For families

How Much Does Companion Care Cost?

By the CaregiverConnect team · Updated 2026-10-31 · Sources checked on the same date and listed at the end.

Companion care, meaning company, conversation, outings and someone keeping an eye on safety, is usually the lightest kind of paid help at home, and it is bought in visits of a few hours. What it costs depends on the hourly rate, how many visits you need, and a federal rule that treats companions hired by a family differently from those sent by an agency. Each source was consulted again on October 31, 2026.

A younger woman and an older woman looking at a phone together on a park bench

Companion care cost per hour: the reference figures

No national survey prices companion care on its own. CareScout, whose Cost of Care Survey 2025 is the main public source for provider prices, now reports homemaker and home health aide services together as "non-medical caregiver" because their prices converged. The figures to work from:

Provider price: $35 an hour, CareScout's 2025 national figure for non-medical caregiver services, 3% above the $34 of 2024. Individual providers may differ significantly from the median.
Aide wage: $17.21 an hour, the middle of the national pay range for aides in that occupation in May 2025, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey as shown on O*NET OnLine. This is pay to a worker, not a price to a family.
Legal floor: the federal minimum wage is $7.25 (USA.gov), but the federal companionship exemption described below can remove even that for some directly hired companions, while many states, California among them at $16.90 in 2026, set their own minimum.
Program pay: some Medicaid programs fund in-home help at set wages; see Medicaid programs for family caregivers.

Local floors and city examples are on the caregiver rates pages.

What companion care includes under federal law

The federal definition (29 CFR 552.6) is useful even if you never rely on it, because it draws the line between companion care and personal care:

Fellowship: keeping the person involved in activities, from talking, reading aloud, games and crafts to walks, errands, appointments and social outings together.
Protection: being present with the person at home, or accompanying them outside, to monitor safety and well-being.
Some care, within a limit: help with daily activities (dressing, grooming, feeding, bathing, toileting, transferring) and household tasks such as meal preparation, driving, light housework and help with taking medications, but only alongside fellowship and protection and not more than 20% of total hours worked per person per workweek.
Not included: housework done mainly for other members of the household, and medically related services that typically need a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or certified nursing assistant.

Once hands-on care is a large share of the visit, you are buying personal care; companion care vs. personal care compares them.

The companionship exemption, and who cannot use it

The Fair Labor Standards Act exempts employees providing companionship services, as defined above, from both the federal minimum wage and overtime. Two limits matter for cost:

Agencies cannot use it. Under 29 CFR 552.109, a home care company or any other third party employing the companion loses the exemption, joint employment with the household notwithstanding. Its companions must get federal minimum wage and overtime.
A family can, but only if every condition is met. The person or household receiving the help keeps the right to claim it, so long as the job satisfies all of 552.6, the 20% care limit included. On a 25-hour week that is no more than 5 hours of hands-on help.

State law may give the companion more. The exemption is federal. California applies Wage Order 15's minimum wage section to personal attendants, the household workers hired to supervise, feed or dress someone who needs watching over because of age or disability, and the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights pays them time-and-a-half for time past nine hours daily or 45 weekly. If over a fifth of the job is other housework, the worker is not a personal attendant and the ordinary household overtime rules apply (Department of Industrial Relations). The 45 is a California attendant line, not a federal one: once hands-on care tops 20% of the hours, the companion exemption is gone and federal law owes a live-out worker time and a half for every hour past the 40th in a week (29 CFR 552.100). Check your state's labor agency before relying on the federal exemption.

Companion care budgets by number of visits

Sample arithmetic, not a price list. The provider column uses CareScout's $35; the direct column uses the $17.21 BLS aide figure (OEWS, May 2025) as a placeholder for whatever rate you and a caregiver settle on. None of these schedules reaches 40 hours, so no federal overtime arises. Monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12.

