 
Median hourly earnings of personal and home care aides were $7.81 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $6.65 and $9.06 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $5.90, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $10.67 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of personal and home care aides in 2002 were as follows:
| Residential mental retardation, mental health and substance abuse facilities |
$8.63 |
| Vocational rehabilitation services |
8.40 |
| Community care facilities for the elderly |
8.14 |
| Individual and family services |
8.12 |
| Home health care services |
6.72 |
Most employers give slight pay increases with experience and added responsibility. Aides usually are paid only for the time they work in the home and normally are not paid for travel time between jobs. Employers often hire on-call hourly workers and provide no benefits.
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