Alzheimer’s / Dementia Care Costs: Home Care, Adult Day Care, Assisted Living & Nursing Homes
Factors Influencing the Cost of Care
Hiring outside assistance to help care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia can be very expensive. Home care, adult day care, care in assisted living, and nursing home care all offer different types of services and supports and have varying price tags.
Many factors influence the cost of care, like:
- What state you live in
- Population density (rural vs. urban)
- Agency vs. independent caregiver
- Local laws and ordinances
- Demand (especially for residential care)
- Seasonality
- Which Activities of Daily Living (mobility, bathing, dressing, eating toileting) require assistance
- Tax credits and deductions
Click here for an interactive cost of assisted living/memory care map that provides regional and local cost differences within each state.
Care Costs by Type of Care
Home Care
In general, home care providers charge by the hour. Fortunately, most home care providers do not charge higher hourly rates for persons suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, or other types of dementia. It should be noted that there is a difference between home health care (injections, IV infusions, dressing wounds) and home care (housekeeping, running errands, companionship). In broad terms, home care is generally non-medical in nature and includes things like cleaning, shopping, cooking, laundry and personal care assistance with the Activities of Daily Living (mobility, bathing, dressing/grooming, eating toileting). Home health care, on the other hand, usually refers to medical care like injections, IV infusions, dialysis, dressing wounds and other types of care that is typically administered by a nurse or physician.
Most people with dementia do not require home health care, but they often require home care. The average cost of home care in the U.S. in 2024 was $34/hour, $213/ day, $6,292/month and $75,504/year, according to the 2024 Cost of Care Survey conducted by Genworth and CareScout, which refers to it as care from a “home health aide.” Like all types of care, there is considerable geographic variation in the cost of home care. Regional information can be helpful for families, and the cost of care is broken down by state in the Genworth survey. In general, care is less expensive in the south and midwest, and more expensive on the two coasts, but there are some exceptions – Minnesota, for example, averaged the highest cost of care of any state in 2024.
Adult Day Care
Adult daycare is usually billed daily. There are different types of adult day care: adult day social care, adult day health care, and even Alzheimer’s day treatment. Surprisingly, there is not a lot of cost variance between these different types of programs. The national average rate in 2024 was $84/day, according tot he Genworth survey linked to above. This makes adult day care a more affordable option than home care.
The cost of adult day care can change significantly depending on where you live. The state with the lowest prices in 2024, according to the Genworth survey, was Delaware, where adult day care only cost $25/day. Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana and Kentucky all had average adult day care costs that were between $55/day and $59/day. On the end of the spectrum, adult day care in Oregon averaged $202/day, and it was $193/day in Washington. Regardless of where one lives, adult day care is the most cost-effective care for persons with dementia. Many adult day care centers provide transportation, some for free while others charge a fee.
Assisted Living / Memory Care
Assisted living for persons with dementia is often called memory care. Memory care typically provides higher levels of care, with more specialized staff training, as well as greater security to prevent wandering. Memory care costs vary greatly by community, with some residences even in the same geographic area charging almost twice as much as others.
According to the Genworth survey, the average cost of assisted living in the U.S. in 2024 was $5,900/month ($70,800/year), while the national average for memory care in 2024 was $7,139/month ($85,668/year). Again, these costs can vary dramatically by state, and they tend to be lower in the south and midwest than they are on either coast. The prices are all broken down by state here.
Nursing Homes
For persons with later-stage dementia, nursing home care may be necessary. This is the most expensive type of care listed on this page. Fortunately, Medicaid will cover the full cost of nursing homes, including room and board expenses, for qualified applicants. More than half of all nursing home residents are enrolled in Medicaid. The average cost of a semi-private nursing home room in 2024 was $9,277/month ($111,325/year). Again, these prices can vary dramatically by state, and the differences can be found by clicking here.