Who needs and provides care in Pennsylvania, by the numbers

This story first appeared in How We Care, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring original reporting and perspectives on how we care for one another at all stages of life. Sign up for free here .

All 13 million Pennsylvanians have depended on caregivers. We all start life as infants, after all. But caregivers are vital long after childhood, including during periods of crisis and sickness. Some of us have disabilities. And for those who are lucky enough to live long lives, we need help as we age.

Many Pennsylvanians provide this care, whether in the workplace, at home, or in our communities. Sometimes caregiving is a vocation, as is the case for workers such as some nursing home aides and physicians. But it can also be a long-term responsibility like caring for family members, including aging parents or partners with medical complications. Or it can be a temporary role such as driving an older adult to appointments or babysitting a friend’s kids.

Some people inhabit all these roles at once.

To give a picture of caregiving’s broad reach, How We Care looked at information from the U.S. Census Bureau, CDC, and other sources to compile data on the different populations within Pennsylvania who rely on and provide care to others. This is not a complete account of care in the commonwealth, but it sheds light on how ubiquitous and essential this work is. These data also show some of the pay, gender, and health inequities in caregiving that influence the quality of care.

Number of children under age 18: 2,664,562

Number of children under age 5: 688,571

Median family income: $97,376 , annually

Average cost of center-based child care for one toddler: $11,346

Federal poverty level for a family of four: $31,200 , annually

Number of children in poverty: 393,542

Households with one or more people under 18: 1,399,779

Single female-led households with children: 235,549

Single male-led households with children: 60,710

Number of grandparents living with grandchildren under 18 years: 210,083

Number of grandparents responsible for grandchildren under 18 years: 65,256

Number of children in foster care in 2022: 11,945

Number of people over age 64: 2,539,054

Number of people over age 64 in poverty: 247,704

Number of people over age 64 with Alzheimer’s disease: 282,100

Number of caregivers caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease: 465,000

Number of nursing homes in Pennsylvania: 669

Annual cost of a nursing home with a semi-private room: $129,210

Annual cost of a home health aide, based on 44 hours a week: $69,784

Number of home health and personal care aides: 213,020

Annual mean wage for home health and personal care aides: $30,580

Number of adults with a disability: 2,952,335

Percentage of adults living with depression: 15%

Percentage of adults who have a disability and are living with depression: 44%

Note: All numbers are Pennsylvania-specific unless otherwise noted. Data come from a variety of sources; therefore some stats may not line up perfectly.

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