State costs
Tennessee Nursing Home Costs in 2026: Average Monthly Price
Quick answer: a Tennessee nursing home costs about $9,429 a month for a semi-private room and about $10,038 a month for a private room, per the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey. That works out to roughly $113,150 and $120,450 a year, or $310 and $330 a day. The shared-room figure sits about 2% under the national median and the private room about 7% under it, so Tennessee is a slightly-below-average state rather than a cheap one.
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians — fieldwork July–November 2025.
How much does a Tennessee nursing home cost per month?
The CareScout Cost of Care Survey is the pricing survey that state agencies, insurers and financial planners work from. Its 2025 edition, with fieldwork from July through November 2025, reports these Tennessee medians:
| Care type | Monthly median | Annual median | Daily median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $9,429 | $113,150 | $310 |
| Nursing home, private room | $10,038 | $120,450 | $330 |
| Assisted living community | $5,845 | $70,140 | $192 |
| Home care (44 hours a week) | $5,911 | $70,928 | $31 per hour |
| Adult day care (five days a week) | $1,733 | $20,800 | $80 |
Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey, 2025 edition, Tennessee state table. Monthly figures are the survey's published medians; the home care annual figure assumes 44 hours a week and adult day assumes five days a week, both as the survey defines them.
A median is not a bill. Half the Tennessee facilities in the survey charged more than $9,429 for a shared room and half charged less. What moves you up or down from there is local: a facility near a hospital campus in a growing metro competes for staff with everyone else and prices accordingly, while a county with empty beds does not. Get the actual rate from the two or three places you are seriously considering, in writing.
The quoted rate is normally the base rate. Therapy supplies, incontinence products, transport to appointments, a private-room premium and a community fee tend to sit outside it. We list the usual extras in the costs that are not in the quoted monthly rate.
How does Tennessee compare with the national median?
The national median in the same survey was $9,581 a month for a semi-private room and $10,798 for a private room, which makes Tennessee about 2% below on shared rooms and about 7% below on private ones. Read the two percentages together and the pattern is clear: the discount in Tennessee shows up mainly on the private-room premium, not on the base cost of a bed.
| Care type | Tennessee | National median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing home, semi-private | $9,429 | $9,581 | 2% lower |
| Nursing home, private | $10,038 | $10,798 | 7% lower |
| Assisted living | $5,845 | $6,200 | 6% lower |
| Home care, per hour | $31 | $35 | 11% lower |
| Adult day care, per day | $80 | $95 | 16% lower |
Within the state table, Tennessee ranks in the cheaper half but nowhere near the bottom. 31 states report a higher semi-private median. Kentucky, at $9,718 a month, and Mississippi, at $9,581, are both more expensive for a shared room, while Ohio at $9,186 and Iowa at $9,277 sit just below. If you are comparing a move across a state line, that is the size of the difference you are arguing about: a few hundred dollars a month, not a few thousand. The state-by-state table has the full set.
Semi-private or private room: what is the price gap?
About $609 a month, or roughly $7,300 a year, at the medians. That is a smaller premium than most families expect, and it is the single easiest line to question when a facility quotes a private-room rate well above it. Ask what specifically the private room includes beyond the door: a private bathroom, a larger floor plan, a quieter wing. In many buildings the nursing hours are identical, because staffing is set by acuity rather than by room type.
The real financial question is usually not the room but the length of stay. At $9,429 a month, a three-year stay is about $339,000, which is more than most Tennessee households hold in liquid savings. That is why the funding sequence matters more than the room choice, and why the Medicare versus Medicaid comparison is the page to read before the tour.
What costs less than a nursing home in Tennessee?
Everything else in the survey, by a wide margin. Assisted living is $5,845 a month, home care at 44 hours a week is $5,911, and adult day care is $1,733. The two middle figures landing within $66 of each other is not a coincidence worth ignoring: for a person who needs help with daily activities but not nursing supervision, the choice between assisted living and a paid caregiver often comes down to housing costs and whether the family home is already paid for.
Adult day care is the option families most often overlook, usually because they assume it is for someone further along than their parent is. At $80 a day it covers supervision and meals during working hours and leaves the person at home at night, which is enough for a lot of households for a year or two. The hourly home care figures are worth reading alongside it if the plan is a mix of family help and paid hours.
Does Medicare pay for a Tennessee nursing home stay?
For a short, skilled stay, yes, and for long-term care, no. Medicare Part A covers up to 100 days per benefit period after a qualifying inpatient hospital stay, with days 1 to 20 covered in full and a daily coinsurance charge from day 21 to day 100. The stay has to be for skilled nursing or therapy, ordered by a doctor, and the facility has to be Medicare-certified.
