Nome Census Area, AK
Home care market report from Census, BLS and Alaska Medicaid data.
Executive summary
A fast-growing senior market with a Medicaid rate of $37.20 an hour
Nome Census Area has 1,022 people aged 65 and over, up 19.7% since 2020, and 3.4% of them need help bathing or dressing.
1,022
People 65 and over, July 2025
1
Growing faster than the country
Up 19.7% since 2020, against 15.5% for the US. The 75 to 84 group grew 59.8%.
3.4%
Seniors, 2020–2024
2
Need help bathing or dressing
About 29 people. 6.8% in Alaska, 7.1% in the US.
$20.72
Median aide wage, May 2025
3
What caregivers earn here
Above the Alaska median of $19.11. Nursing assistants earn $23.28.
$37.20
Medicaid fee schedule, AK
4
What Medicaid pays an agency
Fee schedule rate, not the average the federal rule asks for. 1.8 times the local aide wage.
Who needs care
Seniors who need help at home
21.9%
Living alone, Seniors, 2020–2024
Alaska 25.7% · US 26.6%
3.4%
Need help bathing or dressing, Seniors, 2020–2024
Alaska 6.8% · US 7.1%
13.0%
Need help with errands, Seniors, 2020–2024
Alaska 11.4% · US 13.2%
34.0%
Covered by Medicaid, Seniors, 2020–2024
Alaska 15.4% · US 14.1%
23.6%
Below the poverty line, Age 75 and over, 2020–2024
Alaska 8.4% · US 11.9%
$58,594
Median income, households headed by someone 65+, Seniors, 2020–2024
Alaska $71,650 · US $58,390
Census American Community Survey, 2020–2024 five-year estimates (tables B09020, B18106, B18107, C27007, B17020, B19049). Poverty is shown for 75 and over, the age band the table splits out. In small counties these are estimates from few responses.
Logicly’s reading
3.4% of seniors here need help bathing or dressing, against 6.8% in Alaska: about 29 people. 110 cannot run errands or get to appointments alone. 21.9% of seniors live alone.
Population ahead
Seniors by year
People 65 and over, 2020 to 2025
1,022 people 65 and over, 2025 +4.6% vs prior year
+59.8%
Age 75 to 84, 2020 to 2025
189 to 302
+11.5%
Age 85 and over, 2020 to 2025
52 to 58
−1.9%
Whole county, 2020 to 2025
10,025 to 9,830
17th
of 30 Alaska counties on senior growth
Alaska county median +20.8%
Census population estimates, vintage 2025, July of each year. No federal source forecasts county populations; these are trends, not a forecast.
Logicly’s reading
Seniors grew 19.7% while the county as a whole shrank 1.9%. The 75 to 84 group, 302 people, reaches 85 over the next decade, the age when daily help is most common.
The market
Home care jobs and businesses
Not published
Home care jobs per 1,000 seniors, 2025
Alaska 23.9 · US 42.0
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, industry 624120 (non-medical home care, homemaker and companion services, adult day). Census County Business Patterns 2023 for businesses. The BLS job count is higher than the Census employee count because it also counts household employers, such as families who hire a caregiver through a Medicaid self-directed program. BLS withholds counts where a county has too few employers to publish without identifying them.
Logicly’s reading
BLS does not publish home care job counts for Nome Census Area: there are too few employers to publish without identifying them.
Can you hire here
Caregiver pay against other jobs
Median hourly wage, Alaska nonmetropolitan area, May 2025
- Nursing assistants $23.28
- Home health and personal care aides $20.72
- Janitors and cleaners $19.07
- Stockers and order fillers $19.06
- Cashiers $17.13
- Retail salespersons $17.11
- Fast food and counter workers $15.71
$20.72
Median aide wage, Alaska nonmetropolitan area
Alaska $19.11 · US $17.21
$17.99
Aide wage at the 25th percentile, a typical starting rate
Alaska $17.62 · US $15.35
1,500
Home health and personal care aides, Alaska nonmetropolitan area
May 2025
$17.99–22.55
Middle half of aide wages
25th to 75th percentile
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, all industries. Aides are occupation 31-1120; BLS no longer splits home health from personal care aides.
Logicly’s reading
Caregivers here can earn more as nursing assistants. Those jobs, more than other agencies, are who you compete with for staff.
What Medicaid pays here
Alaska Medicaid rates
$37.20
Agency personal care, fee schedule per hour
Fee schedule rate, not the average the federal rule asks for
$37.20
Individual providers, per hour
Caregivers the client hires directly
1.8×
The agency rate against the local median aide wage
$20.72 an hour, May 2025
Alaska Medicaid fee schedule, per hour
What is left of a Medicaid hour?
