Alabama · home health aide (HHA)
How to become a home health aide in Alabama: the routes that qualify you, who regulates home health agencies in Alabama, pay, free training options, and all 17 state-approved CNA programs, since a CNA certification also qualifies you as a home health aide.
Your route
Home health agencies in Alabama are licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health. 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 Alabama nurse aide registry qualifies you as a home health aide. It’s the route that opens the most doors. See our Alabama 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 Alabama nurse aide registry |
| Median pay (AL) | $13.39 an hour* | $16.41 an hour |
*Federal pay data groups home health aides with personal care aides. About 20,930 of them work in Alabama.
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 17 programs from our Alabama 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bevill State Community College | Jasper | Walker | Call the program |
| Calhoun Community College | Tanner | Limestone | Call the program |
| Chattahoochee Valley Community College | Phenix City | Russell | Call the program |
| Coastal Alabama Community College | Bay Minette | Baldwin | Call the program |
| Enterprise State Community College | Enterprise | Coffee | Call the program |
| Gadsden State Community College | Gadsden | Etowah | Call the program |
| H. Councill Trenholm State Community College | Montgomery | Montgomery | Call the program |
| J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College | Huntsville | Madison | Call the program |
| Jefferson State Community College | Birmingham | Jefferson | Call the program |
| Lawson State Community College | Birmingham | Jefferson | Call the program |
| Northeast Alabama Community College | Rainsville | DeKalb | Call the program |
| Northwest-Shoals Community College | Muscle Shoals | Colbert | Call the program |
| Shelton State Community College | Tuscaloosa | Tuscaloosa | Call the program |
| Snead State Community College | Boaz | Marshall | Call the program |
| Southern Union State Community College | Wadley | Randolph | Call the program |
| University of West Alabama | Livingston | Sumter | Call the program |
| Wallace Community College | Dothan | Houston | Call the program |
Tip: ask each program whether it also offers a home health aide add-on. For details, costs, and exam steps, see our Alabama CNA guide.
FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most.
Home health aides in Alabama work for home health agencies licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health. 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 Alabama nurse aide registry as a qualified home health aide.
The median pay for home health and personal care aides in Alabama is $13.39 an hour, about $27,840 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. Alabama CNAs earn a median $16.41 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.