10 States With the Most (and Least) Affordable Senior Healthcare

The cost of elderly care is downright frightening. From home healthcare to assisted-living facilities and nursing homes, it is not cheap — and it could make a large dent in your retirement savings.

GOBankingRates has identified the best and worst states for senior healthcare by averaging the monthly costs of six critical needs: home healthcare, home health services, adult day healthcare, assisted living, and semi-private and private room nursing homes.

If you need affordable healthcare when you retire, here are the 10 best and worst states you can move to, according to the average cost of senior living.

In order to find the states with the most (and least) affordable senior healthcare, GOBankingRates analyzed costs for elderly care by finding associated costs for homemaker services, home health aide, adult day health care, assisted living facility, semi-private room, and private room services as sourced from Genworth – Aging and You. The total national average for all senior healthcare services comes out to $5,877.

Nearly all elderly people will take advantage of one of these services, so GOBankingRates averaged all of them to find the states with an overall most (and least) affordable senior healthcare. Here are the national costs for those services:

1. Home Services: $5,259
2. Home Health Aide Services: $5,462
3. Adult Day Healthcare: $1,793
4. Assisted Living Facility: $4,774
5. Semi-Private Room Nursing Home Care: $8,390
6. Private Room Nursing Home Care: $9,584

• Average For All Services Cost: $5,163 per month

Residents of South Carolina enjoy less-expensive prices — across all six categories — than the national median costs. Older residents in the state save the most when it comes to adult day healthcare and private nursing home rooms, the latter costing almost $1,000 less than the national median.

• Average For All Services Cost: $5,078 per month

In Kansas, residents can expect to match the national median cost of community and assisted living services. Kansas makes the list, however, because residents get a significant break on private nursing home rooms, which are about $2,000 cheaper than the average across the country.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,972 per month

Georgia has cheaper costs than the national median for all six services. Georgians also enjoy savings of more than $1,000 for private and semi-private rooms in nursing homes. Home health aide and homemaker services are also significantly less expensive.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,767 per month

In Mississippi, the costs for adult day health care is $1,494 and for assisted living $3,713, with the community and assisted living average coming out to $2,604, nearly $600 cheaper than the national average for the same services.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,711 per month

Arkansas is another state that earns its place among the top 10 with cheaper nursing home care for private and semi-private rooms. When all is said and done, Arkansans can expect to pay nearly $1,166 less on average for senior healthcare than the national median figure.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,708 per month

Reasonable costs for assisted living facilities help the state rank high on this list, but savings in nursing home care are the most dramatic. Private rooms are about $3,100 cheaper than the national median, and semi-private rooms are around $2,600 cheaper.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,621 per month

In the number four spot is Texas, where residents enjoy lower prices across the board. The state’s average cost is low thanks mainly to big savings with its $816 for adult day healthcare — the country’s second cheapest.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,532 per month

Although Missouri is near the top of the list, residents there actually pay more for adult day healthcare than the national median price. Missourians enjoy lower costs for all other categories, however, particularly for semi-private room nursing home care, with rates only two other states can beat.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,531 per month

In Alabama, senior living costs are forgiving in several categories, including a remarkably cheap $3,716 a month for a stay in an assisted living facility. The real savings, however, are found in adult day care, which is $804 per month. That is cheapest in the country, making Alabama one of the best states in which to retire for healthcare.

• Average For All Services Cost: $4,366 per month

Although cost isn’t the only factor in determining the best retirement cities and states, it’s definitely a major consideration. Louisiana tops the “best” list thanks in large part to its homemaker services price — $3,844 — which is lower than all other states and the District of Columbia.

That’s not the only category that makes Louisiana the most attractive state for older Americans, though. Residents of the state enjoy costs that are cheaper than the national median in all but one category: adult day healthcare.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,614 per month

Residents of New Hampshire don’t get a single break in any category — all six services are costlier than the national median. Nursing home care, however, is where costs really sting. Semi-private and private room nursing home care are among the costliest in the country. The cost for a private room is more than $12,000 per month.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,619 per month

New Jersey residents pay more in every category of services. Most notably, the monthly prices for private and semi-private nursing home rooms cost even more than they do in New Hampshire.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,635 per month

Delaware residents can expect to pay less in just one category out of six: adult day healthcare. They pay more for everything else — and they get clobbered in nursing home care, which costs more than $13,000 for private and semi-private rooms.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,667 per month

Semi-private and private nursing home rooms run deep into five-figure territory in New York — a private room costs a whopping $14,039. That’s not the state’s only pitfall, though. New Yorkers pay more than the national median in all categories.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,945 per month

Minnesota residents will find that their costs for senior health care are higher than most of the country, but it’s really the in-home average that sets the state apart from the others, adding up to $7,206 per month. That’s almost $2,000 above the national average.

• Average For All Services Cost: $7,960 per month

If your dream is to retire in exotic Hawaii, you’ll get a break on the price of adult day healthcare — $69 to be exact — compared with the national median. Everything else costs more, and much more when it comes to nursing home care. Both private and semi-private rooms are among the priciest in the country.

• Average For All Services Cost: $8,145 per month

Adult day healthcare is slightly less expensive in Massachusetts than the national median cost, but that’s where the savings stop. Residents of the state pay far more for care across all other categories, with the cost of a private nursing home room at more than $14,000.

• Average For All Services Cost: $8,151, per month

The No. 3 most expensive state in the country isn’t a state — it’s the District of Columbia, where residents of the nation’s capital pay $7,403 on average to stay in community and assisted living facilities, which is the highest rate in the country. Five-figure nursing home care costs — for both types of rooms — don’t help D.C.’s standings either.

• Average For All Services Cost: $8,219 per month

Connecticut residents pay more for nursing home care than virtually anyone else in the country. Semi-private rooms cost more than $14,000, and the cost of private rooms jumps to more than $16,000. Assisted living and adult day healthcare costs are also high, but as No. 2 on the list, Connecticut residents know it could be worse … if they lived in Alaska.

• Average For All Services Cost: $14,650 per month

Alaska’s median homemaker services cost might not be the highest in the nation. However, nursing home facilities are far and away the costliest in America — with private and semi-private rooms topping the charts at more than $33,000 each.

Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: In order to find the states with the most (and least) affordable senior healthcare, GOBanking rates analyzed costs for elderly care by finding assosiated costs for; [1] homemaker services, [2] home health aide, [3] adult day health care, [4] assisted living facility, [5] semi-private room, and [6] private room services as sourced from Genworth – Aging and You. Nearly all elderly people will take advantage of one of these services so GOBankingRates average all the services to find the states with an overall most (and least) affordable senior healthcare. All data was collected and is up-to-date as-of January 11th, 2024.