Home Health and Personal Care Aide Career Assessment
The fastest-growing job on this whole site
Welcome
Aides help people stay in their own homes — with washing, dressing, meals, medicine reminders, and getting through the day.
North Dakota expects about 23% growth by 2034 and roughly 1,430 openings a year. That is the strongest outlook of any job in this section, and you can start without a degree.
This takes about 15 minutes.
What is a Home Health and Personal Care Aide?
You go to someone’s home and help them do what they can no longer do alone. That might be bathing and dressing, cooking, light housework, reminding them about medicine, or driving them to an appointment. A lot of it is simply being the person who shows up, notices they are not right today, and says something to someone who can act on it.
The Reality: If nobody does this job, somebody does not get out of bed today. That is not a figure of speech. You will see people at their least dignified and they will know it, and how you handle that is most of the job. There is lifting. There is death, sometimes of someone you have known for two years. Travel between clients is often unpaid, and that can quietly eat a chunk of your day.
Your Responsibilities:
- Help with bathing, dressing, and using the bathroom
- Prepare meals and help with eating
- Remind about medicine and appointments
- Light housekeeping and laundry
- Help someone move safely, and transfer them without hurting either of you
- Notice changes in how someone is doing and report them
- Keep accurate notes of each visit
- Be good company — for many clients you are the only person they see that day
You are the reason somebody gets to stay in their own home.
A Day in the Life
7:30 AM — First client. Help him wash and dress, make breakfast, check he took his tablets.
9:00 AM — Drive to the second client across town.
9:30 AM — Light housework, laundry, and a proper conversation — she has not spoken to anyone since yesterday.
11:00 AM — Third client. She seems confused and is not eating. Report it.
12:30 PM — Lunch in the car between visits.
1:30 PM — Take a client to a medical appointment and wait.
3:30 PM — Last client. Prepare an evening meal and set out what he needs for the night.
4:30 PM — Write up the day’s notes.
A round of short visits, mostly alone, with real responsibility in each.
Training in North Dakota
No degree needed. Most employers train you, and some pay you while you train. Personal care work generally needs no formal program — the agency trains you. Home health aide roles at Medicare-certified agencies require a set amount of training and a competency check, which the agency normally provides.
Training Pathways:
- Agency training: Most home care agencies train new aides themselves. Ask whether the training is paid, because some is and some is not.
- Straight into work: Private-pay and personal care roles can often start quickly with the agency’s own orientation.
- Then CNA if you want it: Certified Nursing Assistant needs a state-approved course and the state registry, and it opens hospital and nursing home work. Many employers will pay for the course once you have proved yourself.
Where to Train in North Dakota:
Before You Start: A background check is required for this work — see the section below. You need a driver’s licence and a reliable vehicle for most positions. Physical ability to help someone move safely. Most employers want you to be 18.
Tip: Most of these jobs need no school, so the cost of starting is not tuition — it is the things you need in the first month. Non-slip shoes, work clothes or a uniform, a way to get to work, and getting through the two or three weeks before the first paycheck arrives. Ask the employer first: many will supply a uniform, some give a shoe allowance, and some pay weekly rather than every two weeks, which matters a lot at the start. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like work clothes, boots, tools, or getting to work. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you start rather than after.
Certification & Licensing
A background check is part of getting hired — and it is worth knowing how that works. This is care work with vulnerable people, so your record matters. But the rules are not what most people assume, and they are not the same as the rules for child care. North Dakota does not run a state criminal background check for nurse aide and home health aide work. Instead, the training program looks at your record before you start and sends what it finds to the state for review. After that, the employer decides whether to hire you. There is no published list of offences for this work and no set number of years you have to wait, so nobody can tell you the answer in advance — and that also means a record is not an automatic no. Many people assume it is, never apply, and never find out. One more thing worth knowing, because it has nothing to do with convictions: North Dakota keeps a nurse aide registry, and a finding of abuse, neglect, or taking a resident’s property goes on it permanently and blocks this kind of work even if you were never charged with anything. If you have a record, or anything on that registry, ask the training program or North Dakota Health and Human Services what applies to you before you rule yourself out.
What employers usually require:
- Background screening — the training program screens your record and the state reviews it; the employer makes the hiring decision
- No published offence list and no set waiting period — for nurse aide and home health aide work in North Dakota, unlike child care
- Nurse Aide Registry — a finding of abuse, neglect, or taking a resident’s property is permanent and blocks this work, even with no criminal charge
- Child care work is a different process — the state runs a fingerprint check and publishes a list of offences, so do not assume the rules are the same
- Driver’s licence and insurance — needed for most positions, since you travel between homes
- CPR and first aid — commonly required; employers often provide or pay for it
- Agency training and competency check — provided by the employer
- CNA certification — not needed for this job, but the obvious next step if you want hospital or nursing home work
The Exams: No exam to start. CNA certification, if you go on to it, has a written test and a skills test.
Cost: Starting should cost you nothing. Employers generally cover required training and the background check. CNA courses are often paid for by an employer in exchange for a commitment.
Keeping It Current: CPR certification is usually renewed every two years.
Salary & Job Outlook
North Dakota Home Health and Personal Care Aide Pay (May 2025):
- Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $17.41–$17.84/hour ($36,220–$37,110/year)
- Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $18.96/hour ($39,440/year)
- Experienced (top 25–10%): $22.02–$23.65/hour ($45,800–$49,190/year)
What that means: This pays better than most jobs in this section. Two things to check before you accept: whether your driving time between clients is paid, and whether you are guaranteed hours or only paid for the visits you get. Both can make a big difference to what you actually take home.
Jobs in North Dakota: About 7,690 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 9,420 (about 23% growth). Expect about 1430 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is growing much faster than average.
Outlook: The strongest in this whole section. About 23% growth in North Dakota by 2034 and roughly 1,430 openings a year. The reason is simple and not going to reverse: more older people, and most of them would rather stay in their own homes than move into a facility.
Who Hires in ND: Home care agencies, hospice, county and tribal aging services, assisted living, and families hiring directly.
Work Setting: In clients’ homes, with driving in between. Usually alone. Shifts can be early mornings, evenings, overnights, or weekends. Rural routes mean more driving.
Physical Demands: Moderate to high. Helping people stand, transfer, and bathe. Real risk to your back if you are not taught to lift properly — insist on that training.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 31-1121); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.
Where This Leads
Path 1: Personal Care Aide — Where most people start.
Path 2: Home Health Aide — Medicare-certified agency work, a bit more training and responsibility.
Path 3: Certified Nursing Assistant — State course and registry — opens hospitals and nursing homes.
Path 4: LPN, then RN — Many nurses started as aides. Employers often help pay.
Path 5: Scheduler or Care Coordinator — Office side of an agency, using what you learned in the field.
Path 6: Hospice Aide — Specialised, demanding, and deeply valued work.
The Real Talk
What's Great:
- The strongest job outlook in this section
- Pays better than most jobs you can start now
- No degree needed and employers train you
- Real relationships with the people you care for
- A clear road into nursing if you want it
- You can see exactly why your work matters
What's Hard:
- Emotionally heavy — including losing clients you have known a long time
- Lifting and transferring can injure your back
- Driving between clients is often unpaid
- Hours can be irregular, split, or not guaranteed
- Often alone with no colleague to ask
- Some families are difficult, and some homes are not pleasant
Be Honest: Can you be steady and kind with someone at their most vulnerable? Can you handle it when a client you care about dies? Do you have reliable transport and a licence?