Home Health Care Pay Rates in 2026: A Benchmark for Agencies

The Short Version:  
National wage data can be misleading for home health agencies because it often combines hospitals, clinics, physician offices, schools, and other employers with home health.

The latest BLS data for home health care services puts the national median at $17.42 an hour for home health and personal care aides, $30.57 for LPNs and LVNs, $40.83 for registered nurses, and $55.16 for physical therapists. Several of those run well below the all-industry figures usually quoted. Registered nurses are the clearest case, at $84,930 in home health against $97,550 across all employers.

Those are useful starting points, but they aren’t plug-and-play pay rates. Your local market, territory, mileage, visit expectations, documentation time, on-call rotation, benefits, and schedule all affect what it takes to make a competitive offer.

The practical takeaway is to use home-health-specific wage data to set your starting point, then build a pay range around the actual job you’re asking someone to do.

You're writing a job posting for a caregiver, an RN case manager, or a therapist, and you need a number.

So, naturally, you start looking. One site says caregivers make $14 an hour. Another says $22. You find a national figure for RNs and wonder how your agency is supposed to compete with it. Meanwhile, the home health agency across town posted the same role for a dollar more than you’re currently paying, and your team has noticed.

Wage data is useful, but the first number you find may not be measuring the market you’re actually hiring in. National wage figures often combine employers across hospitals, physician offices, clinics, schools, facilities, and home health agencies. That’s a broad snapshot, and it isn’t always the best benchmark for an agency trying to fill a field role.

This guide uses the latest available U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for Home Health Care Services (NAICS 621600) rather than all-industry averages. It shows the national home-health benchmarks for core agency roles, where they differ from broader national figures, and how to turn those numbers into a pay range that fits your market and your margins. The data reflects May 2025 estimates released in May 2026.

What Are the Home Health Care Pay Rates in 2026?

The table below shows national wage benchmarks for common home health and hospice roles, using BLS data for Home Health Care Services. The figures are ordered by median annual pay.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national industry estimates for NAICS 621600, Home Health Care Services. Released May 15, 2026. Annual figures are hourly wages multiplied by 2,080 hours.

For agencies with a large field-care workforce, even a small change in aide pay can quickly shift the labor budget.

Why Home Health Pay Rates Differ From National Averages

The national wage figures people often find first are all-industry benchmarks. They combine employers across hospitals, physician offices, clinics, schools, facilities, and other settings, not just home health agencies. And it’s an important distinction because, for some roles, the all-industry number is close enough to be useful. For others, it can be off by tens of thousands of dollars in either direction.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Home health column is NAICS 621600 national industry estimates. All-industry column is national cross-industry estimates for the same occupation codes.

Broad national benchmarks can overstate what home health agencies typically pay for some roles and understate it for others. Registered nurses are a clear example. The home-health median is $84,930, compared with $97,550 across all industries. Therapy goes the other direction, with physical therapists and speech language pathologists earning more in home health than their all-industry medians. Aides and LPNs are much closer to their broader national benchmarks.

Use the all-industry number for broad context, but use the home health figure as the better national starting point when you’re building an agency pay range.

How to Use Wage Ranges to Build a Pay Band

A median is a useful starting point, but it doesn’t tell you how broad the market is. The percentiles below show the range of reported hourly wages within home health care services, and that range is where you begin making practical pay decisions.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry estimates for NAICS 621600, Home Health Care Services.

For RNs, the reported home-health range runs from $31.90 an hour at the 10th percentile to $60.62 at the 90th. For aides, the range is tighter: $17.42 at the median and $18.91 at the 75th percentile. A relatively modest increase can move an aide offer from the middle of the national range into the upper quarter.

Find your current rate on the range, and then compare the full job (not just the wage) with local alternatives. If hiring or retention remains difficult at a higher percentile, look at workload, territory, scheduling, benefits, leadership, and local competition as well.

What Do Home Health Field Staff Get Paid?

Home health and personal care aides have a national median wage of $17.42 an hour, or $36,230 on a full-time, year-round basis. Certified nursing assistants are slightly higher at $18.29 an hour, or $38,040. More than 1 million home health and personal care aides work in the industry nationally, and BLS projects employment of the occupation to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035.

LPNs and LVNs have a home health median of $30.57 an hour, or $63,580 annually. Registered nurses have a median of $40.83 an hour, or $84,930 annually. The titles tell you the license, but they don’t tell you the full job. Admissions, recertifications, caseload, territory, mileage, documentation, on-call coverage, weekends, supervision responsibilities, and patient acuity all change what a competitive offer looks like.

For field roles, compare the whole arrangement, not just the posted rate. Visit expectations, territory, documentation, mileage, drive time, on-call coverage, differentials, and benefits all shape what an offer is worth in practice.

What Do Home Health Therapists Get Paid?

Among the clinical roles in this guide, therapy carries some of the highest national median wages in home health care services. Speech-language pathologists earn $56.43 an hour, or $117,370 annually; physical therapists earn $55.16 an hour, or $114,740; and occupational therapists earn $51.11 an hour, or $106,300. 

