New Hampshire · home health aide (HHA)
How to become a home health aide in New Hampshire: the routes that qualify you, who regulates home health agencies in New Hampshire, pay, free training options, and all 23 state-approved CNA programs, since a CNA certification also qualifies you as a home health aide.
Your route
Home health agencies in New Hampshire are licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must use aides who completed one of the federally approved routes. These are the two most common.
Fastest route
CNA
Agency route
75 hrs
Why we list CNA programs: under federal rules, a state-approved CNA program plus good standing on the New Hampshire nurse aide registry qualifies you as a home health aide. It’s the route that opens the most doors. See our New Hampshire CNA guide.
The steps
The general path for most new aides.
Keep your hours up. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, and if you go 24 months in a row without paid aide work, you must retrain.
Home health aide vs. CNA
The two jobs overlap, but the settings and pay differ.
| Home health aide | CNA | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you work | Clients’ homes, through home health and hospice agencies | Nursing homes and hospitals |
| Training | 75 hours federal minimum, or a CNA certification | State-approved CNA program |
| Official record | Your agency’s training and competency records | The New Hampshire nurse aide registry |
| Median pay (NH) | $18.64 an hour* | $23.02 an hour |
*Federal pay data groups home health aides with personal care aides. About 9,440 of them work in New Hampshire.
Help paying
Ways to cover the cost of training.
Many home health agencies train aides they hire, and nursing homes that hire you can’t charge you for CNA training under federal rules.
Directory
All 23 programs from our New Hampshire CNA guide. Finishing one, passing the exam, and staying in good standing on the state registry also qualifies you as a home health aide for Medicare and Medicaid agencies.
| Program | City | County | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| BILH Exeter Hospital LNA Program | Exeter | Rockingham | (603) 580-7338 |
| Cheshire Medical Center LNA Program | Keene | Cheshire | (603) 354-5454 |
| Coos County Nursing Hospital | West Stewartstown | Coos | (603) 246-3321 |
| Cottage Hospital LNA Program | Woodsville | Grafton | (603) 747-9000 |
| Genesis Health Care Mountain Ridge Center | Franklin | Merrimack | (603) 915-1533 |
| Glencliff Home | Glencliff | Grafton | (603) 989-3111 |
| Golden View Health Care LNA Program | Meredith | Belknap | (603) 279-8111 |
| Kendal at Hanover | Hanover | Grafton | (603) 643-8900 |
| Lakes Region Community College | Laconia | Belknap | (603) 366-5310 |
| LNA Health Careers | Manchester | Hillsborough | (603) 647-2174 |
| Manchester Community College Workforce Development Center | Manchester | Hillsborough | (603) 206-8164 |
| Merrimack County Nursing Home LNA Program | Boscawen | Merrimack | (603) 796-3275 |
| New Hampshire Veterans Home | Tilton | Belknap | (603) 527-4895 |
| Portsmouth Regional Hospital LNA Program | Portsmouth | Rockingham | (603) 433-4950 |
| River Valley Community College | Claremont | Sullivan | (603) 252-1812 |
| RiverMead LNA Program | Peterborough | Hillsborough | (603) 924-0062 |
| St. Francis Rehab | Laconia | Belknap | (603) 524-0466 |
| St. Joseph's Hospital LNA Program | Nashua | Hillsborough | (603) 884-4622 |
| Sullivan County Health Care | Unity | Sullivan | (603) 542-9511 |
| Team Select Home Care LNA Program | Salem | Rockingham | (603) 453-3189 |
| The Dover Center LNA Program | Dover | Strafford | (603) 749-9000 |
| Thrive Health Career Institute | Portsmouth | Rockingham | (603) 600-4144 |
| White Mountains Community College, Littleton Academic Center | Littleton | Grafton | (603) 444-1326 |
Tip: ask each program whether it also offers a home health aide add-on. For details, costs, and exam steps, see our New Hampshire CNA guide.
FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most.
Home health aides in New Hampshire work for home health agencies licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must hire aides who meet the federal training and competency rules. Ask the agency you're applying to which credential it requires.
The two most common routes are completing a 75-hour home health aide training and competency evaluation, or becoming a CNA. Federal rules count a CNA in good standing on the New Hampshire nurse aide registry as a qualified home health aide.
The median pay for home health and personal care aides in New Hampshire is $18.64 an hour, about $38,760 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. New Hampshire CNAs earn a median $23.02 an hour.
Yes, for Medicare and Medicaid home health agencies, if the CNA completed a state-approved program and is listed in good standing on the state nurse aide registry.
Yes. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training every 12 months for aides at Medicare and Medicaid agencies.