How Much Do Patient Care Assistants Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary patient care assistants make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for patient care assistants and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of patient care assistants are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much patient care assistants can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Patient Care Assistants

According to data from 2023, there were about 1,419,625 positions for patient care assistants in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for patient care assistants was reported to be $38,189. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 441,006 job postings related to positions for patient care assistants.

How Much Money Do Patient Care Assistants Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money patient care assistants and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for patient care assistants.

Annual Salary for Patient Care Assistants

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for patient care assistants and related professions earned about $30,035 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $48,776 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for patient care assistants in the United States in 2023 was $38,189.

Hourly Salary for Patient Care Assistants

The BLS also breaks down compensation for patient care assistants by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for patient care assistants in 2023 was $18. Lowest hourly earners took home $14 while the highest reported hourly salaries for patient care assistants was $23.

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Degree Options for Patient Care Assistants

Certificates & Microcredentials for Patient Care Assistants

Advertised Compensation for Patient Care Assistants

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for patient care assistants, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for patient care assistants.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Patient Care Assistants

During a review of 318,773 job postings related to patient care assistants, advertised salary was included in 120,383 of them, which was 38%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for patient care assistants was $41,600 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Patient Care Assistants

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for patient care assistants. Based on 27% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for patient care assistants in the United States is about $20.

Salary Trend for Patient Care Assistants

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for patient care assistants. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for patient care assistants dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for patient care assistants have increased 25%.

What's the Job Growth for Patient Care Assistants?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for patient care assistants over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 1,420,953 jobs for patient care assistants in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 110,281 jobs will be added. That's a 7.8% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about patient care assistants? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for patient care assistants.

What do patient care assistants do?
Patient Care Assistants: How do you become one?

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