If you've started researching long-term care, one question comes up first: how much is this actually going to cost? The answer depends on the type of care, where you live, and how many hours of help are needed — but national data makes the scale of the challenge clear.

Below is a plain-English breakdown of 2026 long-term care costs by setting, based on the most recent industry cost-of-care survey data. At Laura Peery Agency LLC, we use figures like these every day to help clients build realistic, national-level income plans for long-term care — so nothing here is theoretical. It's the math families are facing right now.

In-Home Care

Most people say they want to age at home, and home care is often the first type of long-term care a family arranges.

  1. Non-medical caregiver (homemaker or home health aide) services: roughly $35 per hour, or about $80,000 per year at 44 hours of care a week — the industry-standard benchmark for "near full-time" home care.
  2. Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse): about $90 per hour for ongoing skilled care, or roughly $160 per visit for shorter, task-based clinical visits.
  3. Round-the-clock home care (24/7 coverage) can run well beyond $200,000 a year, since it typically requires multiple caregivers in rotating shifts.

Home care rates vary significantly by state and metro area — in some regions the hourly rate is in the low $20s, while in others it approaches $50 an hour.

Assisted Living

Assisted living communities combine housing with help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, and medication management.

  1. National median cost: approximately $6,200 per month, or about $74,400 per year.
  2. Costs can easily run 15–25% higher than the advertised "base rate" once care-level upgrades, medication management, and add-on services are included.

Memory Care

Memory care is a specialized level of assisted living for people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, with secured environments and higher staff ratios.

  1. Estimated national median: roughly $7,500 per month, generally running 20–30% higher than standard assisted living because of the additional staffing and safety features required.

Skilled Nursing (Nursing Homes)

Skilled nursing facilities provide the highest level of custodial and medical care outside a hospital.

  1. Semi-private room: national median of about $315 per day, or roughly $115,000 per year.
  2. Private room: national median of about $355 per day, or roughly $130,000 per year.

Adult Day Care

Adult day health centers offer supervised daytime care, often used so a family caregiver can continue working or get respite.

  1. National median cost: about $95 per day, or roughly $24,700 per year based on five days of care a week — making it one of the more affordable long-term care options, though it doesn't replace overnight or full-time support.

Why These Numbers Matter for Planning

A few things stand out when you look at these figures together:

  1. Every care setting now costs more than most people's annual retirement income. A single year of assisted living or home care can exceed $70,000–$80,000; a year of nursing home care can exceed $110,000–$130,000.
  2. Care rarely lasts just a few months. Many people need some form of long-term care for two to four years or more, and needs often escalate from home care to assisted living to skilled nursing over time.
  3. Costs vary by two times or more across state lines, so a national average can understate what care will actually cost in a high-cost metro area — and understate the risk of running out of funds.
  4. Medicare does not pay for ongoing custodial care in any of these settings (more on that in our next article) — which means most families are funding this out of income, savings, insurance, or a combination of all three.

Turning Numbers Into a Plan

Cost data is only useful once it's translated into a personal strategy: How much would your care cost, in your area, for your likely duration of need? And how would you pay for it — savings, income-based planning, insurance, or a blend?

That's the work we do at Laura Peery Agency LLC. As a national long-term care income planning resource, and Certified Long-Term Care Planning Specialists, we help individuals and families model these real-world costs against their own retirement income and assets, then design a funding strategy — whether that's a traditional policy, a hybrid life/LTC solution, a long-term care annuity, or a combination — that fits their budget and goals.

Ready to see what long-term care could cost in your situation, and how to plan for it?

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For the most current, official cost-of-care and government benefit data, always verify with primary government sources such as medicare.gov, medicaid.gov, and your state's Medicaid agency. Figures in this article are for general educational purposes and are updated periodically, but real-time figures should be confirmed directly with the relevant government website.