How much do care workers get paid in Bedford?

The legal minimum for care workers aged 21 or over is £12.71 an hour, and travel time between visits counts towards it. Bedford paid agencies £26.00 an hour for home care in 2024-25, which limits what they can pay. Local advertised pay will show here once enough adverts are live.

How many care companies are there in Bedford?

107 registered home care services operate in Bedford, run by 106 providers. Each branch is registered and inspected separately, so check the record of the branch you would work for.

Is travel time paid for care workers in Bedford?

Time spent travelling between visits is working time and counts towards the minimum wage, averaged over your pay period. Some employers pay it separately and some build it into the hourly rate. Ask at interview, and check the employer pages here for what each provider has told us.

Care jobs in Bedford

Bedford has 107 registered home care services, run by 106 providers, and 46 of the 54 with a CQC rating are Good or Outstanding (85%, against 87% across England). Bedford paid agencies £26.00 an hour for home care in 2024-25, the 16th highest of 152 councils in England. Staffing is at least 75% of what home care costs to deliver, so that rate largely sets what local agencies can afford to pay carers. The legal minimum for anyone aged 21 or over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026, and time spent travelling between visits counts towards it. 1 new home care service registered here between 5 August 2026 and 28 October 2026. A new agency is usually building a team from scratch.

No live adverts near Bedford right now. Care employers recruit near-continuously, so approaching them directly often beats waiting for a vacancy.

Registered care services: 107; run by 106 providers.
Rated Good or Outstanding: 85%; 46 of 54 rated services, against 87% across England. Care Quality Commission
What the council pays agencies: £26.00 an hour; Bedford, 2024-25: the 16th highest of 152 councils in England. This is the price per hour of care, not carers' pay. Department of Health and Social Care, Adult social care finance report
Legal minimum, 21 and over: £12.71 an hour; from April 2026. Travel time between visits counts towards it. GOV.UK
Newly registered services: 1; between 5 August 2026 and 28 October 2026, from our weekly copies of the CQC register. Care Quality Commission register

Care employers in Bedford

All 107 employers in the area →

Roles in Bedford

Nearby towns

Questions about care work in Bedford

How much do care workers get paid in Bedford?: The legal minimum for care workers aged 21 or over is £12.71 an hour, and travel time between visits counts towards it. Bedford paid agencies £26.00 an hour for home care in 2024-25, which limits what they can pay. Local advertised pay will show here once enough adverts are live.
How many care companies are there in Bedford?: 107 registered home care services operate in Bedford, run by 106 providers. Each branch is registered and inspected separately, so check the record of the branch you would work for.
Is travel time paid for care workers in Bedford?: Time spent travelling between visits is working time and counts towards the minimum wage, averaged over your pay period. Some employers pay it separately and some build it into the hourly rate. Ask at interview, and check the employer pages here for what each provider has told us.

What care work pays, and how to check an advert →