Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Personal Care Aides
Occupation · SOC 31-1122.00
Provide personalized assistance to individuals with disabilities or illness who require help with personal care and activities of daily living support (e.g., feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and ambulation). May also provide help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry. Work is performed in various settings depending on the needs of the care recipient and may include locations such as their home, place of work, out in the community, or at a daytime nonresidential facility.
Also called: Caregiver · Home Care Aide · Personal Care Aide · Personal Care Attendant (PCA) · Care Provider · Direct Care Worker · Medication Aide · Personal Care Assistant (PCA) · Resident Assistant · Resident Care Assistant (RCA) · Aide · Blind Aide
Job family: Healthcare Support Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-31-1122-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Low AI exposure
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 30th | 0.3 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.2), with simple added tooling (β 0.2), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.3). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them. | 3.2% | |
| Plan, shop for, or prepare nutritious meals or assist families in planning, shopping for, or preparing nutritious meals. | 0.7% | |
| Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor. | 0.3% |
Tasks
All 11 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Administer bedside or personal care, such as ambulation or personal hygiene assistance. Core · importance 4.7
- Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor. Core · importance 4.7
- Train family members to provide bedside care. Supplemental · importance 4.6
- Perform healthcare-related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses or physiotherapists. Core · importance 4.5
- Participate in case reviews, consulting with the team caring for the client, to evaluate the client's needs and plan for continuing services. Core · importance 4.5
- Instruct or advise clients on issues, such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene, nutrition, or infant care. Core · importance 4.4
- Care for individuals or families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption, or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care, or help in adjusting to new lifestyles. Core · importance 4.4
- Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands. Core · importance 4.2
- Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Plan, shop for, or prepare nutritious meals or assist families in planning, shopping for, or preparing nutritious meals. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Transport clients to locations outside the home, such as to physicians' offices or on outings, using a motor vehicle. Supplemental · importance 3.7
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Administer bedside or personal care, such as assistance with ambulation, dressing, feeding, or personal hygiene.
Work activities
- Monitor health or behavior of people or animals.
- Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
- Document client health or progress.
- Maintain client information or service records.
- Perform housekeeping duties.
- Prepare foods or meals.
- Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
- Teach health or hygiene practices.
- Develop plans for programs or services.
- Drive vehicles to transport patrons.
- Assist individuals with special needs.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Transferable skills
| Service Orientation | 4.0 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.9 | |
| Coordination | 3.1 | |
| Instructing | 3.0 | |
| Time Management | 3.0 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 2.9 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.9 |
Abilities
| Oral Comprehension | 3.9 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.9 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.8 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.3 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.3 | |
| Near Vision | 3.1 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.1 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.1 | |
| Written Expression | 3.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.0 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 2.9 | |
| Time Sharing | 2.9 | |
| Static Strength | 2.9 |
Knowledge
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 3.4 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.3 | |
| Monitoring | 3.3 | |
| Speaking | 3.0 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 2.9 | |
| Writing | 2.9 | |
| Active Learning | 2.9 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| MEDITECH software | Medical software | Hot technology |
| Appletree | Computer based training software | |
| August Systems Visit Wizard | Calendar and scheduling software | |
| Computer reading software | Optical character reader OCR or scanning software | |
| Email software | Electronic mail software | |
| FaceTime | Video conferencing software | |
| Mi-Co Mi-Forms | Data base reporting software | |
| Voltage SecureMail | Electronic mail software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Related experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- Preparation level
- SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Health Professions and Related Programs . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| High School Diploma | 47.8% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 22.5% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 6.2% | |
| Some College Courses | 6.0% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Work styles
| Dependability | 8.0 | |
| Integrity | 7.0 | |
| Cooperation | 6.0 | |
| Social Orientation | 5.0 | |
| Self-Control | 4.0 | |
| Empathy | 3.0 | |
| Optimism | 2.5 |
Interest areas
| Social Service | 6.7 | |
| Personal Service | 5.4 | |
| Health Care Service | 5.2 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 2.9 | |
| Teaching/Education | 2.6 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Social | 6.2 | |
| Conventional | 3.9 | |
| Realistic | 3.5 | |
| Enterprising | 2.5 |
Related occupations
- Home Health Aides · 31-1121.00 Compare →
- Nursing Assistants · 31-1131.00 Compare →
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers · 21-1021.00 Compare →
- Nannies · 39-9011.01 Compare →
- Social and Human Service Assistants · 21-1093.00 Compare →
- Psychiatric Aides · 31-1133.00 Compare →
- Occupational Therapy Aides · 31-2012.00 Compare →
- Rehabilitation Counselors · 21-1015.00 Compare →
- Physical Therapist Aides · 31-2022.00 Compare →
- Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses · 29-2061.00 Compare →
- Healthcare Social Workers · 21-1022.00 Compare →
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers · 21-1023.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Personal Care Aides — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Job zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Health Professions and Related Programs · field of study
Zoom out
See where this work sits in the bigger picture.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Personal Care Aides sit at the 29th percentile of AI task overlap among U.S. occupations
- Personal Care Aides rank in the 29th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
Copy the whole kit
Personal Care Aides sit at the 29th percentile of AI task overlap among U.S. occupations • Personal Care Aides rank in the 29th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) Source: Singulariki — "Personal Care Aides". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-1122-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Personal Care Aides." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-1122-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Personal Care Aides. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-1122-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-31-1122-00,
title = {Personal Care Aides},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-31-1122-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.