Elder Care Cost by City (2026)
Assisted living, nursing home, in-home aide, and memory care rates for 200 US metros. San Francisco runs $7,000/month for assisted living. Houston is $4,300. Click any city to see all four care types plus how it compares to your state.
Source: Genworth/CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2024–2025
National averages (monthly)
Assisted Living
$4,500
Nursing Home
$9,733
In-Home Aide
$5,339
Memory Care
$6,200
200 cities ranked by state. Click any city to see assisted living, nursing home, in-home aide, and memory care rates.
Anaheim
$6000/mo
assisted living
Bakersfield
$4900/mo
assisted living
Fontana
$5500/mo
assisted living
Fremont
$6500/mo
assisted living
Fresno
$5200/mo
assisted living
Hayward
$6500/mo
assisted living
Huntington Beach
$6200/mo
assisted living
Irvine
$6300/mo
assisted living
Long Beach
$6100/mo
assisted living
Los Angeles
$6200/mo
assisted living
Modesto
$5100/mo
assisted living
Ontario
$5600/mo
assisted living
Oxnard
$5700/mo
assisted living
Riverside
$5600/mo
assisted living
Sacramento
$5500/mo
assisted living
San Diego
$6000/mo
assisted living
San Francisco
$7000/mo
assisted living
San Jose
$6500/mo
assisted living
Santa Ana
$5800/mo
assisted living
Santa Barbara
$6500/mo
assisted living
Santa Rosa
$6200/mo
assisted living
Stockton
$5300/mo
assisted living
Sunnyvale
$6700/mo
assisted living
Ventura
$5800/mo
assisted living
Amarillo
$3900/mo
assisted living
Arlington
$4300/mo
assisted living
Austin
$4500/mo
assisted living
Corpus Christi
$3800/mo
assisted living
Dallas
$4400/mo
assisted living
El Paso
$3700/mo
assisted living
Fort Worth
$4200/mo
assisted living
Garland
$4300/mo
assisted living
Houston
$4300/mo
assisted living
Laredo
$3500/mo
assisted living
Lubbock
$3800/mo
assisted living
Plano
$4600/mo
assisted living
San Antonio
$3900/mo
assisted living
Why elder care costs vary by city
A private-pay assisted living bed in San Francisco runs $7,000/month. In Laredo, TX, it's $3,500. The same care costs twice as much — not because the quality is better, but because staff wages, commercial real estate, and regulatory overhead differ by market.
Three factors drive most of the variation: labor costs (aides in high-cost metros earn $20–$28/hour vs. $13–$16 in the South), facility costs (commercial rent in coastal cities can run 3–5× the national median), and state licensing requirements (staff ratios, training mandates, inspections).
Memory care runs 20–40% above standard assisted living in any market because it requires higher staff ratios, secured environments, and specialized dementia training. That premium is consistent — a city expensive for assisted living is equally expensive for memory care.
Cheapest and most expensive metros
Most affordable assisted living
- Laredo, TX — $3,500/mo
- Jackson, MS — $3,500/mo
- El Paso, TX — $3,700/mo
- Oklahoma City, OK — $3,700/mo
- Montgomery, AL — $3,700/mo
Most expensive assisted living
- San Francisco, CA — $7,000/mo
- New York City, NY — $6,800/mo
- Washington, DC — $6,500/mo
- Sunnyvale, CA — $6,700/mo
- San Jose, CA — $6,500/mo
Compare by state instead
City data shows local market rates. State pages show averages across the full state, plus Medicaid coverage details for each state's programs.
View elder care cost by state →