Guides
How much to charge for home care agency work
Home care pricing starts with the loaded cost of one care hour, then adds the margin your agency needs to survive turnover and unfilled shifts.
What to take away
How much to charge for home care agency work comes down to the loaded care hour. That number covers wages, payroll taxes, workers' compensation, drive time, mileage, scheduling and training. Build every rate on top of it.
- Price the loaded care hour, not a competitor's flyeradd payroll taxes, workers' compensation premiums, paid travel between clients, and unpaid scheduling time.
- Typical agency gross margin targets run 25 to 35 percent; the figure depends on payer mix, visit length and travel zone.
- Break-even client hours equal monthly fixed costs divided by contribution per care hour. Until you know that number, every rate is a guess.
- A four-hour minimum and a stated travel zone protect the margin on short visits.
- Read fill rate, caregiver turnover, and gross margin per visit monthly. A rate rise that lifts turnover costs more than it earns.
- Confirm payroll, licensing, and contract rules with the IRS, your state licensing body, or a CPA before you publish a rate.
- Benchmark named providers such as Home Instead, Comfort Keepers, Visiting Angels, BrightStar Care and Interim HealthCare; each sets rates by local franchise.
- Typical US rates in 2026 run $28 to $38 per hour for companion care and $38 to $55 per hour for skilled nursing shifts, depending on market and license.
Build the rate from the loaded care hour
Start with the caregiver's hourly wage. Add the employer's share of FICA at 7.65 percent, FUTA, state unemployment tax, and workers' compensation premiums for your state and classification. Add mileage and drive time between clients, because a caregiver driving twenty minutes unpaid is a cost you carry, not the client.
Loaded cost of one care hour
- Start with caregiver hourly wage
- Add employer CPP and EI share
- Add WSIB or WCB premiums
- Add mileage and drive time
- Add non-billable hours share
- Divide by billable care hours
Add the share of non-billable hours: scheduling, supervision, care-plan updates, recruiting, and training. Divide total monthly caregiving cost by billable care hours to get the loaded cost of one hour. That figure, not the wage, is the floor under every rate.
Software such as AxisCare, WellSky and AlayaCare tracks drive time, mileage and non-billable hours. Small-agency plans often run from about $200 to $1,200 per month in 2026, based on caregiver seats and billing modules. Without that data, the loaded cost is a guess.
Canada variant: Start with the caregiver's hourly wage. Add the employer's share of CPP and EI, plus WSIB or WCB premiums for your province and classification. Add mileage and drive time between clients, because a caregiver driving twenty minutes unpaid is a cost you carry, not the client.
Break-even: how many billable hours you need
Let C be the loaded cost of one care hour. Let F be your monthly fixed costs. Let M be the contribution margin you want per hour. Your monthly fixed costs include:
Break-even hours worked example
- 12,000monthly fixed costs
- 9margin per hour
- 1,333billable hours monthly
- 11clients at 120 hours
Here is an illustrative loaded cost. Caregiver wage: $17 an hour. Payroll taxes and insurance: 12 percent, or $2.04. Workers' compensation: $3 per $100 of payroll, or $0.51.
Paid drive time: 30 minutes at $17, or $8.50. Mileage: 10 miles at the IRS standard business rate, 70 cents a mile in 2025 (the IRS updates this each January), or $7.00. Non-billable allowance: 20 percent of direct care cost, or $34.38 across an 8-hour shift.
Total loaded cost for 8 billable hours: $206.28. Loaded cost: $25.79 per hour. Add a $9 margin and the rate is $34.79.
Break-even client hours equal F divided by (rate minus C).
When rate minus C equals M, the agency needs F divided by M billable hours each month just to cover overhead.
With F at 12,000 dollars and M at 9 dollars per hour, the agency needs about 1,333 billable care hours a month before it earns anything. At 120 hours per client per month, that is roughly eleven active clients. Substitute your own numbers; the shape of the calculation is the point.
Rate card with typical 2026 prices
| Service line | How to price it | What it protects |
|---|---|---|
| Standard care hour | $32 to $38 per hour with a four-hour minimum | Short visits that cost a full trip |
| Live-in or overnight | Flat nightly rate, typical $240 to $350, not hourly | Sleep hours you cannot bill |
| Respite for the family arranging care | Half-day block rate, typical $150 to $220 for five hours | Cancellations at short notice |
| Dementia or high-acuity care | Higher band, typical $38 to $48 per hour, reviewed quarterly | Extra supervision time per shift |
| Caregiver leaving mid-care-plan | Transition fee, typical $150 to $500, or minimum block | The recruiting cost of a replacement |
| Home Instead or Comfort Keepers benchmark | Local franchise rates often $28 to $38 per hour for companion care in many US metros | Market context, not a target |
| BrightStar Care or Interim HealthCare skilled shift | $38 to $55 per hour for RN or LPN visits in many markets | Clinical license and supervision |
Publish the minimum visit length and the travel zone. A family that books ninety minutes inside a thirty-minute drive each way is buying three hours of your day.
Home Instead and Comfort Keepers focus on non-medical companion and personal care. Visiting Angels serves seniors who need help at home. BrightStar Care and Interim HealthCare add medical and skilled nursing lines.
Each sets prices by franchise territory, so a quote from one city does not transfer.
Payroll, tax and advertising rules that set your floor
Payroll figures are public. Employer FICA is 7.65 percent. FUTA applies up to 6 percent on the first $7,000 of wages, with credits that usually lower it. State unemployment and workers' compensation rates vary by state. In Canada, CPP, EI and provincial WSIB or WCB rates apply.
The IRS recordkeeping guide sets out the principle that applies to your own books: keep records that clearly show income and expenses and support payroll, purchases, and assets. Your rate is only defensible if the cost behind it is documented.
The FTC advertising guide governs how you describe that rate. Price claims must be truthful and supported, and any testimonial must reflect honest experience with material relationships disclosed.
The BLS wage tables give occupation and metropolitan wage estimates you can use as one input when checking whether your caregiver pay is competitive locally. They do not tell you what to charge.
BLS tables put median home health and personal care aide pay near $16 to $18 an hour in many US metros in the May 2024 estimates. That is an input, not a rate.
Review the rate against three numbers
Pull fill rate, caregiver turnover, and gross margin per visit every month. If fill rate falls after a rate rise, you priced above your market. If turnover rises, your wage share is too thin and recruiting costs will eat the gain.
Read the home care agency services and packages guide before you restructure the menu, so the packages and the rate card stay consistent. Change one line at a time and give each change a full billing cycle before judging it.
Common questions
Should I match the agency down the road?
No. Their cost base, payer mix, and travel zone are not yours. Price from your loaded care hour and check their published rate only as a market signal, not as a target.
How often should rates change?
Review annually at minimum, and immediately when minimum wage, payroll premiums, or fuel costs move. Give clients the notice period your contract requires.
Do I charge for the drive between clients?
You cannot bill a client for time spent driving to someone else, so recover it inside the hourly rate or through a stated travel zone. Leaving it out of the rate means paying for it from margin.
What if a caregiver leaves mid-care-plan?
Treat the replacement cost as a real expense: recruiting, onboarding, and the supervisor hours to rebuild the schedule. Some agencies recover it through a transition fee agreed with the family in advance.