$9.57left per billed hour for the office and profit · Logicly estimate
Caregiver labor costs $27.63 per billed hour: $20.72 an hour plus 20% payroll costs, spread over the 90% of paid hours you can bill.
Labor per billed hour = wage × (1 + payroll costs) ÷ (1 − unbilled share). The wage starts at the median aide wage for the Alaska nonmetropolitan area; the other two start at the example values in our home care rate calculator. Replace them with your own.
Chart of Personal Care Services and Community First Choice Services Rates, With 3.2% increase effective July 1, 2026 (opens in a new tab) . Fee schedule rate, not the average the federal rule asks for: the most or the set amount the state pays per unit, converted to an hour. The federal rule (42 CFR 447.203) asks states for the average actually paid per hour. Fee-for-service rates; managed care plans negotiate their own. 20 other rows in the state's documents (habilitation, respite, daily, per-visit and group rates, and figures we could not confirm) are not shown. Checked October 27, 2026. Our Alaska home care rates page lists the state's fee schedule per unit and private-pay prices.
Logicly’s reading
Alaska's Medicaid fee schedule pays agencies $37.20 an hour for personal care, 1.8 times the local median aide wage. That is the rate on the state's fee schedule, not the average actually paid, which the federal rule asks states to publish and Alaska has not yet.
Medicaid rates by state
43 states and DC with a rate we could check
Since July 2026 every state must publish what its Medicaid program pays per hour on average for personal care, homemaker and home health aide services. Each state posts it in its own format. Where a state hasn't, we show its fee schedule rate and say so. Where a state pays different rates by program or region, the table shows the lowest to the highest.
Agency personal care, highest published average per hour
- Rhode Island $45.27
- Oregon $43.29
- Washington $42.92
- Florida $41.92
- Maine $37.44
- Arizona $36.00
- New Mexico $33.68
- Pennsylvania $31.87
- Kentucky $30.40
- North Dakota $30.37
- Colorado $30.36
- Texas $29.24
- North Carolina $27.46
- West Virginia $27.00
- Maryland $25.58
- Virginia $23.44
- Alabama $22.07
- Illinois $18.75
All states, per hour
19 states published the average the federal rule asks for and we checked it against the state's own document; for 25 more we show the state's fee schedule rate instead. Not published yet or not checked as of October 27, 2026: Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire and New York. Rows a state reports for agencies and individual caregivers alike count as agency rates. Left out: per-diem, adult day and group rates, nursing visits some states file under home health aide, rows with no claims, and figures outside $10 to $80 an hour. Each state name links to its document.
Logicly’s reading
Alaska's agency rate of $37.20 is 3rd highest of the 24 states whose fee schedule we show. Fee schedule rates run from $15.00 to $51.91 an hour.
Neighbouring counties
The markets next door
Each county links to its own report. BLS withholds job counts where a county has too few employers to publish without identifying them.
Logicly’s reading
Kusilvak has faster senior growth than Nome. If you serve more than one county, these are the places to look next.
Notes and sources
- Government data only
- Every figure is published by the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics or a state Medicaid agency. Ratios, growth and shares are worked out from those counts.
- Logicly estimate
- Only the “What is left of a Medicaid hour” result, from the inputs you set.
- Home care
- Industry 624120: non-medical home care, homemaker and companion services, and adult day programs. Medicare home health is 621610.
- Seniors
- People 65 and over. A self-care difficulty is difficulty bathing or dressing; an independent living difficulty is difficulty doing errands alone.
- Medicaid rates
- Fee-for-service rates from each state's own document, checked twice: the figure, its page or row, and the line it sits on. Averages are what states reported under 42 CFR 447.203(b)(2)(iii); a fee schedule rate is the most or the set amount a state pays per unit, converted to an hour. Some states keep these files on a contractor's site that their own page links to. Managed care rates are not included. Checked October 27, 2026.
- Not included
- Puerto Rico and the US territories are not in this release.
- Sources
- Census population estimates, vintage 2025 · American Community Survey 2020–2024 · County Business Patterns 2023 · BLS QCEW 2019–2025 · BLS OEWS May 2025 · Census county adjacency 2024 · state Medicaid payment rate disclosures and fee schedules, 2025–2026.
Logicly builds this report from public government data. When the Census Bureau and BLS publish new figures we build a new edition.
These free tools are made by the team behind Caregiver Scheduling, caregiver scheduling software for home care agencies.
Simple pricing
From $199 /month
Up to 10 caregivers on Starter, 50 on Growth.
More than 50 caregivers? We'll put together a custom Scale plan for your agency.