verbal interactions were required constantly (every few minutes) for 37.9 percent of personal care aides. External verbal interactions were required more than once per hour (but not constantly) for 44.9 percent.

Table 1. Percentage of personal care aides with cognitive and mental requirements, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Work schedule varies	66.9	33.1
Ability to pause work (and take brief unscheduled breaks)	40.0	60.0
Working around crowds	<0.5	>99.5
Telework routinely allowed	<0.5	>99.5
Supervising others	<0.5	>99.5
Supervisor present in immediate work area	16.5	83.5
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey

Education, training, and experience requirements

The minimum level of formal education required, credentials necessary, on-the-job training, and prior work experience necessary for average performance in jobs. The time associated with these requirements is combined to calculate the specific vocational preparation level needed for the job.

In 2025, prior work experience was required for 16.6 percent of personal care aides and on-the-job training was required for 81.6 percent.

No minimum education was required for 42.7 percent of personal care aides and a high school diploma was required for 57.2 percent.

Environmental conditions

The various hazards or difficulties that are in the area where workers perform their critical tasks.

In 2025, a quiet noise exposure was present for 28.1 percent of personal care aides. Another 71.9 percent were exposed to moderate noise, less than 0.5 percent were exposed to loud noise, and less than 0.5 percent to very loud noise. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was used by less than 0.5 percent of workers to mitigate noise exposure and was not used by greater than 99.5 percent.

Physical demands

The physical activities required to perform tasks in jobs. The presence and, in some cases, duration of these activities are published.

In 2025, speaking was required for greater than 99.5 percent of personal care aides and was not required for less than 0.5 percent. For less than 5 percent of workers, speaking was seldom required, for 73.0 percent speaking was occasionally required, for 24.4 percent speaking was frequently required, and for less than 5 percent speaking was required constantly.

Performing work in low postures was required for 97.1 percent of personal care aides and was not required for 2.9 percent.

The choice to sit or stand when performing critical tasks was available to 1.3 percent of personal care aides. On average, workers spent 34.6 percent of the workday sitting and 65.4 percent of the workday standing.

Table 2. Percentage of personal care aides with physical demands, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Ability to choose to sit or stand for tasks	1.3	98.7
Driving	45.0	55.0
Climbing structure-related ramps or stairs	69.7	30.3
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey