Logo for Center for Personal Assistance Services New Browser Window, University of California, San Francisco  
Jump over main navigation bar to the sub navigation barHome (press control H in some browsers)Current directory is Need for PAS (press control N in some browsers)Home and Community PAS (press control C in some browsers)Workers and Caregivers (press control W in some browsers)Economics and Workplace PAS (press control E in some browsers)PAS Users (press control U in some browsers) 
Jump over the sub navigation bar to the main body content

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Highlights

3. State Median Wage Table

4. PHCA's Wages Compared to Federal Poverty Level Table

5. Find Hourly Wages for a Specific State

6. Technical notes

7. Download pdf of Entire Report

Jump over the main body content to the main navigation bar 		 

Printer-friendly page

Home and Community-Based PAS > Reports > Wages For Personal And Home Care Aides


State Chart Book On Wages For Personal And Home Care Aides, 1999-2008

Prepared by PHI for the Center for Personal Assistance Services

July 2009

Introduction

The State Chart Book On Wages For Personal And Home Care Aides, 1999-2008, prepared by PHI, provides information on the wages received by Personal and Home Care Aides (PHCA) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the nation over a 9 year period.

Adding two more years of data to the 2007 edition of this Chart Book, this updated resource provides a state-by-state look at wages and wage trends for PHCAs, the second fastest‐growing occupation in the country, and a key job title within the direct-care workforce. Prepared as a resource guide on wages for advocates and policymakers concerned with the direct-care workforce, the data underscore the problem of low and declining real wages for PHCAs, factors which contribute to workforce instability and near-poverty incomes for this high-demand workforce.

Organization of Chart Book. The 50-state pages (plus the District of Columbia) present both nominal and real median wages (in 1999 dollars) for PHCAs over the period 1999 to 2008. A time-series graph analysis of wages in each state is provided, allowing for comparisons of trends in nominal and real wages. Two tables comparing state wages are provided at the beginning of the Chart Book, followed by a national summary page. Technical notes can be found at the end of the publication.

Data Sources. The nominal wage data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the US Department of Labor; the BLS’s regional CPIs (Current Price Index) are used to adjust nominal wages for inflation using 1999 dollars. Caution should be used in interpreting state wage data that show significant year-to-year variation since the underlying wage estimates may show high mean square errors. Federal poverty level mean wages for various percentage multiples of the federal poverty guidelines for a single-person household were calculated from the guidelines issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, see the Technical Notes at the end of the Chart Book.