Assistant roles come in lower. Physical therapist assistants earn $38.49 an hour, or $80,050 annually, while occupational therapy assistants earn $37.17 an hour, or $77,310.

The pay structure is just as important as the headline number. A therapist paid hourly, salaried, per visit, or through a hybrid arrangement may experience the job very differently depending on territory, drive time, productivity expectations, documentation requirements, and the policy for cancelled visits. Before comparing your rate with another employer’s, make sure you’re comparing the whole arrangement.

What Do Home Health Leadership Roles Pay?

BLS doesn’t publish a separate national home health wage line for titles such as clinical manager, director of nursing, branch manager, administrator, or executive director. The closest broad benchmark is medical and health services managers, with a median home-health wage of $101,830 annually. The range runs from $73,330 at the 10th percentile to $165,400 at the 90th percentile.

Use that number as a starting point, not a title-by-title answer. A single-branch clinical manager and a leader accountable for several locations, survey readiness, staffing, quality outcomes, and a P&L may all fall within the same broad BLS occupation. Scope should drive the final range.

Community liaison and referral-development titles also don’t map neatly to one BLS occupation. For a relationship-building role with referral sources, the closest available proxy is a service sales representative, which is $38.18 an hour, or $79,400 annually, in home health care services. If you use incentive pay, document what’s measured, when it’s paid, who qualifies, and how the plan will be reviewed for applicable referral and compensation rules.

How Do You Set Competitive Pay Rates for a Home Health Agency?

Use the national benchmarks as your starting point, then turn them into a local pay range:

1. Check the local market. Compare local occupation data and current job postings, not just home health postings, but hospitals and other employers competing for the same licenses.

2. Price the actual job. Account for credentials, clinical scope, caseload, patient population, territory, schedule, documentation, and supervisory responsibilities.

3. Build in the full workday. Include travel, mileage, documentation, cancellations, on-call coverage, overtime rules, and worker classification requirements. Have qualified payroll, HR, and legal advisers review the arrangement.

4. Put the rules in writing. Define differentials, admissions pay, cancellation pay, incentives, bonuses, and eligibility conditions so employees can understand their total compensation.

5. Review the range regularly. Revisit it at least annually, and sooner when local wage laws, responsibilities, or competitive conditions change.

Where to Start With Your Own Home Health Agency's Pay Ranges

If you came here looking for one number to drop into a job posting, unfortunately, there isn’t a single right number. Instead, you need to build a range for each role with a floor, a midpoint, and a ceiling based on home health wage data, your local market, and the actual work involved.

Base pay is important, but so is the full package. If you offer consistent hours, mileage reimbursement, paid documentation time, differentials, PTO, benefits, retirement contributions, or a path to take on more responsibility, make those details clear in the posting and interview. For field roles, be equally clear about territory size, expected visits, travel time, cancellation policies, and on-call expectations. Don’t list these items to hide a below-market rate, but don’t leave them invisible, either.

Whirks helps home health and hospice agencies align payroll, HR, benefits, and pay practices.

If you're weighing whether a raise is worth it, the other side of that math is what it costs when someone leaves. Our caregiver turnover calculator runs your headcount, wage, and turnover rate and shows the annual cost, plus what 10 points of improvement is worth.

Data methodology: Wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates, released May 15, 2026. Primary figures are national industry estimates for NAICS 621600, Home Health Care Services. Comparison figures are national cross-industry estimates for the same occupation codes. Annual wages are hourly wages multiplied by 2,080 hours. OEWS estimates are survey-based benchmarks and should inform, not replace, local competitive research and a role-specific review of credentials, duties, scheduling, travel, benefits, and compliance obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions About Home Health Pay Rates

Do home health agencies pay nurses less than hospitals?

The national BLS benchmark for registered nurses in home health care services is lower than the all-industry benchmark: $84,930 compared with $97,550. That doesn’t mean every home health agency pays less than every hospital. It means the national all-industry figure reflects RN pay across many employer types and shouldn’t be used as a direct home health agency benchmark.

Do home health aides and personal care aides get paid the same?

BLS reports them as one occupation, so the published figures cover both. Pay does differ by employer type. Agencies providing skilled nursing in the home, including hospice, are classified in a different industry than agencies providing only companionship, homemaking, or personal care, and the skilled side generally pays somewhat more.

Is it better to pay home health workers hourly or per visit?

Both models can work. Per-visit pay can align compensation with completed visits, while hourly pay can provide more predictable earnings and simpler time-based payroll. Whichever model you use, make sure the policy clearly accounts for drive time, documentation, cancellations, overtime, and applicable wage-and-hour requirements.

Why do annual figures look high for part-time aides in home health?

BLS calculates annual wages by multiplying the hourly rate by 2,080 hours, or full-time year-round. Aide work is frequently part-time, so the annual figures overstate what many aides actually earn in a year. The hourly figures are the more reliable comparison for field staff.