What Home Health and Personal Care Aides earn in Ada County, ID
The median pay for Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Ada County, ID is $35,850 per year, which works out to $17.24 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Boise City, ID metropolitan area, the labor market that Ada County, ID belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $34,650, which is 3.3% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 9,850 people working in this occupation across the Boise City, ID metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Ada County, ID has roughly 518,935 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Home Health and Personal Care Aides in the Boise City, ID metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $28,910 a year ($13.90 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $41,600 or more ($20.00 an hour). That is a gap of $12,690 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $29,450 at the 25th percentile and $37,720 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.4 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $17.24 an hour or $35,850 a year at the median for Ada County, ID. Before any deductions, that is $2,988 a month, $1,379 every two weeks and $689 each week. After taxes the same job pays $14.46 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Ada County, ID compares
Compared with the Idaho average
A worker in this occupation in Ada County, ID earns $764 more than the Idaho average of $35,086, a premium of 2.2%. Over a year that premium is worth $764 before tax and roughly $641 after tax.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Home Health and Personal Care Aides is $34,899 across the contiguous United States. At $35,850, Ada County, ID pays $952 more, which is 2.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Ada County, ID
Among the 435 occupations with published wages in Ada County, ID, Home Health and Personal Care Aides ranks number 400 by median pay, ahead of about 8% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $83,680 a year, which is $47,830 more than the median for Home Health and Personal Care Aides.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Home Health and Personal Care Aides earning the Ada County, ID median of $35,850, they add up to $5,773. The result is $30,077 of take-home pay a year ($2,506 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.1%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $20,100. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,174, an effective 6.1% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,223 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $520. FICA totals $2,743, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Idaho
Idaho income tax on this salary is $857 a year, or 2.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 39% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $71 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Ada County, ID
IRS Statistics of Income data for Ada County, ID show an average adjusted gross income of $103,578 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.5%, compared with the 6.1% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Ada County, ID
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Ada County, ID: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $30,077 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Ada County, ID, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,295 a month ($15,540 a year), and at $1,540 for two bedrooms. For Home Health and Personal Care Aides, a one-bedroom absorbs 51.7% of take-home pay and 43.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.6% of gross pay for Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Ada County, ID. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Idaho residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,217 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $336, for $1,553 in total. Gasoline in Idaho averages $3.35 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,549.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $22,078 a year in Ada County, ID. Subtract that from $30,077 of take-home pay and $7,999 remains, which is $667 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 22.3% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Home Health and Personal Care Aides afford to live in Ada County, ID?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $35,850 that ceiling is $896 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,295 is $399 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $24.90 an hour; the median for Home Health and Personal Care Aides is $17.24, which is 31% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $14.46 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 20.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,540 a month means $770 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,300 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,299.
How fast you can save
At $667 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 16 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 32 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Home Health and Personal Care Aides pay in Ada County, ID
How much do Home Health and Personal Care Aides make per hour in Ada County, ID?
The median is $17.24 per hour, based on $35,850 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $13.90 at the 10th percentile to $20.00 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Home Health and Personal Care Aides take home after taxes in Ada County, ID?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $35,850 becomes $30,077 a year. That is $2,506 a month, $1,157 every two weeks or $578 a week.
How much tax do Home Health and Personal Care Aides pay in Ada County, ID?
Total taxes are $5,773 a year, an effective rate of 16.1%: $2,174 federal income tax, $2,743 FICA and $857 Idaho income tax.
Do Home Health and Personal Care Aides earn more in Ada County, ID than elsewhere in Idaho?
Yes. The local median of $35,850 is +2.2% versus the Idaho average of $35,086, a difference of $764 a year.
Can Home Health and Personal Care Aides afford a one-bedroom apartment in Ada County, ID?
A one-bedroom costs $1,295 a month against take-home pay of $2,506, which is 51.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $896 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Ada County, ID?
About $667 a month ($7,999 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $22,078 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Ada County, ID at the 30% guideline?
$24.90 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $15,540 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Home Health and Personal Care Aides is $17.24.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Boise City, ID metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Idaho rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.