Cost of Long-Term Care

The cost of long-term care services will depend upon the type of care you are receiving, where you live geographically, and whether you live in a metro or rural area. Typically costs will be higher in metro areas compared to comparable services in rural areas. Costs are also much higher in the northeast versus the Midwest.

• In  2016, total spending (public, out-of-pocket and other private spending) for long-term care was $366.0 billion, or 12.9% of all U.S. personal health care expenditures. Of private sources of funding, out-of-pocket spending was the largest component (over one-half).¹

In the early progression of care, typically an individual relies on family to provide the bulk of the caregiving. The visual cost of care during this time involves additional expenses incurred by family members including additional gas expense, miscellaneous items purchased for caregiving, possible loss of income, etc.

Click to see our Cost of Care Map

• In a 2015 survey, approximately 34.2 million Americans provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months.²
• Lost income and benefits over a caregiver’s lifetime is estimated at $303,880 on average.³

Look up your state’s Home Health Care, Assisted Living, and Nursing Home costs by visiting our Cost of Care Map.

1 National Health Policy Forum (2014) The Basics: National Spending for Long-Term Services and Supports. Retrieved (December 2014) from http://www.nhpf.org/library/the-basics/Basics_LTSS_03-27-14.pdf.
2National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP (2015) Caregiving in the U.S., National Alliance for Caregiving, Washington DC .
3 AARP Public Policy Institute (2015) Valuing the Invaluable. https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2015/valuing-the-invaluable-2015-update-new.pdf.