The gap that catches families is the definition of skilled. Medicare pays for wound care and physical therapy after a hip replacement. It does not pay for help with bathing, dressing, meals, or supervision for someone with dementia, which Medicare calls custodial care. Families who assume the first will continue into the second discover the difference at day 21 or at discharge, and what happens when Medicare stops paying walks through the timing.
Does TennCare pay for nursing home care?
TennCare is Tennessee's Medicaid program, and it is the payer of last resort for long-term nursing home care in the state. Long-term services run mainly through CHOICES, which covers nursing facility care and also home and community-based services for people who can be cared for safely at home. Intake usually starts with your regional Area Agency on Aging and Disability rather than with the facility.
Eligibility is means-tested on income and countable resources, and transfers of assets in the five years before applying can trigger a penalty period. The limits are set annually and this page does not restate them, because a stale number is worse than none. The mechanics of the rules are covered in the five-year look-back and countable assets; confirm current Tennessee figures with TennCare directly.
How do I check what a specific Tennessee facility charges?
Ask for the rate schedule in writing on the tour, not the figure quoted on the phone. The phone number is the base rate for a semi-private room, and the written schedule is where the therapy, supplies, transport and private-room premium appear. Compare two or three facilities on the same page shape so the differences are visible.
For quality rather than price, Medicare Care Compare at medicare.gov/care-compare lists every Medicare-certified nursing home in Tennessee with staffing levels, inspection results and quality measures, and it is the same data the state and federal regulators use. Nursing homes in Tennessee are licensed and inspected by the Tennessee Department of Health, which also takes complaints about care. A facility with a clean inspection record and thin staffing is a different risk from one with a recent deficiency and full staffing, and the two numbers sit side by side on Care Compare.
Where these numbers come from
All cost figures on this page are medians from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey, 2025 edition, fieldwork July through November 2025, Tennessee state table and 2025 national median table. State ranking statements are counted from the same survey's state table. Medicare coverage rules are Medicare.gov's. TennCare and CHOICES descriptions are TennCare's own program descriptions; income limits, resource limits and the personal needs allowance are set by the state and change annually, so this page does not restate them. Facility quality and licensing information comes from Medicare Care Compare and the Tennessee Department of Health. This is general information about program rules, not financial, legal or tax advice for a particular situation.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does a nursing home cost in Tennessee per month?
The median is $9,429 a month for a semi-private room and $10,038 for a private room, according to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey. Per day that is $310 and $330. Those are medians across the state, so a facility in a Nashville suburb and one in a rural county with empty beds will both differ from it, in opposite directions.
Is Tennessee cheaper than the national average for nursing home care?
Slightly, and not by much on shared rooms. The same survey puts the national median at $9,581 a month for a semi-private room, so Tennessee runs about 2% below it. On private rooms the gap is wider, about 7% below the national $10,798. Compared with the rest of the country, 31 states in the survey table report a higher semi-private median than Tennessee.
Does TennCare pay for a nursing home in Tennessee?
TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid program, pays for long-term nursing home care for people who qualify, mainly through its CHOICES program, which also funds home and community-based care for people who can stay at home safely. There is an income limit, a resource limit and a five-year look-back on asset transfers, and the limits change each year, so confirm the current figures with TennCare or your regional Area Agency on Aging and Disability rather than relying on a number from an article.
Does Medicare pay for nursing home care in Tennessee?
Only for short-term skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay, and only for up to 100 days per benefit period. Days 1 to 20 are covered in full and days 21 to 100 carry a daily coinsurance amount. Custodial care, which is help with bathing, dressing, meals and supervision, is not covered by Medicare at all, and that is the part most people mean when they say nursing home care.
What is the cheapest option for care in Tennessee?
Adult day care is by far the lowest monthly figure in the survey, at a median of $1,733 a month for five days a week. Home care at $5,911 a month and assisted living at $5,845 are close to each other, which is worth knowing: if a parent needs help but not nursing supervision, assisted living usually costs less per month than the equivalent hours of in-home care.
How do I find out what a specific Tennessee facility charges?
Ask for the current rate schedule in writing, because the number quoted on the phone is usually the base rate and the add-ons arrive later. For quality, staffing and inspection history, use Medicare's Care Compare at medicare.gov/care-compare, which lists every Medicare-certified nursing home in Tennessee. Licensing and complaints go through the Tennessee Department of Health.
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