AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Personal Care Aides?

Task-level automation exposure for Personal Care Aides: 11 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

28% weighted task index

11 of 11 tasks scored

Median Salary

$35,800 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

4,305,810 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+18.1% employment change

760,500 openings a year · BLS roll-up 31-1120

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$21,840 – $47,730

Highest medians

Washington $47,730

Oregon $44,410

Rhode Island $43,680

District of Columbia $42,700

Vermont $41,600

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $21,840

Louisiana $22,520

Mississippi $23,860

Texas $24,230

Guam $26,500

OEWS has no state row for this exact code, so figures come from the 31-1120 roll-up. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 28%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 21%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 68%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 11%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 11%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 60/100 High

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

11 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 20%

2 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 17%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 62%

7 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Emerging & rewritten tasks

Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.

Revision 08/2023 · Incumbent

Administer bedside or personal care, such as assistance with ambulation, dressing, feeding, or personal hygiene.

Replaced: Administer bedside or personal care, such as ambulation or personal hygiene assistance.

Constituent Tasks

#2371 · Core · 72% automatable

Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor.

text generation — Draft clinical progress notes from provided inputs

Document client health or progress. Maintain client information or service records.

#2370 · Core · 8% automatable Revision

Administer bedside or personal care, such as ambulation or personal hygiene assistance.

physical manipulation — Basic health care treatments are hands-on patient work

Administer basic health care or medical treatments.

#2369 · Core · 18% automatable

Perform healthcare-related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses or physiotherapists.

visual inspection — Monitoring health/behavior of people or animals is on-site

Monitor health or behavior of people or animals. Administer basic health care or medical treatments.

#2376 · Core · 62% automatable

Participate in case reviews, consulting with the team caring for the client, to evaluate the client's needs and plan for continuing services.

text generation — Service plans drafted; operational ownership human

Develop plans for programs or services.

#2374 · Core · 40% automatable

Instruct or advise clients on issues, such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene, nutrition, or infant care.

interpersonal — Hygiene teaching is interpersonal and situational

Teach health or hygiene practices.

#2373 · Core · 25% automatable

Care for individuals or families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption, or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care, or help in adjusting to new lifestyles.

interpersonal — Comfort and encouragement need live emotional presence

Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.

#2372 · Core · 8% automatable

Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands.

physical manipulation — Housekeeping is physical labor in varied spaces

Perform housekeeping duties. Prepare foods or meals.

#2379 · Core · 10% automatable

Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them.

physical manipulation — Hands-on support for special-needs individuals

Assist individuals with special needs.

#2378 · Supplemental · 40% automatable

Train family members to provide bedside care.

interpersonal — Hygiene teaching is interpersonal and situational

Teach health or hygiene practices.

#2375 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Plan, shop for, or prepare nutritious meals or assist families in planning, shopping for, or preparing nutritious meals.

physical manipulation — Hands-on meal preparation

Prepare foods or meals.

#2377 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Transport clients to locations outside the home, such as to physicians' offices or on outings, using a motor vehicle.

situated mobility — Driving patrons requires human vehicle operation

Drive vehicles to transport patrons.

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Community Sentiment

Do you agree?

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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