Psychiatric aides
SOC Code: 31-1133
Psychiatric aides carries a 36% AI exposure score (Medium automation risk), with a median annual wage of $41,590 and -0.4% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 38,500 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 36% AI exposure, Psychiatric aides sits 1 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 58% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
29/100
Psychiatric aides, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $41,590
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F -0.4%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) D 36% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Psychiatric aides in the Medium band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Psychiatric aides keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Slow growth (245 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Psychiatric aides sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Psychiatric aides sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
36% Around the middle lower than 42% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Psychiatric aides vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Psychiatric aides is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Psychiatric aides's Medium automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score below 40% reflects tasks anchored in physical dexterity, unstructured environments, or high-touch human interaction that current AI cannot reliably replicate.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 31-1133) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Psychiatric aides be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Psychiatric aides. Public companies with meaningful exposure to this occupation, such as HCA Healthcare, Inc. and Natera, Inc., inherit a share of the same automation risk through their industry classification. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
- 2. Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
- 3. Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
- 4. Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
- 5. Work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
- 6. Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
- 7. Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
- 8. Organize, supervise, or encourage patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities.
- 9. Provide patients with assistance in bathing, dressing, or grooming, demonstrating these skills as necessary.
- 10. Aid patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routines.
Key Skills Required
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Knowledge Areas
- Psychology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Therapy and Counseling
- English Language
- Administrative
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Philosophy and Theology
- Education and Training
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Psychiatric aides?
Psychiatric aides has an AI exposure score of 36%, indicating a medium level of automation risk. The majority of tasks in this role require human judgment, creativity, or physical presence that AI cannot easily replicate.
What is the job outlook for Psychiatric aides?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Psychiatric aides is projected to decline by 0.4% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 38,500 workers.
What skills are needed for Psychiatric aides?
Key skills for Psychiatric aides include Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Psychiatric aides earn?
The median annual wage for Psychiatric aides is $41,590, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Psychiatric aides?
The typical entry-level education for Psychiatric aides is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Short-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Psychiatric aides?
Public companies with significant Psychiatric aides workforce shares include HCA Healthcare, Inc., Natera, Inc., Labcorp Holdings Inc., among others. These employers are mapped by industry classification (SIC/NAICS) to BLS occupation-industry employment distributions. See the full employer rankings for AI displacement risk grades.
Employers with High AI Exposure in This Occupation Group
Public companies whose industry occupation mix includes a significant share of Psychiatric aides roles.
| Company | AI Grade | Risk Score |
|---|---|---|
| HCA Healthcare, Inc. | B | 39.2% |
| Natera, Inc. | B | 39.2% |
| Labcorp Holdings Inc. | B | 39.2% |
| Quest Diagnostics Inc | B | 39.2% |
| Exact Sciences Corp | B | 39.2% |
| Tenet Healthcare Corp | B | 39.2% |
| Fresenius Medical Care AG | B | 39.2% |
| Ensign Group, Inc | B | 39.2% |
AI Exposure Rating
Medium automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. Most tasks require human judgment and are resistant to automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Psychiatric aides: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (36% here).
- Agricultural technicians · AI exposure 36%
- Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers · AI exposure 36%
- Bioengineers and biomedical engineers · AI exposure 36%
- Cardiologists · AI exposure 36%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (-0.4% here).
- Billing and posting clerks · growth -0.4%
- Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining · growth -0.4%
- Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic · growth -0.5%
- Retail salespersons · growth -0.5%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 7 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Psychiatric aides' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Psychiatric aides side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).