How Much Does a Nursing Home Cost?
Nursing homes are medical facilities: licensed nurses on site around the clock, rehab therapies, wound care, IVs, and feeding support. Families usually arrive here after a hospital stay or when care at home stops being safe. It is the most expensive mainstream care setting, and also the one Medicaid pays for most reliably, which shapes almost every family's plan.
The 2026 numbers that matter
| Room type | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-private room | $315 | $9,581 | $114,972 |
| Private room | $355 | $10,798 | $129,576 |
CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 (released March 2026), national medians. State medians vary by thousands of dollars a month; our state guides cover nursing home costs in all 50 states.
What pushes the bill up
- Private rooms. The privacy premium medians about $1,200 a month nationally and runs higher in expensive metros.
- Level of medical need. Ventilator care, dialysis coordination, and complex wound care are priced above standard skilled care, sometimes far above.
- Extras. Supplies, personal services, and some therapies bill separately. Ask for the ancillary price list at admission, not at the first invoice.
- Location. Alaska and the coastal metros sit at the top of the range; much of the Midwest and South prices well under the national median.
Who helps pay
Medicare covers up to 100 days of skilled rehab after a qualifying hospital stay, with copays from day 21, and pays nothing for long-term custodial residence. For stays that turn permanent, the main payer is Medicaid: every state covers nursing home care for people who meet its income and asset rules, commonly an asset limit near $2,000 for the applicant after exemptions and spousal protections. The five-year look-back and the spousal allowances decide outcomes, so the rules are worth learning early. Start with our paying for care playbook.
How long does the average nursing home stay last?
Most stays are short rehab stays measured in weeks. Long-term residents, the group this cost guide is really about, commonly stay one to three years. At semi-private medians, a two-year stay costs about $230,000, which is why Medicaid planning starts long before the money runs out.
Does Medicaid pay for nursing homes in every state?
Yes. Nursing home coverage is a mandatory Medicaid benefit in all 50 states for eligible residents, unlike assisted living, which depends on state waiver programs. Eligibility rules, income caps, and estate recovery details still vary by state.
What if my parent only needs rehab after surgery?
Then Medicare is likely the payer, not savings. A qualifying inpatient hospital stay of three nights opens up to 100 days of skilled nursing facility coverage: days 1 to 20 with no copay, a daily copay after that, and full cost from day 101. The hospital's decision to code the stay as observation instead of inpatient can close this door, which is worth checking before discharge.