California cost of care
What home care, assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes cost in California
Updated September 16, 2026. Reviewed September 16, 2026 against public CDSS, DHCS, Medicare.gov, VA, and CareScout 2025 California tables. County wages, hours, and wait times still change. Official .gov pages decide.
Adult children comparing a parent’s next month of help can start here. The figures are CareScout 2025 California statewide medians with labeled planning bands, then a live calculator you can move. IHSS and Medi-Cal are the public path at home. Those wages are set by county and are not estimated on this page.
Planning estimate only. Figures use CareScout 2025 California statewide medians plus labeled planning bands. They are not a quote, not a facility admission, not a Medi-Cal or IHSS eligibility result, and not an hours authorization. Agency and community prices vary by county and by acuity. IHSS hours and provider pay are county and Medi-Cal decisions. This site does not calculate an IHSS paycheck. Licensed home care organizations and residential communities set their own private-pay terms. County IHSS staff authorize tasks. County Medi-Cal staff decide coverage and any share of cost. Ask those offices and providers for the number that counts.
Short answer
CareScout’s 2025 California survey reports a $40/hour statewide median for a non-medical caregiver and $7,000/month for a private one-bedroom residential care facility. Nursing-home medians are $12,167/month (semi-private) and $15,178/month (private). Memory care is not a published CareScout row here. This hub applies a labeled 20% / 30% / 40% planning premium to the assisted living median. IHSS pay is a county figure.
CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, collected July through November 2025. California statewide median. Published 2025 by CareScout.
California planning snapshot (CareScout 2025)
Statewide medians, not a city quote. Open a setting page or a metro page, then move the calculator hours. Low and high bands are labeled as planning ranges, not published percentiles.
| Setting | How billed | Planning monthly | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private home care, 20 hours/week | Hourly, licensed Home Care Organization | $3,467$3,033 to $3,900 | Uses the CareScout 2025 California non-medical caregiver median of $40/hour, with a $35 to $45 planning band. |
| Private home care, 44 hours/week | Hourly (CareScout published basis) | $7,627$6,673 to $8,580 | CareScout publishes its California home-care median on a 44-hour week. Midpoint $7,627/month. |
| Assisted living (private one-bedroom) | Monthly community fee | $7,000$5,600 to $8,400 | CareScout 2025 California median $7,000/month. Low and high are a ±20% planning band. |
| Memory care (planning premium) | Monthly community fee | $9,100$8,400 to $9,800 | CareScout does not publish a separate California memory-care median. These figures apply a 20% / 30% / 40% planning premium to the assisted living median. |
| Nursing home / skilled nursing | Monthly room and board | $13,673$12,167 to $15,178 | Semi-private median $12,167/month. Private-room median $15,178/month. |
| IHSS / Medi-Cal at home | County-authorized tasks | County sets payNot estimated here | Hours and the hourly wage are county and Medi-Cal decisions. Use the CDSS county wage-rate page. This hub does not invent a paycheck. |
Price a setting
Cost of home care in California
At $40/hour, 20 hours/week is about $3,467/month at the midpoint ($3,033 to $3,900). The CareScout published 44-hour basis is about $7,627/month. Live-in framing uses 12 billed hours/day, not 24 times the hourly rate.
Open cost of home care CaliforniaCost of assisted living in California
The published midpoint is $7,000 per month, or $84,000 per year. The planning band is $5,600 to $8,400. Hours of help at home do not change this facility fee. The calculator still prices licensed private home care for the same weekly hours so you can compare staying in the house.
Open cost of assisted living CaliforniaCost of memory care in California
The planning band is $8,400 to $9,800 per month, with a midpoint of $9,100. That is not a published survey row. Protective supervision under IHSS is a narrower in-home category and is not a memory-care admission.
Open cost of memory care CaliforniaCost of nursing home and skilled nursing care in California
Low $12,167/month (semi-private median). High $15,178/month (private-room median). Mid $13,673 is the average of those two published monthly figures. Annual private-room median is $182,135.
