How Much Does Senior Care Cost? National Medians and How to Estimate Yours

The first question most families ask after "What kind of care does Mom need?" is "How on earth are we going to pay for it?" Before you can answer the second question, you need a realistic number. This guide gives you the most recent national medians from the largest annual cost survey, explains what those figures do and don't include, and walks you through building an estimate for your own town.

A quick word of comfort: almost nobody knows these numbers until they need them. If the figures below make your stomach drop, that is a normal reaction. Most families end up combining several ways to pay, and there are more options than it first appears.

National median costs of care

The most widely cited source for care costs is the Cost of Care Survey, run for many years by Genworth and now published by its subsidiary CareScout. The most recent edition is the 2025 survey, released on March 2, 2026. CareScout collected more than 25,000 rates from providers between July and November 2025.

Compared with the prior year, CareScout reported in-home caregiver rates up 3%, assisted living up 5%, semi-private nursing home rooms up 2%, private rooms up 1%, and adult day health care down 5%.

The survey also reported a national median of $90 an hour for skilled nursing in the home (a private-duty nurse). Most families need that level of care only for short periods, but it is worth knowing if a parent has complex medical needs.

What these numbers do and don't tell you

A median is the middle of the range: half of providers charge more, half charge less. That makes it a useful starting point, not a quote. A few things to keep in mind:

• Location matters a lot. CareScout collects rates by metropolitan area, and costs in a large coastal city can be far higher than in a rural county.
• The annual home care figure assumes 44 hours a week. Many families need far fewer hours at first, and some need many more.
• Assisted living base rates often exclude care. Many communities charge a monthly rent plus a separate fee for help with medications, bathing, or dressing. Memory care usually costs more.
• Nursing home rates are the private-pay price. What Medicare or Medicaid pays the facility is a different number and is not what a private-pay family is billed.
• Adult day rates are shaped by Medicaid. CareScout notes that Medicaid reimbursement often sets the benchmark for adult day prices in many markets.

How to estimate costs where you live

You can build a working estimate in an evening. Here is a simple approach.

1. Pin down the level of care. Is the need a few hours of help with errands and meals, daily help with bathing and dressing, supervision for memory loss, or round-the-clock nursing? Our Care Level Finder can help you sort this out.
2. Look up your area's medians. CareScout publishes state and metro figures on its Cost of Care page. Use the metro area where your loved one will actually receive care.
3. Call three local providers. Ask for the hourly, daily, or monthly rate, plus minimum shifts, weekend and holiday rates, and what is not included. Write it down; you will forget by the third call.
4. Add the extras. Medications, incontinence supplies, transportation, a medical alert device, home modifications, and higher care tiers as needs grow.
5. Subtract what someone else will pay. Medicare (only for short-term skilled care), Medicaid if your loved one qualifies, long-term care insurance, or VA benefits for eligible veterans and surviving spouses.

Your local Area Agency on Aging can also tell you what services cost in your community and what free or low-cost programs exist. Find yours through the Eldercare Locator or our local help page.

Three illustrative budgets

These examples use the 2025 national medians and are illustrative only. Your local prices will differ.

• Part-time help at home: 20 hours a week of in-home care at $35 an hour is $700 a week, or about $36,400 a year. Add adult day care two days a week at $95 a day and you add roughly $9,880 a year.
• Assisted living: $6,200 a month is $74,400 a year before any extra care fees. If the community adds a care-level charge, the total rises.
• Long-term nursing home stay: A semi-private room at $315 a day for two years comes to about $229,950.

Seeing it laid out this way can help a family make sense of trade-offs. For example, once in-home care reaches 40 or more hours a week, assisted living may cost about the same or less, and it adds around-the-clock staff. On the other hand, a parent who needs only a few hours of help can often stay home for far less than any facility.

Who actually pays for long-term care

Many families assume Medicare will cover most of this. It won't. Medicare.gov is direct about it: Medicare does not provide long-term care coverage or custodial care unless medical care is also needed. Here is how the payment picture usually looks:

• Personal savings and income, including Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, and sometimes the sale of a home.
• Medicaid, the main public program that pays for long-term care, for people with limited income and assets. See our Medicaid long-term care guide.
• Medicare, only for short-term skilled care, home health, and hospice. See what Medicare covers.
• Long-term care insurance, if a policy was bought years earlier. See our long-term care insurance guide.
• VA benefits for eligible veterans and surviving spouses, such as VA Aid and Attendance.
• Tax breaks that can offset part of the cost. See tax breaks for caregivers.

The costs that don't show up on a price list

Family caregivers often carry real costs that never appear on an invoice: reduced work hours, lost retirement contributions, travel, and their own health. If you are cutting back at work to provide care, count that too. It belongs in the conversation when siblings decide who does what and who pays for what.

And if the numbers feel overwhelming, it is okay to take this one step at a time. You do not have to solve the next ten years tonight. Start with the next three months: what care is needed now, what it costs, and who can help pay.

Your next steps

1. Write down the care needed today, and what may be needed in a year.
2. Get three local quotes for the type of care that fits.
3. List every resource: income, savings, insurance policies, and possible VA or Medicaid eligibility.
4. Run the numbers in our Cost of Care Calculator and revisit them every few months as needs change.

Last reviewed October 19, 2026. General information only, not medical, legal, or financial advice. Benefit rules and amounts change, so confirm with the agency before you decide. See our disclaimer.