Visit pattern	Weekly total	Your own hire at $17.21	Agency or provider at $35
Two 3-hour visits	6	$103.26 (6 × $17.21); around $447 monthly	$210 (6 × $35); around $910 monthly
Four 4-hour afternoons	16	$275.36 (16 × $17.21); around $1,193 monthly	$560 (16 × $35); around $2,427 monthly
Five 5-hour days	25	$430.25 (25 × $17.21); around $1,864 monthly	$875 (25 × $35); around $3,792 monthly

Payroll taxes reach small schedules too. The household employment tax threshold for 2026 is $3,000 in cash wages to one employee (IRS Topic 756). The smallest row above, two visits a week, is 6 × $17.21 × 52 = $5,369.52 a year, well over the line. That generally means taking the employee's 7.65% Social Security and Medicare out of each payment, adding your own equal share, and paying federal unemployment tax in any quarter where household wages exceed $1,000. The companionship exemption does not change these tax rules.

Outings. If the companion drives your relative, agree in advance whose car is used and how mileage, parking and admission costs are paid; these are separate from the hourly rate.

What raises or lowers companion care costs

Hours and visit length. The bill is hours × rate. Ask any provider about minimum visit lengths before comparing hourly prices.
Share of hands-on care. Once help with bathing, toileting or transfers is more than occasional, you need personal care and should expect personal-care rates.
Direct hire or provider. The CareScout provider median of $35 is roughly double the $17.21 BLS aide wage for May 2025. Hiring directly closes that gap but makes you the employer.
Driving. Outings, appointments and errands add mileage and time.
Coverage. Companionship is not a Medicare benefit; Medicare.gov rules out homemaker services not tied to a care plan and custodial-only help. The VA's Homemaker and Home Health Aide program is also open to veterans who are isolated or whose caregiver is under strain, if they meet its criteria; a copay may apply.
Free local help. Calling the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 is a way to find senior programs near you that might fill some social hours.

Questions to settle before agreeing on companion pay

What will a typical visit include, and roughly how much of it is hands-on care?
Is there a minimum visit length, and is travel time paid?
Will the companion drive? Whose car, what insurance, and how is mileage reimbursed?
What is the hourly rate, and are evenings, weekends or holidays priced differently?
If you are relying on the federal companionship exemption, does your state still require minimum wage or overtime?
What happens if a visit is cancelled at short notice by either side?
How will the companion tell you about changes they notice in your relative's mood, memory or health?

A longer checklist is in interview questions for families; for writing it all down, see how to hire a private caregiver.

Finding a companion on CaregiverConnect, and related pages

On CaregiverConnect a companion job costs nothing to list, and the caregivers who respond each show an hourly rate they chose. After interviews you hire the person yourself, as their employer, and they keep all of their pay. No background checks are done by CaregiverConnect; some caregivers put proof of their own check on their profile (safety). Optional premium plans are explained on pricing.

Companion care: the service hub, with city pages such as San Diego.
Personal care, if more hands-on help is needed.
Caregiver rates; city pages: Carlsbad, Long Beach, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Ana.
In-home dementia care costs, if supervision needs are growing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does companion care cost per hour?

The 2025 national median price for a non-medical caregiver from a home care provider was $35 an hour (CareScout), which covers companion-type help. The national median wage of employed aides was $17.21 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A companion you hire directly sets their own rate, subject to any state minimum wage.

How much does companion care cost per month?

It depends on visits. Illustratively, two 3-hour visits a week cost about $910 a month at $35 an hour, or about $447 at $17.21; five 5-hour days cost about $3,792 or $1,864. Add payroll taxes if you employ directly.

Do companions have to be paid minimum wage?

Under federal law, a companion employed directly by the family whose work meets the companionship definition, with no more than 20% of hours on hands-on care, is exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime (29 CFR 552.6). Agencies cannot use that exemption (29 CFR 552.109). State law may still set a wage floor for them; California, for one, covers personal attendants.

Does Medicare pay for companion care?

No. Medicare.gov excludes homemaker help that is not part of a care plan, and custodial personal care for someone who needs no skilled services.

Is companion care the same as personal care?

No. Under the federal definition, companion care means fellowship and keeping watch, with hands-on help capped at a fifth of the hours. Personal care is mostly that hands-on help: washing, dressing, the toilet, moving from bed to chair.

Do I need to pay taxes for a part-time companion?

Often yes. Social Security and Medicare taxes generally start once a single household worker earns $3,000 in cash from you during 2026 (IRS Topic 756). Two 3-hour visits a week at $17.21 an hour pass that within the year.

Sources

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