A nursing home in Alabama costs $8,334 a month semi-private
$8,787 a month for a private room — $100,010 and $105,441 a year. Both figures are medians from CareScout's 2025 survey, published for Alabama itself rather than a national number applied to it. That is below the national median of $9,581 a month — Alabama is the 7th cheapest of the 50 states the survey reports.
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 — ranked medians by state · Alabama
The two published rates in Alabama
Nursing homes bill every day of the year, so the survey publishes a daily rate as well as the monthly and annual ones. All three columns below are the survey's own numbers for Alabama — nothing is back-calculated from a monthly figure.
| Room type | Per day | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-private room | $274 | $8,334 | $100,010 |
| Private room | $289 | $8,787 | $105,441 |
| Difference | $15 | $453 | $5,431 |
Where the survey reports no usable sample for Alabama, the cell says N/A rather than borrowing another state's figure.
Where Alabama sits against the rest of the country
The national semi-private median is $9,581 a month and the private-room median is $10,798. Against that, Alabama's semi-private median of $8,334 is lower — and its private-room median is lower than the national figure. Nursing-home rates vary far more between states than people expect, which is why pricing the state the person actually lives in matters more than any national average.
One thing state medians do not tell you: facilities within a single state still differ by thousands of dollars a month, by ownership, staffing and whether the facility accepts Medicaid. Treat $8,334 as the middle of the Alabama market, then get two or three written fee schedules from facilities you would actually consider.
The five care options in Alabama, side by side
Every figure below is Alabama's own median from the same survey — not a national number applied to a state. Where the survey reports no usable sample, the cell says so.
| Care type | Median cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| In-home care | $5,148/month | annual figure assumes 44 hours of care a week |
| Assisted living | $4,425/month | as reported, private, one bedroom |
| Nursing home, semi-private | $8,334/month | as reported, semi-private room |
| Nursing home, private room | $8,787/month | as reported, private room |
| Adult day health care | $58/day | as reported, per day of attendance |
Read across that table and the reason a family ends up in a nursing home is rarely price. It is the level of care — a nursing home has licensed nursing staff on site around the clock, which assisted living and in-home care generally do not. That is what the higher monthly figure is buying. Use the cost calculator to price your own hours against these medians.
How families pay for nursing home care in Alabama
- Privately, first. Most families pay out of pocket at the start, drawing down savings. At $8,334 a month a semi-private room runs through $100,010 a year, which is the number to hold against savings and any long-term care policy.
- Medicare, for a short skilled stay only. Up to 100 days per benefit period after a qualifying hospital stay, with cost-sharing from day 21 — and no coverage of long-term custodial care. It is not a way to fund a year in a nursing home.
- Medicaid in Alabama, for those who qualify. The single largest payer of long-term nursing home care in the country. Eligibility uses income and asset tests set by Alabama, with a look-back period on asset transfers. The state Medicaid agency is the only authoritative source; this page does not estimate eligibility.
- Long-term care insurance. Policies generally reimburse once their own trigger is met — usually two of six activities of daily living. Read the trigger, and the daily and lifetime caps, not the marketing summary.
- Veterans' benefits. The VA's Aid and Attendance benefit can help pay for care for eligible veterans and surviving spouses, including some nursing-home costs. The VA decides eligibility.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a nursing home cost in Alabama?
A median of $8,334 a month for a semi-private room and $8,787 for a private room, in CareScout's 2025 survey — $100,010 and $105,441 a year. Those are medians of what facilities in Alabama charge, not quotes: the facility you choose will be above or below them.
Is this the average nursing home cost in Alabama?
No — it is the median. The survey publishes medians, so this page does not relabel them as averages. The two differ: an average is dragged up by a handful of very expensive facilities, while the median is the middle price, so half of facilities sit above it and half below. For a cost where the top of the market is far from the middle, the median describes what a typical family actually pays better than the average does.
Why is a private room so much more than a semi-private room in Alabama?
The gap here is $453 a month, or $5,431 over a year. It buys privacy, and in many facilities a different room rather than extra care. What a semi-private room actually shares varies by facility — some pair rooms and share a bathroom, others share only the bathroom. Ask to see both room types before deciding the gap is worth paying.
Does Medicare or Medicaid pay for a nursing home in Alabama?
Alabama does not change the federal rules. Medicare covers a short, skilled stay — up to 100 days per benefit period after a qualifying hospital admission, with cost-sharing from day 21 — and it does not cover long-term custodial care. Medicaid can cover long-term nursing home care for people who qualify financially, but eligibility, asset rules and any waiver waitlists are set by Alabama, not by this page. The state Medicaid agency is the authoritative source.
Does the monthly figure include everything?
No. The survey prices the room and the routine care attached to it. Ask any facility, in writing, about the items most often billed on top: therapy above what Medicare covers, prescription drugs, personal laundry, a higher care tier as needs change, and — with a per-day contract — the extra days in a 31-day month. A per-day contract produces seven higher-billing months a year; a monthly rate averages the calendar out.
Related in Alabama
Nursing home cost by state
We are publishing state pages a few at a time rather than all fifty empty ones. These carry their own median from the same survey:
Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey — 2025 national medians
All Alabama figures: Data: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 — ranked medians by state. National figures: CareScout 2025 national medians. Neither is a quote from a provider — local rates vary within a state.
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.
- Nursing home costs
Two published rates, and a $14,600-a-year gap between them. Room type and billing period (31-day months cost more than 28-day months) are the two things that move this number.