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Long-Term Care · Cost Planning

Long-Term Care
Cost Estimator

Compares what care actually costs across four settings: paid help at home, adult day care, assisted living, and a nursing home. Set the hours of care needed, the local cost adjustment for where you live, and a cost inflation rate, then see the crossover point where in-home care stops being the cheaper option.

Data: 2026 (national median care costs, survey based, user-overridable)

Care Costs STEP 1
Home care
National median for a non-medical caregiver.
Medically supervised care costs more.
The survey-standard assumption. Full-time coverage runs 168.
Adult day care
Typically weekdays only.
Assisted living
National median, base rate.
Many communities charge a tier above the base rent.
Nursing home
National median.
National median.
Regional and time assumptions
100 is the national median. Alaska runs far above, several southern states well below.
Care costs have historically outpaced general inflation.
Average nursing home stays run under three years, home care often longer.
Household, insurance, and selected setting
Mortgage or rent, utilities, food, that stop if the home is given up.
Enter 0 if none.
Days you pay before benefits start.
Leave 0 to skip the cost-as-share-of-income row.
Care costs are survey medians and vary enormously by state and metro area, from roughly a third below the national median in the lowest-cost states to several times above it in Alaska. Every figure here is a starting point you should replace with local quotes.
Annual Cost, Selected Setting
--
Year-one cost at your regional adjustment
Crossover vs Assisted Living
--
Weekly home-care hours where assisted living becomes cheaper
Lowest Modeled Cost Setting
--
Cost is one input among many. See note below.
Four-Way Comparison, Year One
SettingAnnualMonthlyNet of avoided household costs
Home care----n/a, household still running
Adult day care----n/a, household still running
Assisted living------
Nursing home------
Detail
Crossover hours versus assisted living--
Crossover hours versus nursing home--
Projected total, selected setting, over the care period--
Insurance benefit applied--
Out of pocket total--
NoteCost is one input among many. Care setting decisions turn on medical need, safety, and family capacity, none of which this tool models.
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