Open cost of nursing home CaliforniaHours, monthly planning dollars, who pays, and IHSS
Monthly figures are midpoints at 20 hours/week for hourly rows, and published or labeled medians for facility rows. Move the live calculator below to change hours. Facility fees do not change with the slider.
| Setting | How billed | Hours | Monthly midpoint | Who typically pays | When IHSS may apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private home care (licensed HCO) | Hourly | 20 hrs/week | $3,467$3,033 to $3,900 | Usually the family or another private payer. Medicare home health is a different skilled benefit. | IHSS may cover authorized tasks in the same house on a separate calendar. It does not pay the agency invoice. |
| Live-in home care (hourly framing) | Modeled as 12 billed hours/day | 84 hrs/week | $14,560$12,740 to $16,380 | Private pay. Agencies often quote a daily package instead of 24 times the hourly rate. | IHSS is not a live-in staffing pattern. Authorized tasks may still run in the home. The county sets those hours. |
| Assisted living (RCFE) | Monthly community fee | Facility staffing, not hourly | $7,000$5,600 to $8,400 | Usually private pay or long-term care insurance. Medi-Cal rarely pays the room. | IHSS does not follow someone into a licensed residential care facility. Own-home rules still apply. |
| Memory care | Monthly community fee | Secured unit staffing | $9,100$8,400 to $9,800 | Usually private pay. CareScout does not publish a separate California memory-care median. | A licensed memory-care unit is not the IHSS own-home setting. Ask the county before assuming hours continue. |
| Nursing home / SNF | Monthly room and board | Facility nursing roster | $13,673$12,167 to $15,178 | Private pay or Medi-Cal long-term care after a stay qualifies. Medicare may cover a limited skilled stay, not custodial long-stay care. | A nursing facility is not own home. IHSS stops while someone lives there. A return-home plan can restart the county file. |
| IHSS / Medi-Cal path | County-authorized tasks | Set on the Notice of Action | Not estimatedCounty wage page | Medi-Cal funds authorized tasks. The recipient is generally the employer of an enrolled individual provider. The State issues the warrant. | May apply when the person lives in their own home, has a Medi-Cal determination, and the county authorizes listed tasks. |
Major California metros
Each metro page frames the commute and the county IHSS office that actually files the case. Dollar totals still use the statewide CareScout medians. We do not invent a Los Angeles or Bay Area private-pay table.
- Los Angeles
- Orange County
- Inland Empire
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Oakland / East Bay
- San Jose / South Bay
- Sacramento
- Fresno
- Bakersfield
- Oxnard / Ventura
- Stockton
- Modesto
- Santa Rosa
- Visalia
- Santa Barbara
- Salinas / Monterey
- Vallejo / Solano
- San Luis Obispo
- Merced
- Chico
- Redding
- El Centro / Imperial Valley
- Yuba City
- Napa
- Santa Cruz
- Antelope Valley
- Coachella Valley
All 58 counties
County cost pages add local filing geography, the IHSS office path, and a registry link when one exists. They do not invent a county home-care wage or an IHSS paycheck.
Browse all 58 county cost pages
North Coast
Shasta Cascade
Sacramento Valley
Sierra Nevada
San Francisco Bay Area
Central Coast
San Joaquin Valley
Greater Los Angeles
San Diego and Imperial
How families actually pay
- Open the live cost calculator
- Compare care options
- Care-need scenario planner
- Paying for elder care
- Does Medicare or Medi-Cal pay?
- Does Medicare pay for home care?
- Care by condition
- Printable checklists
- En español
- How to pay for elder care
- Private pay home care
- Assisted living and nursing-home payment
- County IHSS pages
- Partner kit
- Ask for help lining up paperwork
- CareScout Cost of Care tool
- CareScout 2025 median tables (PDF)
- CareScout 2025 California press note
- CDSS: county IHSS wage rates
- CDSS: In-Home Supportive Services
- DHCS: Medi-Cal
- CDSS: county IHSS offices
- CDSS: Home Care Services
- CDA: find services in my county
- Medicare: long-term care
Official California sources
Official program pages: CDSS: In-Home Supportive Services, CDSS: IHSS for children, County IHSS offices, CDSS: IHSS providers, CDSS: county IHSS wage rates, CDSS: provider orientation, CDSS: Electronic Visit Verification, CDSS: Electronic Services Portal, DHCS: Medi-Cal, Apply for Medi-Cal, BenefitsCal, CDSS: hearing requests, CDSS: forms catalog, CDSS: IHSS overtime and workweek, DDS: regional centers.