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Assisted Living in California

California has 8432 licensed assisted living communities listed on ElderCareCosts across 500 cities. The median estimated cost statewide is $7,000/mo. Pick a city below for local pricing and provider listings, or request a personalized shortlist.

8,432 licensed assisted living communities listed · 8 with CMS star ratings.

Cost of assisted living in California

Median monthly price, California

$7,000/mo

Modeled range $6,682 – $7,608 how this range is derived

● California $7,000 ○ National median $6,230

Modeled estimate · 2025 data

Modeled median costs for assisted living versus California and a multi-state national aggregate. Figures are estimates, not quotes.

Assisted Living cost comparison (2025)
Assisted LivingCaliforniaNational
25th percentile$6,682/mo$5,488/mo
Median$7,000/mo$6,230/mo
75th percentile$7,608/mo$7,083/mo

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Source: Modeled estimate (opens in a new tab) · Updated 2025
Methodology
Why is this number different on other websites? Most sites average "starting at" prices. Base rent, before care fees. We estimate the full monthly cost families actually pay. Budget from the all-in number. Our methodology →

Ways families typically pay

  • Private pay (savings, income, home equity)
  • Long-term care insurance
  • VA Aid & Attendance for eligible veterans and surviving spouses
  • Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) waivers, where eligible. Rules vary by state

Medicare generally does not cover long-term custodial care. State-specific Medicaid waiver guides are coming soon.

CMS rating distribution in California

CMS overall star ratings for 8 assisted living communities in California. We do not re-rank these scores.

CMS star ratings in California
CMS starsProviders
5 stars2
4 stars1
3 stars3
2 stars0
1 star2

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California licensing & regulation

California Department of Social Services — Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) licenses and inspects assisted living communities in California. Before you sign anything, look up the community's license status and past complaints on the state's own site, not a marketing page.

Source: State licensing agency.GOV

Medicaid & local resources in California

Long-Term Care Ombudsman

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman helps residents of nursing homes, assisted living, and similar settings in California resolve concerns about care and rights. Call 1-800-231-4024.

Official Ombudsman locator / program page

Source: State LTC Ombudsman.GOV

Medicaid HCBS / LTSS programs

Named programs below are from official state Medicaid agency pages. We do not list eligibility dollar amounts or wait lists unless a primary source is cited in a later pass.

  • Assisted Living Waiver. Medi-Cal HCBS waiver administered by DHCS. Requires living in a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), an Adult Residential Care Facility (ARF), or subsidized public housing -- not a benefit for care in one's own home. Confirmed on the DHCS ALW page (2026-07-26).
  • Medi-Cal long-term services and supports (LTSS). State Medicaid / LTSS entry point (DHCS Medi-Cal). Use for HCBS pathway discovery alongside named waivers.
Source: State Medicaid program.GOV

Free national starting points. Official sites only; we do not scrape these directories.

Cities in California

Showing 500 of 1618 tracked cities.

Counties in California

County pages carry the local Area Agency on Aging, the state Medicaid waiver contacts and, for nursing homes, what federal inspectors recorded. Ordered by how many assisted living providers each county holds.

All 44 California counties

Assisted Living providers in California

Sample of licensed assisted living communities listed for California. City pages show fuller local inventories.

Sponsored placements, when they appear, are always labeled. How we make money →

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How we rank these

Assisted living in California: what the license means and how Medi-Cal fits

California's median of $7,000 a month is well above the national figure, and the state's rules shape both the price and the options. Two things families most often get wrong: what the license covers, and whether Medi-Cal helps.

Every assisted living community is a licensed RCFE

California does not license assisted living as a category. Communities are licensed by the Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, as Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE), from six-bed homes to 200-unit campuses. The license number on each listing above links to the state record, which shows inspection visits and any citations. A community that offers memory care needs a dementia care approval on the same license; ask to see it.

Where the price comes from

The $7,000 median is a modeled figure from 2025 survey data, with a range of about $6,682 to $7,608. Coastal metros run higher and the Central Valley lower; the city pages below carry local medians. Most communities price a base rate plus care levels, so the quoted rate is the floor. Ask for the care-level schedule in writing and what triggers a move to the next level.

How Medi-Cal fits

Private pay is the norm. Long-term care insurance and VA Aid and Attendance cover part of the bill for those who have them. Medicaid is the piece that varies by state, and in every state it pays for care services, never the room and board portion of an assisted living bill.

California's Assisted Living Waiver lets Medi-Cal pay for care in a participating RCFE for people who would otherwise qualify for a nursing home. It operates in a limited list of counties, has a waiting list, and the resident still pays room and board from income, typically their SSI or Social Security. Ask a community whether it participates before assuming it does; most do not.

Sources: California Community Care Licensing · California DHCS: Assisted Living Waiver · ElderCareCosts 2026 cost index (2025 survey data). Checked 2026-09-07.

Frequently asked questions

How many assisted living communities are listed in California?

We currently list 8432 licensed assisted living communities across California.

Which cities in California have assisted living listings?

We track 500 California cities for assisted living. See the city list on this page for options near you.

Does Medi-Cal pay for assisted living in California?

Only through the Assisted Living Waiver, which covers care services in participating communities in a limited set of counties and carries a waiting list. Room and board is paid by the resident. Most communities do not participate, so ask before you tour.

How do I check a California assisted living license?

Use the license number on the listing. It links to the Community Care Licensing record, which shows the facility type, capacity, inspection visits and citations. Memory care requires a dementia care approval on the same record.

Past 60 days in California: 9,105 added · 10,262 updated · 673 delisted. Most recent change Sep 2. Counts come from our ingestion diffs, not confirmed licensing actions.

How to cite this page

Cite this: According to ElderCareCosts' 2026 index, assisted living in California costs $7,000/month (median).

APA: ElderCareCosts Research. (2026). Assisted Living in California. ElderCareCosts. Retrieved September 16, 2026, from https://www.eldercarecosts.com/assisted-living/california/

Chicago: ElderCareCosts Research. "Assisted Living in California." ElderCareCosts. Last modified August 10, 2026. Accessed September 16, 2026. https://www.eldercarecosts.com/assisted-living/california/.

These figures may be quoted and reproduced with attribution and a link back to this page. No permission needed. Methodology · Data sources · Who produces this · Corrections

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