The national median cost of assisted living was $6,200 a month ($74,400 a year) in 2025, according to the CareScout Cost of Care Survey released in March 2026. A nursing home cost far more, about $9,581 a month for a shared room and $10,798 for a private one. Your parent's actual bill depends heavily on the state, the community and how much help they need.
National median costs in 2025
CareScout has run this survey every year since 2004. For the 2025 edition it collected more than 25,000 rates from providers between July and November 2025. These are medians, so half of providers charge more and half charge less.
- Assisted living community: $6,200 a month, $74,400 a year (private, one-bedroom unit). Up 5% from the year before.
- Nursing home, semi-private room: $315 a day, about $9,581 a month, $114,975 a year. Up 2%.
- Nursing home, private room: $355 a day, about $10,798 a month, $129,575 a year. Up 1%.
- Home care (non-medical caregiver): $35 an hour. At 44 hours a week, that is about $6,673 a month, or $80,080 a year. Up 3%.
- Adult day health care: $95 a day. At five days a week, about $2,058 a month, or $24,700 a year. Down 5%.
- Private duty nurse at home: $90 an hour, or $160 a visit (a new category in 2025).
A few things stand out. Assisted living rose 5% in 2025, which CareScout notes is a slowdown from the double-digit jump it reported for 2024. Full-time home care now costs slightly more than assisted living, because 44 hours a week of paid help adds up fast. And adult day care is the lowest-cost option in the survey for a parent who lives with family and needs supervision during working hours.
Why costs vary so much by state
Location makes a huge difference. In the 2025 survey, the median monthly cost of assisted living ranged from about $4,369 in Mississippi to about $12,096 in Hawaii. A few other examples from the same survey:
- California: $7,000 a month for assisted living (California calls these Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly)
- Florida: $5,610 a month
- Massachusetts: $9,600 a month
- Texas: $5,666 a month
Nursing homes swing even more. A semi-private room had a median of about $5,627 a month in Texas and about $27,831 a month in Alaska. Costs also differ within a state: the survey collects rates by metro area, and prices in one city can be far from the state median.
If your parent is open to moving closer to you, it is worth checking prices in both places. You can browse communities by state to get a feel for what is available near each of you.
What drives the monthly bill
The base rate a community quotes often isn't the whole story. Here is what usually changes the number.
Level of care
The National Institute on Aging notes that assisted living communities typically offer several levels of care, and residents pay more for extra services. Most communities assess a new resident's needs, often with a point system, and assign a care level or add fees for specific help such as bathing, dressing, medication management or two-person transfers. When your parent's needs grow, the bill grows with them.
Memory care
Specialized dementia care usually costs more than standard assisted living. California's advocacy group CANHR points out that higher rates are common for dementia or hospice care, and those charges should be spelled out in the admission agreement. The CareScout survey does not publish a separate national median for memory care, so be wary of any single "average" figure you see quoted. Ask each community for its memory care rate in writing.
Apartment size and type
The CareScout assisted living median is for a private one-bedroom unit. A studio or shared room usually costs less; a larger apartment or a unit with a view usually costs more.
Upfront and one-time fees
Some communities charge a one-time fee at move-in, often called a community fee or preadmission fee. Rules differ by state. In California, for example, any fee must be stated in the admission agreement, and part of a preadmission fee must be refunded if the resident leaves during the first three months. California facilities also cannot charge a security or damage deposit or a cleaning fee. Continuing care retirement communities work differently: NIA notes that most charge a one-time entrance fee, which can be large, plus a monthly fee.
What is included
Some communities bundle meals, housekeeping, laundry, transportation and activities into one price. Others charge for each separately. Two quotes that look $800 apart may be closer than they seem once you add up the extras.
Who pays for this
Most families pay for assisted living out of pocket. NIA states that Medicare does not pay for assisted living, and Medicare.gov says Medicare and Medigap don't pay for long-term care services, including care in a nursing home or in the community. Medicaid may cover some assisted living services depending on the state and eligibility, and some long-term care insurance policies pay part of the cost.
Our guide to whether Medicare pays for assisted living covers each option in more detail, including Medicaid waivers, veterans benefits and long-term care insurance.
How to compare quotes
Ask every community you are considering for the same information, in writing, so you can line the numbers up side by side.
- Ask for the full rate sheet, not just the starting price.
- Ask which care level your parent would likely be assigned after assessment, and the monthly cost of that level.
- Ask for the price of each care level above that one, so you can see what happens if needs increase.
- List every one-time fee and whether any part is refundable.
- Find out exactly what the base rate includes: meals, medication help, laundry, housekeeping, transportation, activities.
- Ask what services cost extra, and how they are billed (flat fee, per task or per hour).
- Get a blank copy of the admission agreement to read before you commit.
Maryland's court-sponsored People's Law Library suggests that an assisted living contract should list every rate, including service packages, fee-for-service charges and non-service charges, and should include a refund policy for prepaid fees. That is a good standard to hold any community to.
Take our touring checklist with you on visits. It covers the questions above plus the things you can only judge in person, like how staff speak to residents.
Questions to ask about price increases
Assisted living rates can rise from year to year, and they also rise when your parent's care level changes. Before signing, ask:
- How much has the base rate gone up each year for the past three years?
- How much notice do you give before a rate increase, and how is it delivered?
- Does a care-level increase take effect immediately, and how will we be told?
- How often do you reassess residents, and can we be present?
- Is there a cap on annual increases written into the contract?
- What happens if my parent runs out of money? Do you accept Medicaid, and is there a waiting period for that?
State law sets minimum notice periods, and they differ. California has required 90 days' written notice of most rate increases at residential care facilities for the elderly since January 1, 2025, though increases tied to a change in a resident's level of care are exempt from that advance notice; the facility must give written notice of a level-of-care increase within two business days. Maryland requires at least 45 days' written notice before a rate increase, with an exception for significant changes in a resident's health. Ask the community what applies in your parent's state, or check with the state licensing agency.
Practical next steps
- Pin down the budget. Add up your parent's monthly income and savings, and figure out how many years of care that could cover at local prices.
- Get the paperwork in order. Powers of attorney and access to financial accounts make it much easier to sign contracts and pay bills. Our documents checklist lists what every family needs.
- Shortlist and compare. Search communities and nursing homes near your parent, then ask your top three for written rate sheets and a blank contract.
- Check the record. Every nursing home page on Pairlo links to its CMS inspection record, and California assisted living listings link to the state license and inspection page.
- Get local help if you are far away. An aging life care manager knows local prices and which communities raise rates aggressively. You can find a care manager in your parent's area.
Costs are only part of the decision, but knowing the real number early keeps you from falling in love with a place your parent can't afford for long.
