Average cost of a nursing home tops $83,000 a year

Nursing home and assisted living costs increased much faster than the rate of inflation from 2009 to 2010, according to a survey by MetLife. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home rose 4.6 percent to $83,585 a year – or $229 a day. The average cost of an assisted living facility climbed 5.2 percent, to $39,516 a year or $3,293 a month.

The average charges for home health care aides and adult day care were unchanged, after both jumped about 5 percent the year before. Home care aides average $21 per hour and adult day care services average $67 per day.

The cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home increased 3.5 percent to $205 a day, or $74,825 a year.

The rates for a private nursing home room ranged from a low of $138 a day in rural Louisiana to a high of $687 a day in Alaska. Assisted living rates ranged from $2,073 a month in rural Arkansas to $5,231 a month in Washington, D.C.

The cost of home health care aide services was lowest in Shreveport, Louisiana, where it averaged $14 an hour, and highest in Rochester, Minnesota, where the average hourly rate was $30.

The rates for adult day care services ranged from $31 a day in Montgomery, Alabama to $140 a day in Vermont.

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