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Post-surgery recovery care caregiver needed in Los Angeles, CA
$32.00/hr offeredPosted Oct 12, 2026
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Santa Monica, California · Los Angeles County
Caregiver Jobs in Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica sets its own minimum wage, $18.47 an hour since July 1, 2026, along with its own paid sick leave rules. 19.5% of residents are 65 or older; build a free profile and reply to the family postings above.
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- No agency fees, no cut of your pay
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Finding in-home caregiver jobs in Santa Monica
The state counted 94,237 people in Santa Monica at the start of 2026, and it is an older, smaller-household city than most of Los Angeles County. Households average just 1.9 people (ACS 2020–2024), 72.1% of homes are rented, and 7,111 households are someone 65 or over living alone. A lot of private care here is for a person in a rent-controlled apartment with family living elsewhere: a daughter in another state who wants three visits a week, a nephew arranging help after a stay at Saint John's or UCLA Santa Monica, a husband who needs someone to sit with his wife while he goes out. Postings with a 90401 to 90405 ZIP code appear above once the family publishes.
Getting there matters as much as skill. More than one in ten Santa Monica households (11.4%) have no car, so clients often depend on Big Blue Bus, the city's subsidized ride service or a caregiver who drives. Say in your profile how you commute, and whether you can escort a client to appointments. Spanish is the most common second language, though it is the home language of well under half of the city's non-English speakers, and 23.3% of residents were born abroad, mostly in Asia, Europe or Latin America. Any language you can use with a client belongs near the top of your profile.
Live postings
Families looking for private caregivers near Santa Monica, CA
Real postings from families on CaregiverConnect, matched to Santa Monica by distance. 3 caregivers within 50 miles already have profiles here.
Open
Personal care caregiver needed in Fullerton, CA
$20.00/hr offeredPosted Sep 30, 2026
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Showing 2 of 2 open postings within 50 miles of Santa Monica, 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.
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Types of caregiver jobs
Types of caregiver jobs in Santa Monica
Expect requests for companionship and household help, morning personal care, escort to appointments, overnight cover, dementia support and short post-surgery assignments. A first job without experience is most often companionship and errands; Santa Monica College's tuition-free CNA and home health aide pre-certification courses are the quickest local route to hands-on care work.
Senior caregiving · Personal care · Companion care · Dementia care · Respite care · Live-in · Overnight · Part-time and full-time
Pay
Caregiver pay in Santa Monica: how much caregivers make
Public figures first, then what they mean for private work. Statistics describe employed aides across the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA metro (Los Angeles and Orange 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, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA metro (Los Angeles and Orange counties) | $16.50 median ($17.25 mean) | BLS OEWS, May 2025; 385,530 jobs; concentration 2.22× national |
| IHSS provider wage, Los Angeles County | $19.64 | CDSS; effective January 1, 2026 |
| California minimum wage | $16.90 | effective January 1, 2026 |
| Nursing assistants, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA metro (Los Angeles and Orange counties) | $22.78 median | BLS OEWS, May 2025 (certified roles, for comparison) |
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 Monica's wage floor went from $17.81 to $18.47 on July 1, 2026 and is adjusted each year by the Los Angeles-area CPI-W, so any agency or other employer in Santa Monica must pay at least that, nearly two dollars more than the state rate and the $16.50 metro aide median. The same ordinance requires paid sick leave: 40 hours a year at businesses with 25 or fewer employees in the city and 72 hours at larger ones, accruing at one hour for every 30 worked. A first-time worker with no related experience can legally be paid 85% of the minimum for the first 160 hours, so ask about that before accepting a trainee rate. Los Angeles County's $19.64 IHSS wage is only slightly higher than the city floor. Santa Monica hands enforcement to Los Angeles County consumer affairs staff, reachable at wagehelp@dcba.lacounty.gov; if a household rather than a business hires you, ask there whether the ordinance covers you.
How to enroll as a provider in Los Angeles County, with the office phone lines and orientation steps, is in the IHSS Los Angeles 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 Monica
State rules apply unchanged in Santa Monica. Independent, non-medical caregiving needs no license. Signing up with the state aide registry is up to you, and becomes a condition of the job only when a licensed agency is your employer. IHSS recipients in the city choose and supervise their own providers through the Los Angeles County program; PASC, the county's public authority, enrolls providers and keeps a Homecare Registry, 877-565-4477. A CDPH nurse assistant certificate is required for facility work and nursing tasks. The law makes you a mandated reporter, so harm to an older or dependent client goes to the county Adult Protective Services line, (877) 477-3646, or to the Long Term Care Ombudsman if your client lives in a facility. Full details: California requirements guide.
