Home Health Aides vs Physical Therapist Assistants: $36K vs $68K Median Pay

Home Health Aides vs Physical Therapist Assistants: 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 Physical Therapist Assistants if you would rather assist physical therapists in providing physical therapy treatments and procedures. Entry credentials differ: Home Health Aides, specialty requirements need verification; Physical Therapist Assistants, associate's degree.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Home Health Aides and Physical Therapist Assistants. 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

Physical Therapist Assistants

National median pay (2025): $68,380
Route into the job: Associate's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 18,500

Know before you choose

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

See the full Physical Therapist Assistants brief

How the national numbers differ

Physical Therapist Assistants has the edge on median pay

Physical Therapist Assistants is at $68,380, compared with $35,800 for Home Health Aides.

Home Health Aides has the edge on annual openings

Home Health Aides is at 760,500 annual openings, compared with 18,500 annual openings for Physical Therapist Assistants.

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 Physical Therapist Assistants: Associate's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Physical Therapist Assistants has the edge on projected growth

Physical Therapist Assistants is at 23% projected growth, compared with 18.1% projected growth for Home Health Aides.

67.7/ 100

Home Health Aides

73.4/ 100

Physical Therapist Assistants

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 Physical Therapist Assistants

Dimension	Home Health Aides	Physical Therapist Assistants
Median pay (2025)	$35,800	$68,380
Pay percentile	4.7 percentile	60.2 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	18.1%	23%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	760,500	18,500
2025 employment	4,677,100	114,100
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	Associate's degree
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.	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

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 Physical Therapist Assistants brief

Home Health Aides vs Physical Therapist Assistants: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Home Health Aides

Physical Therapist Assistants

How the national numbers differ

Physical Therapist Assistants has the edge on median pay

Home Health Aides has the edge on annual openings

Typical preparation differs.

Physical Therapist Assistants has the edge on projected growth

Home Health Aides vs Physical Therapist Assistants

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