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State Information > Estimated Number of PAS workers and workers per persons with self-care difficulty for all states

Estimated number of PAS workers and workers per persons with self-care difficulty for all states

Estimates for 2002

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Source:  Center for Personal Assistance Services, tabulations of public use microdata from the 2002 American Community Survey.

Home and Personal Care Workers by State

According to population survey data, there are an estimated 1 million workers in the U.S. who provide personal care services to persons with disabilities in their homes. Data on the number of Home and Personal Care Workers for the U.S. overall and for each state are available from the 2002 American Community Survey (ACS). The number of home and personal care workers per 1000 population ranges from 1.3 in Utah to 8.2 in New York. The average for the U.S. is 3.8 per 1000. Data on the number of workers per 1000 population with difficulty in self-care ranges from 59.7 in Mississippi to 324.4 in New York and the national average is 160.2/1000. (choose a state for detail of estimated PAS workers and workers per persons with self-care difficulty)

The American Community Survey provides estimates of demographic, housing, social, and economic characteristics for all states and is conducted using a survey of sample households throughout the U.S.¹ Occupational data is collected using the occupational classification system developed for the 2000 census. This classification system includes 509 occupational categories in 23 major occupational groups. In contrast to the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey (OES) conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ACS is particularly useful in estimating the number of personal care workers because it includes workers who are self-employed or unpaid family workers.

We used the major occupation grouping Personal Care and Service Organizations to estimate the number of personal care workers. Within that major grouping we selected workers in the in the categories of Personal and Home Care Aides and Personal Care and Service Workers. While these overall estimates of workers who provide personal assistance services may be lower than the actual number of individuals involved in this type of work, we believe that these data represent the best estimates we have on a national base that also allow state by state comparison.

¹ U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2002. http://www.census.gov/acs/www/. Retreived April 30, 2004.