Nursing home care costs $9,581 a month semi-private and $10,798 private — $14,600 apart over a year
Two published rates, one room type between them. The daily price is the number that matters here, because nursing homes bill every day of the year — including the months with 31 of them.
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians — fieldwork July–November 2025.
The two published rates, side by side
The survey publishes nursing home care as a daily rate, with separate figures for a semi-private and a private room. Both are annualized over 365 days and then divided by 12 to give the monthly figure below.
| Room type | Per day | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-private room | $315 | $9,581 | $114,975 |
| Private room | $355 | $10,798 | $129,575 |
| Difference | $40 | $1,217 | $14,600 |
Both figures rose year over year in this survey: 3% for the semi-private rate and 1% for the private rate.
What the room-type gap buys
$40 a day separates the two rooms. Over a year of daily billing that is $14,600 — enough to pay for a second year of adult day care at five days a week, with change.
What a semi-private room shares differs by facility: some pair rooms and share a bathroom, others share only the bathroom. That detail changes the value of the cheaper rate considerably. Ask to see both room types and ask what is shared before deciding the gap is worth paying.
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Why a 31-day month costs more
A daily rate means the calendar sets your bill. At $315 a day:
- A 28-day month: $8,820
- The survey's monthly figure (365 ÷ 12): $9,581
- A 31-day month: $9,765
The spread between the shortest and longest month is $945 at this rate — three extra days, not a price rise. It is worth knowing which basis your contract uses: a per-day contract produces seven higher-billing months a year, while a monthly rate averages that out.
Against assisted living and hourly care
A semi-private nursing home room costs $40,575 a year more than the assisted living median of $74,400; a private room costs $55,175 a year more. The two settings are regulated and staffed differently, so the difference is not simply a markup on the same service — ask each setting what staffing is present overnight before treating the higher price as the more capable option.
In money terms, the $9,581 monthly median is the same as 274 hours of in-home care a month, or about 63 hours a week at the hourly rate. That is a comparison of money spent, not of care received — hourly care cannot cover nights or weekends on that many hours.
Where this fits against the other four options
| Care type | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Medical Caregiver (In-Home) | $6,673 | $80,080 |
| Adult Day Health Care | $2,058 | $24,700 |
| Assisted Living Community | $6,200 | $74,400 |
| Nursing Home — Semi-Private Roomthis page | $9,581 | $114,975 |
| Nursing Home — Private Roomthis page | $10,798 | $129,575 |
What families actually buy — and how to choose it
These are the categories that come up again and again when people try to keep someone at home longer. Prices change constantly, so instead of quoting a number that will be wrong next month, here is what to check before you buy.
Bed rails & fall protection
Falls are the most common reason a family moves from home care to a facility — and the most expensive to recover from.
- Check the weight limit and whether it fits the mattress thickness you have
- Adjustable height beats fixed if the bed is not a hospital bed
- Look for a model that folds down, so it does not block getting out
Walkers & rollators
A rollator with a seat and brakes lets someone stay mobile — and keep the hours of paid care lower.
- Measure the handle height with the person standing; wrong height causes back pain
- Test the brakes: loop brakes are easier for arthritic hands than squeeze brakes
- Width matters if hallways or bathroom doors are narrow
Bathroom safety
Most falls happen in the bathroom. Grab bars and a shower chair are the cheapest intervention on this page.
- Grab bars must be screwed into studs — suction cups are not a fall-prevention device
- A shower chair with a back and arms is easier to stand up from
- Non-slip mat inside and outside the tub
Medical alert systems
If the person is alone for part of the day, this is the difference between a fall and a fall found hours later.
- Decide between a landline base and cellular — no landline means cellular only
- Check the monthly cost, not just the device price; it is the recurring part that adds up
- Fall detection is a separate feature and usually costs more
Incontinence supplies
A recurring cost families rarely budget for — and one of the first things that pushes hours of care up.
- Match absorbency to overnight vs daytime use; one product for both wastes money
- Check the size chart by waist measurement, not clothing size
- Subscribe-and-save pricing is usually cheaper than one-off orders for this category
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This does not change what we recommend — the selection criteria above are the same ones we would give a friend.
Frequently asked questions
Is the monthly figure just the daily rate times 30?
No. Nursing homes bill every day of the year, and the survey converts its annual figure to a monthly one by dividing by 12 — the equivalent of a 30.42-day month. For a semi-private room that is $114,975 ÷ 12 = $9,581 a month. Multiplying the day rate by a flat 30 would understate the year.
Why does a private room cost so much more?
The difference is $40 a day, which is $14,600 over a year of daily billing. It buys privacy and, in many facilities, an equivalent amount of care in a different room. Whether that trade is worth it is a family decision — but ask a facility what a semi-private room actually shares (bathroom, sleeping area, or both) before assuming the cheaper rate means a shared room.
Does the monthly rate change depending on the length of the month?
If you are billed per day, yes. A 31-day month at $315/day is $9,765; a 28-day month is $8,820 — a difference of $945 for the same room and the same care. Ask whether you are billed daily or monthly, because a monthly rate averages the calendar out.
Does this page tell me what level of care my parent will get?
No, and be sceptical of any price page that claims to. The figures here are the median price of the setting, not an assessment of need. What a facility provides, what its staffing looks like overnight, and what it charges for higher care tiers are questions for the facility and for a licensed professional assessing your parent. Ask for the fee schedule and the staffing ratio in writing, and ask what triggers a move to a higher care tier.
Next, price out the other options
- How much care costs rose this year
Four of the five care types went up between the last two surveys and one went down. Here is the change for each, in dollars rather than in adjectives — including the one that fell.
- In-home caregiver cost
Every care type here is priced per month except this one, which is billed by the hour. That one difference is what makes in-home care cheap at 15 hours a week and the most expensive option at 50.
- Adult day health care cost
The cheapest care type in the survey, and the one families most often skip past without pricing. Here is what a day of attendance buys compared with the same hours of in-home care.
- Assisted living cost
The most common step up from care at home. What the monthly fee covers, what gets billed on top of it, and the two line items to ask for in writing before signing.