Open
Meal preparation & homemaking caregiver needed in California, CA
$20.00/hr offeredPosted Oct 2, 2026
View job & apply
Santa Clara, California · Santa Clara County
Caregiver Jobs in Santa Clara, CA
Since the first of January 2026 the City of Santa Clara's minimum wage has been $18.70, and one household in five here includes someone 65 or older. Set up a free profile; new family requests show up in the list above.
- Free to join and build a profile
- No agency fees, no cut of your pay
- Families can contact you directly
Start here
Finding in-home caregiver jobs in Santa Clara
This page covers the City of Santa Clara, population 138,011 at the start of 2026, rather than the wider county that shares its name. It is a young city on paper, with a median age of 34.6, yet the ACS 2020–2024 survey still finds 14,863 residents aged 65 or over and 10,663 households (21.3%) with at least one of them at home. Much of the housing those residents live in is old: 21% of the city's homes were built in the 1950s, and another 17.4% in the 1960s. When the relative arranging care lives somewhere else, the request is usually for a few fixed shifts a week from someone who can be counted on to turn up.
Santa Clara also has a large share of residents born abroad (46.4%), and nearly four in five of them were born in Asia. More than half of residents aged five and up talk at home in something other than English, so a profile that names your languages, with honest levels, gives a family something concrete to filter on. Name the city ZIP codes (95050, 95051, 95054) within your range, say if you have a car, and set out the weekly hours you can promise. A short, specific schedule statement tells a family more than a long list of duties.
Live postings
Families looking for private caregivers near Santa Clara, CA
Real postings from families on CaregiverConnect, matched to Santa Clara by distance. 2 caregivers within 50 miles already have profiles here.
Showing 1 of 1 open posting within 50 miles of Santa Clara, newest first. Family names and care-recipient details are shown after you sign in. Postings are removed from this page as soon as a family hires or closes them.
Get an email when a family near Santa Clara posts a job
Free; at most one email a day; 50-mile radius; one-click unsubscribe.
Need a caregiver in Santa Clara?
Families post free; local caregivers apply.
Types of caregiver jobs
Types of caregiver jobs in Santa Clara
Typical Santa Clara postings ask for help with bathing and dressing in the morning, meal preparation, rides to appointments at the Kaiser medical center on Lawrence Expressway, a companion for an afternoon at the Senior Center on Fremont Street, or overnight cover after a hospital stay. Without experience, companionship, errands and light housekeeping are the realistic entry points; a nurse assistant course is the usual next step if you want hands-on personal care.
Senior caregiving · Personal care · Companion care · Dementia care · Respite care · Live-in · Overnight · Part-time and full-time
Pay
Caregiver pay in Santa Clara: how much caregivers make
Public figures first, then what they mean for private work. Statistics describe employed aides across the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA metro (Santa Clara and San Benito counties); private rates on CaregiverConnect are agreed between each caregiver and family and are not tracked by any agency.
| Measure | Hourly | Source and coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Home health and personal care aides, San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA metro (Santa Clara and San Benito counties) | $18.09 median | BLS OEWS, May 2025; 49,610 jobs; concentration 1.58× national |
| IHSS provider wage, Santa Clara County | $20.44 | CDSS; effective January 1, 2026 |
| California minimum wage | $16.90 | effective January 1, 2026 |
Who is the employer. A family that hires you directly is your employer under California's Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. The state minimum wage ($16.90 an hour from 1 January 2026; some cities set more, for example $17.75 in the City of San Diego) is the legal floor, and a personal attendant earns overtime at 1.5× after 9 hours in a day or 45 in a week. The main exceptions are IHSS recipients and an employer's own parent, spouse or child. Source: California DIR, Domestic Worker Bill of Rights FAQ.
Santa Clara sets its own floor: $18.70 an hour from January 1, 2026, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center's inventory of local ordinances. That is $1.80 above the state rate and 61 cents above the $18.09 BLS median wage for the metro's home health and personal care aides, so the metro median sits below what a business in this city may legally pay. Read the median as a description of the whole two-county market, not a ceiling for your own rate. IHSS work in Santa Clara County pays $20.44 an hour since January 1, 2026. We could not open the city's own wage page, so if you are hired by a private household rather than a business, ask the city whether its ordinance applies to that arrangement; quoting at least $18.70 avoids the question. If you work as a personal attendant in the home, the state Domestic Worker Bill of Rights entitles you to overtime pay for any time over nine hours on a given day or 45 hours across the week.
How to enroll as a provider in Santa Clara County, with the office phone lines and orientation steps, is in the IHSS Santa Clara County guide. IHSS wages for every county we cover, with effective dates, are in the IHSS pay by county guide.
How the public numbers relate to private rates, and what affects them, is covered in the caregiver pay guide.
Rules
Caregiver requirements in California, applied to Santa Clara
No license is required to work as an independent, non-medical caregiver in Santa Clara. A licensed home care organization must list its aides on the state Home Care Aide Registry; if you work directly for a family, registering is your choice. IHSS providers in the county enroll through Public Authority Services by Sourcewise, (408) 350-3206: the process starts with paperwork and state videos on the enrollment website, continues with a mandatory group session at the SEIU 2015 office on East Brokaw Road in San Jose, and then you bring your original Social Security card to an in-person appointment and take a Department of Justice fingerprint scan. Facility work and nursing tasks need a state nurse assistant certificate. As a mandated reporter you call Adult Protective Services, (408) 975-4900, if you suspect abuse. Full rules: California requirements guide.
Local resources
Training and career resources near Santa Clara
Where to train or get help near Santa Clara; course fees and dates were current on the day we looked.
