Nursing Home Cost Calculator
Estimate monthly and annual nursing home costs by care type: independent living, assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing facility.
Long-term care costs are the single largest unplanned expense in retirement. The national median for a semi-private nursing home room exceeds $90,000/year — and costs have risen 4–5% annually.
2024 national median long-term care costs
- Independent living community: ~$2,500–$4,500/month
- Assisted living: ~$4,500–$6,000/month
- Memory care: ~$5,500–$8,000/month
- Skilled nursing facility (semi-private): ~$7,900/month ($94,800/year)
- Skilled nursing facility (private room): ~$9,000/month ($108,000/year)
Who pays for nursing home care?
- Private pay: out-of-pocket from savings, investments, family
- Long-term care insurance: typically pays $150–$250/day benefit
- Medicare: covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing ONLY after a 3-night hospital stay; NOT long-term custodial care
- Medicaid: covers long-term care for those with limited assets (varies by state); "Medicaid spend-down" requires depleting assets to ~$2,000 in most states