Local resources
Training and career resources near Santa Monica
Courses and help on the Westside; course hours and costs are as each provider publishes them.
- Santa Monica College, Nurse Assistant and Home Health Aide Pre-CertificationNoncredit and tuition-free: 180 hours for the CNA course, after which you can sit the state competency exam, and 54 hours for home health aide. Expect $350 to $450 out of pocket for the background check, drug screen and CPR card. Spring 2027 dates had not been posted when we checked; call Noncredit Registration on 310-434-3399.
- WISE & Healthy AgingOn the second floor at 1527 4th Street, phone (310) 394-9871. Runs an adult day center, care management, peer counseling and caregiver support groups, so many clients already know it.
- Personal Assistance Services Council (PASC)The county public authority for IHSS: provider orientation, training sessions and the Homecare Registry. Call 877-565-4477 during business hours.
- LA County DPSS, IHSS Helpline(888) 822-9622, option 4, for provider enrollment and timesheet questions.
- Alzheimer's Los AngelesHelpline 844-435-7259 and workshops on dementia care, with information in English, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.
The area
Santa Monica in numbers
ACS 2020–2024 counts 17,816 residents aged 65 and over, 19.5% of the city, and 2,405 aged 85 or more; the median age is 42.7. Median household income is $114,885 and median gross rent $2,402, and 38.4% of working residents worked from home. That mix explains the local market: many clients can pay privately, and many live alone in rented apartments.
Two hospitals in the city send patients home who need help. UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center at 1250 16th Street describes itself as a 281-bed hospital with services that include geriatric medicine, and Providence Saint John's Health Center at 2121 Santa Monica Boulevard is licensed for 266 beds. Discharges from both feed short-term home care requests. Neighboring pages: Los Angeles, Inglewood and Torrance.
How it works
How to find private caregiver jobs in Santa Monica (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 Monica
Families often post from neighbouring towns. Set your travel radius in your profile and you will appear in their searches too.
Santa Monica is part of Los Angeles County; the hub pages list every town and area they cover.
- Caregiver jobs in Inglewood, CA9 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Los Angeles, CA11 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Burbank, CA14 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Torrance, CA15 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Glendale, CA16 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Downey, CA21 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Pasadena, CA22 mi
- Caregiver jobs in Simi Valley, CA23 mi
Elsewhere in Los Angeles County: Long Beach · Santa Clarita · Lancaster · Palmdale · Pomona · El Monte · West Covina · Norwalk · Whittier
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):
- City of Santa Monica, Minimum Wage
- UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of local minimum wage ordinances (July 1, 2026 table)
- California Department of Finance, E-1 population estimates, January 1, 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year profile, Santa Monica city (via MCDC)
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (31-1120, 31-1131)
- CDSS, IHSS wages by county
- CDSS, Home Care Services Bureau
- Santa Monica College, Nurse Assistant Pre-Certification Training Program
- WISE & Healthy Aging, caregiver resources and contact
- Personal Assistance Services Council, contact
- LA County DPSS, In-Home Supportive Services
- LA County DPSS, contact numbers (APS)
- UCLA Health, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
- HCAI hospital profile, Saint John's Health Center (licensed beds)
Questions
Caregiver jobs in Santa Monica: frequently asked questions
What is the Santa Monica minimum wage in 2026?
$18.47 an hour from July 1, 2026, up from $17.81. The city adjusts it every year using the Los Angeles-area consumer price index for wage earners.
Do caregivers in Santa Monica get paid sick leave?
Employees of businesses in the city do: 40 hours a year at employers with 25 or fewer staff in Santa Monica, 72 hours at larger ones. That is more than state law requires.
Is the Santa Monica College CNA course really free?
There is no tuition and most supplies are loaned, but you pay roughly $350 to $450 for the background check, drug screening and CPR certification. F-1 visa holders cannot enroll in noncredit courses.
Can I be paid less than $18.47 as a new caregiver?
Only in one case: a first-time worker with no similar experience can be paid 85% of the city minimum for the first 160 hours. After that the full rate applies.
How do Santa Monica clients without a car get to appointments?
Many use Big Blue Bus or the city's subsidized Lyft and wheelchair van rides. If you drive and are insured to carry a client, say so on your profile.
Where do I start if I want IHSS work here?
Call the DPSS IHSS Helpline, (888) 822-9622, then ask PASC about joining its Homecare Registry. The Los Angeles County IHSS guide covers each step.
Where do Santa Monica families post?
On the Santa Monica family page, where nearby caregiver profiles appear as people join.
Ready to find caregiver work in Santa Monica?
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