Assisted living costs $6,230 a month in the middle state, across 50 states with published 2025 figures. Half of states fall between $5,488 and $7,083. Mississippi is the least expensive at $4,369 and Hawaii the most expensive at $12,096.
Figures are for a private one-bedroom unit, from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025.
By ElderCareCosts Research · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Median of 50 state medians, monthly
$6,230/mo
Range across state medians $5,488 – $7,083 how this range is derived
● the United States $6,230
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This is a median of 50 state medians, not a survey of households. Each state contributes one figure regardless of how many people live there, so a small state moves the number exactly as much as a large one. Read it as the typical state, not the typical family. The District of Columbia has no published 2025 figure for assisted living, so it is left out rather than filled in with a guess. Your own cost depends on the metro you are in, the level of care, and the room type, which is why the state and city pages carry a narrower figure than this one.
Why our figure differs from other sites. CareScout's own 2025 national figure is $6,200 a month for a private one-bedroom unit, a median across every provider it surveyed. Ours is the middle of the 50 state medians, so each state counts once and the two can differ. Other sites may quote a different survey year or an average of facility prices. Every figure here states its source and period so you can compare like with like.
Every care type side by side: the 2026 Cost of Senior Care Index.
In-home care runs about $35.50 an hour nationally.
At the national midpoint, about 40 hours a week of in-home care cost what assisted living costs. Below that, staying home is usually cheaper. Above it, the residential option usually is, and the comparison stops being about money once overnight or memory-specific supervision is the reason for the move.
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Every family starts with a number. Here is roughly what each monthly budget buys at national midpoints. Bands shift with your state, so check the state page before planning against them.
Almost nobody pays for long-term care out of one pocket. Most families start with savings and income, then add a second source once the first thins out. The five payers below are ordered by how often they carry the bill, not by how much they pay. Eligibility for the government programs is set state by state, so the state page is where the rules get specific.
If private pay is the plan, an advisor can match communities within that number at no cost. Sponsored
Medicaid and every admission will ask who can sign for your parent. Get the power of attorney done online. Sponsored
Open a state for its own range, city detail, and funding rules.
The gap between the cheapest and most expensive state is the single largest thing on this page. Hawaii at $12,096 is 2.8 times Mississippi at $4,369 for the same category of assisted living. Local wages, real estate, and staffing rules drive most of that, which is why a national figure is a starting point and a state figure is the one to plan against.
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Blank rows are honest. A state with no figure means we have no published source for it, not that care is unavailable there. We would rather show a gap than a guess.
Start from your state's figure in the table above, then adjust for your schedule and city with these tools.
How to cite this page
Cite this: According to ElderCareCosts' 2026 index, assisted living in the United States costs $6,230/month (median, 2025 data).
APA: ElderCareCosts Research. (2026). Assisted Living Cost by State, United States (2025). ElderCareCosts. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://www.eldercarecosts.com/cost-of-care/assisted-living/
Chicago: ElderCareCosts Research. "Assisted Living Cost by State, United States (2025)." ElderCareCosts. Last modified August 10, 2026. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://www.eldercarecosts.com/cost-of-care/assisted-living/.
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
$6,230 a month in the middle state, across 50 states with published 2025 figures. Half of states fall between $5,488 and $7,083. Your state's own figure is in the table above and is the better number to plan against.
Direct-care wages are the largest single input, and they track the local labor market. Real estate, staffing ratios set by state regulation, and general cost of living account for most of the rest.
No. It is the median of 50 state medians, so every state counts once regardless of population. A mean would sit higher because a few expensive states pull it up.
Yes. The CSV on this page has one row per state plus a national summary row, with the period, methodology version, and source tags on every row. Reuse it with attribution.
Tell us needs and budget once. We email you licensed options with the cost data we publish, the same day. Data stays free either way.
The state figures on this page come from BLS wage data, May 2025, CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, carried under methodology cost-model-v1.4.0. The national row is computed from those state figures on this page and is not itself a survey result.
We correct figures in public when a source revises or we get one wrong. If a number here does not match what a provider quoted you, tell us and we will check it.