Personal Care Aides (39-9021)

Occupation description:  Assist the elderly, convalescents, or persons with disabilities with daily living activities at the person's home or in a care facility. Duties performed at a place of residence may include keeping house (making beds, doing laundry, washing dishes) and preparing meals. May provide assistance at non-residential care facilities. May advise families, the elderly, convalescents, and persons with disabilities regarding such things as nutrition, cleanliness, and household activities.

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Employment and Job Openings

  Average employment Average annual openings
  2010 estimate2020 projectionPercent change GrowthReplacementTotal
Alaska 3,6925,167 40.0148 129276
United States 861,0001,468,000 70.560,700 6,82067,520

Job outlook

  • Alaska: Alaska’s employment growth is robust with very high employment opportunities. Read more.


2012 Wages

  Mean Wage and
95% Confidence Interval
Wage by Percentile
  LowMeanHigh 10thMedian90th
United States n/a10.01n/a 7.859.5713.26
Alaska 13.1513.5313.91 9.2213.6517.81
Anchorage/Mat-Su Area (MSA) 12.7513.5414.33 9.0713.8417.67
Fairbanks North Star Borough (MSA) 12.4113.0613.71 8.4211.0820.18
Southeast Region 14.6515.4216.19 11.0315.7519.30
Balance of State 11.7612.7613.76 9.7412.3417.06

Labor Force Indicators

2011 Worker Characteristics
Total workersNonresident workers Percent nonresidentPercent age 45 plusPercent age 50 plus
4,772487 10.239.1 29.5
2011 Potential Supply
Qualified but working in another occupation1,300
Currently employed in a lower paid occupation0
UI claimants previously working in occupation697
2011 ALEXsys Employment Data
Number of registrants 3,460
Number of job position postings 718
Ratio of registrants to job position postings 4.8

Typical Entry-level Education, Experience, and/or On-the-job Training

Education: Less than high school Work experience: None On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Training Resources

 DegreeFY2008–2010 reported exiters
Alaska Technical Center
Personal Care Attendant 7

 DegreeFY2008–2010 reported exiters
Yuut Elitnaurviat
Personal Care Attendant 0