5. New York — $36,200 Median
New York has one of the highest home health aide wages outside the West Coast. The median sits at $17.40 an hour, and NYC pushes it several dollars higher.
The state's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) lets family members get paid to care for relatives. Rates through CDPAP are the same as agency work but with less overhead.
Upstate New York (Rochester, Buffalo, Albany) pays close to the state median. Long Island and Westchester routinely offer $20 to $22 an hour to hold onto experienced aides.
