Report: What States are Best for Homecare?

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (May 6, 2020)—Jobs in the homecare sector are expected to grow 37% through 2028, well ahead of the overall growth rate of 5% for all occupations, according to a new report released by the SeniorList. 

The SeniorList compiles an annual report on home health and Homecare quality and affordability each year, with data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. This year’s data was gathered before the outbreak of COVID-19. 

The report also found that positions that often involve providing in-home health or personal care, such as registered nurses or nurse assistants, also are expected to see better-than-average growth at 12% and 9%, respectively.

The SeniorList report analyzed three areas of the homecare sector for access and affordability:

• Home health and personal care aides
• Nursing assistants
• Registered nurses

The report determined state rankings by looking at factors such as employment per 1,000 jobs, unfilled jobs per 30 days, the average annual cost of in-home help as percentage of typical income for people 65 and older, and the average annual cost of nursing care as percentage of typical income for those 65 and older. 

Each state was assigned a value equal to its rank in each category, and 51 was the best possible score a state could receive in a category.

Here are some of the report’s key findings:

• Kansas is the highest-ranked state for access to in-home care, followed by Missouri and Delaware. Nevada has the worst access.
• New York is the No. 1 state for employment of home health and personal care aides at 46.72%. Rhode Island is the best state for nursing assistants at 19.24%, and South Dakota has the highest concentration of registered nurse jobs at 30.47%.
• The District of Columbia has the highest ratio of nursing and in-home care workers per older resident (302.47 per 1,000) while Florida’s ratio is at the bottom (79.29 per 1,000).
• Kansas is doing the best job of filling in-home care positions, with just 36.60% of jobs left unfilled after 30 days, compared to Wyoming with 76.90% unfilled.
• Full-time in-home nursing care is a big expense everywhere, but it’s most affordable in Maryland, where a typical nursing worker makes 115.7% of what the average older adult makes per year, compared to 180.2% in California.

Read the full report and see where your state ranks here.