- MVLA Adult School, Certified Nursing Assistant programAt 333 Moffett Blvd in neighboring Mountain View. Its health programs cover nurse assistant certification, an acute-care home health aide course and renewal credits for working CNAs; you attend a free orientation before enrolling. Partner nursing facilities reimburse tuition to graduates they employ full time. Career programs: (650) 940-1333.
- Santa Clara Adult Education, Medical Interpreter TrainingA 40-hour hybrid course for $250 at 1840 Benton Street, useful if you care for clients who speak another language and want to work alongside their doctors. The school also runs a medical assistant program (375 classroom hours plus a 160-hour externship). Office: 408-423-3500.
- Public Authority Services by SourcewiseIHSS provider enrollment (408) 350-3252, optional free provider training (408) 350-3220, and the provider registry (408) 350-3251. With the Public Authority's LiveScan form, fingerprints cost $12 to $30 in the county.
- Santa Clara Senior Center1303 Fremont Street, 408-615-3170. Programs for adults 50 and over, open Monday to Thursday until 7 p.m.; useful to know if a client wants company there or a ride to and from it.
- VTA ACCESS ParatransitVTA's shared-ride service for riders who cannot manage regular buses or light rail because of a disability. Eligibility is set by a Data Card and phone interview, not by age, so check whether your client already qualifies before you plan appointment trips.
The area
Santa Clara in numbers
ACS 2020–2024 counts 2,218 residents aged 85 or over and 3,413 households in which someone 65 or older lives alone. Among residents 65 and up, 29.9% report a disability, the group most likely to need daily help. Median household income is $178,958, but 59.2% of homes are rented, the median gross rent is $3,016 and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $1,582,600, so a caregiver who lives in the city is the exception; most commute in. One quarter of working residents (25.7%) work from home, which is why some families want a caregiver while an adult child works in the next room.
Kaiser Permanente's Santa Clara hospital at 700 Lawrence Expressway holds a license for 343 beds plus a basic-level emergency room; people discharged from it may want a few weeks of help at home. Nearby pages: San Jose, Sunnyvale, Milpitas and, for the wider picture, Santa Clara County.
How it works
How to find private caregiver jobs in Santa Clara (no agency)
CaregiverConnect is a marketplace, not an agency. Families post what they need, caregivers apply, and the two of you work out the arrangement directly.
- Tell us about your experience
- Set your availability and rate
- Create your account
- Browse, apply or respond
- Agree on the details
Applying to open postings and starting a new conversation are part of Caregiver Premium ($7.99/month, cancel anytime). Replying to a family who contacts you is always free. CaregiverConnect takes no cut of what you earn.
¿Hablas español? El sitio está disponible en español, ruso, tagalo y vietnamita: cambia el idioma en el menú después de crear tu cuenta.
Widen your search
Caregiver jobs near Santa Clara
Families often post from neighbouring towns. Set your travel radius in your profile and you will appear in their searches too.
Santa Clara is part of Santa Clara County; the hub pages list every town and area they cover.
Guides
Useful reading
How to become a caregiver in California: requirements, HCA registry, IHSS and CNA explained · How much do caregivers make in California and Arizona? BLS, IHSS and minimum wage (2026) · Private caregiver jobs near you: how to find them without an agency · Caregiver interview preparation: questions families ask and how to answer them
Sources (checked 2026-10-15):
- UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of local minimum wage ordinances (Santa Clara $18.70, January 1, 2026)
- California Department of Finance, E-1 population estimates, January 1, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year profile, Santa Clara city (via MCDC)
- BLS OEWS May 2025, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- CDSS, IHSS wages by county
- Public Authority Services by Sourcewise, home page and IHSS wage notice
- Public Authority Services, enrollment process
- Public Authority Services, contact numbers (APS, IHSS, Sourcewise)
- CDSS, Home Care Services
- California DIR, Domestic Worker Bill of Rights
- MVLA Adult School, Career Technical Education
- Santa Clara Adult Education, Career Training
- City of Santa Clara, Older Adults (50+) page (Wayback capture May 10, 2026)
- HCAI hospital profile, Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Santa Clara (licensed beds)
Questions
Caregiver jobs in Santa Clara: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in the City of Santa Clara in 2026?
$18.70 an hour from January 1, 2026, per the UC Berkeley Labor Center's inventory. Other cities in the county set different rates, so check the city where you actually work.
Is this page about Santa Clara County?
No. It covers the City of Santa Clara, between San Jose and Sunnyvale. The Santa Clara County page covers the whole county.
How long does IHSS enrollment take in Santa Clara County?
Public Authority Services warns that in-person appointments may be booked four to six weeks out, and the eligibility notice usually arrives two to four weeks after every step is done. Bring your original Social Security card; a copy or an ITIN is not accepted.
Where can I train as a CNA near Santa Clara?
The closest CNA course we found is at MVLA Adult School on Moffett Boulevard, Mountain View, which asks every applicant to attend a free orientation first, and some partner nursing facilities repay tuition if they hire you full time. Call (650) 940-1333 for dates.
Can I work in Santa Clara without a car?
Not always. The Senior Center sits near VTA Route 21 stops at Monroe and Harrison, and seniors can book discounted SV Hopper rides. If your client has frequent appointments, say on your profile whether you can drive them.
Does IHSS pay more than the city minimum here?
Yes: $20.44 an hour in Santa Clara County since January 1, 2026, against the city floor of $18.70. IHSS hours are set by the county, so many providers combine them with private shifts.
Where do Santa Clara families post their care needs?
On the Santa Clara family page; new postings show up above on this page as families publish them.
Ready to find caregiver work in Santa Clara?
Create your free caregiver profile in about ten minutes. Families in Santa Clara County can find you as soon as it is live.
Create your free caregiver profile