Home Health Aides vs Occupational Therapy Aides: $36K vs $39K Median Pay

Home Health Aides vs Occupational Therapy Aides: what changes?

Consider Home Health Aides if you want to monitor the health status of an individual with disabilities or illness, and address their health-related needs, such as changing bandages, dressing wounds, or administering medication. Consider Occupational Therapy Aides if you would rather under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. Entry credentials differ: Home Health Aides, specialty requirements need verification; Occupational Therapy Aides, high school diploma or equivalent.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Home Health Aides and Occupational Therapy Aides. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

The labor-market benchmark for Home Health Aides covers the broader BLS group Home health and personal care aides (31-1120). It does not isolate this specialty.

Compare the practical differences

Home Health Aides

National median pay (2025): $35,800
Route into the job: specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty
Prior related experience: Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.
Training and licensing: Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.
Work to investigate: Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 760,500

Know before you choose

The work routinely happens in close physical proximity to other people; personal space is limited.

See the full Home Health Aides brief

Occupational Therapy Aides

National median pay (2025): $39,160
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 600

Know before you choose

This is a small national occupation (4,400 jobs in 2025), so location and employer concentration can matter more than the national median suggests.

See the full Occupational Therapy Aides brief

How the national numbers differ

Home Health Aides has the edge on annual openings

Home Health Aides is at 760,500 annual openings, compared with 600 annual openings for Occupational Therapy Aides.

Home Health Aides has the edge on projected growth

Home Health Aides is at 18.1% projected growth, compared with 3.6% projected growth for Occupational Therapy Aides.

Typical preparation differs.

Home Health Aides: specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty Occupational Therapy Aides: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Occupational Therapy Aides has the edge on median pay

Occupational Therapy Aides is at $39,160, compared with $35,800 for Home Health Aides.

67.7/ 100

Home Health Aides

28/ 100

Occupational Therapy Aides

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Home Health Aides vs Occupational Therapy Aides

Dimension	Home Health Aides	Occupational Therapy Aides
Median pay (2025)	$35,800	$39,160
Pay percentile	4.7 percentile	10.2 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	18.1%	3.6%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	760,500	600
2025 employment	4,677,100	4,400
How you qualify	specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 3
Related work experience	Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Home Health Aides brief Read Occupational Therapy Aides brief

Home Health Aides vs Occupational Therapy Aides: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Home Health Aides

Occupational Therapy Aides

How the national numbers differ

Home Health Aides has the edge on annual openings

Home Health Aides has the edge on projected growth

Typical preparation differs.

Occupational Therapy Aides has the edge on median pay

Home Health Aides vs Occupational Therapy Aides

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