Assisted Living in Arkansas (2026): Cost & Who Pays

If you're pricing assisted living in Arkansas for a parent, plan around roughly $4,637 a month, a figure that sits among the most affordable in the country.1 Before that number drives a decision, know that Arkansas licenses two different levels of assisted living, and which one a place holds tells you whether it can serve your parent.

This guide walks through Arkansas's Level I and Level II licenses, what assisted living really costs here, and where Arkansas Medicaid does and doesn't fit.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What Assisted Living in Arkansas Is
• What Assisted Living Costs in Arkansas
• Help Paying: Arkansas Medicaid
• How to Vet a Facility
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Assisted Living in Arkansas Is

If you've toured places in another state, you're probably expecting one category called "assisted living." Arkansas splits it into two levels, and the split is worth slowing down on before you compare buildings, because picking the wrong level can mean a forced move later when your parent's needs change.

Level II assisted living facilities are licensed by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Office of Long Term Care, part of its Division of Medical Services, under rules last revised January 1, 2024.2 The line the state draws between the two levels comes down to level of care: whether a facility may take a resident who is medically eligible for nursing-home care, or who is on Arkansas's Medicaid waiver for assisted living.

A Level I facility serves residents who aren't medically eligible for nursing-home level of care and who don't receive services through that waiver. Health care services may not be provided in a Level I facility except as Section 702 of the licensing rules provides.2 Think of it as the lighter-touch setting, for someone who doesn't need nursing-home-level care.

A Level II facility serves residents who are medically eligible for nursing-home level of care or who receive services through the waiver, in apartment-style living units.2 This is the level built for someone whose needs are higher. It has a ceiling, though: a Level II facility may not admit a resident whose needs are greater than it is licensed to provide, and the rules list five kinds of residents it may not serve. Those are residents who need 24-hour nursing services, who are bedridden, or who present a danger to themselves or others; residents whose transfer-assistance needs the facility can't meet with its current staffing; and residents with a temporary condition lasting more than 14 consecutive days, or a terminal condition, unless a physician or advance practice nurse certifies their needs can be safely met under a service agreement.2

The two levels are separate licenses. A resident who meets Level II criteria may not reside or be housed in a Level I unit or Level I bed, and a Level II facility must keep the residents who are nursing-home-level eligible in physically distinct parts or wings, separate from those who aren't. The rules do let Level II units house Level I residents, provided everyone living in a Level II unit is counted as a Level II resident for staffing purposes.2

Here's why getting this right first matters: a Level I facility can't keep a resident whose needs have grown into Level II territory. If your parent enters a Level I community and later needs nursing care, that can force a move at exactly the moment a move is hardest. Matching the level to your parent's current and likely-near-future needs spares you that.

When a place tells you it's "assisted living," the question that actually tells you something is which level it's licensed for, not the word on the brochure. Ask, and confirm it against OLTC records.2

What Assisted Living Costs in Arkansas

Arkansas runs well below the national line for assisted living, which is genuinely good news if you're budgeting. In the CareScout (Genworth) 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released in March 2026 and the most recent state-level data, the median cost of assisted living in Arkansas was about $55,644 a year, roughly $4,637 a month, compared with about $74,400 a year nationally. CareScout's own March 2026 Arkansas press release gives $54,744 a year for the same line, a discrepancy inside CareScout's publications that we note rather than resolve.1 These are industry-survey medians, not government rates, so treat them as a budgeting starting point, not a quote. Costs vary within the state and rise as care needs grow.1

Nursing-home care in Arkansas runs far above assisted living, which matters when you're weighing settings against each other. Here's how the survey's Arkansas medians compare:1

One caution when you compare quotes. A median is a budgeting starting point, not a quote: costs vary within the state and rise as care needs grow.1 Ask what the advertised price actually covers and whether care is billed separately on top of it, so you know what happens to the bill if your parent needs more hands-on help later. Ask every place for a written breakdown: what's in the base rate, what's an add-on, how care needs get assessed, and how often the rate rises. If you're weighing how to cover those costs, our guide to how to pay for assisted living in Arkansas walks through the private-pay, benefit, and Medicaid options side by side.

Help Paying: Arkansas Medicaid

There is one Medicaid route into assisted living in Arkansas, and it is worth understanding precisely. The Living Choices Assisted Living waiver is a home- and community-based services waiver administered jointly by the Division of Aging and Adult Services and the Division of Medical Services. It pays enrolled providers a per diem for bundled services for each day a participant is in residence and receives services.2 To qualify, a person must be Medicaid-eligible, aged 21 or older, and determined by Medicaid to be eligible for an intermediate level of care in a nursing facility. Participants must live in a Level II facility, so a Level I community is off the table for it. One caution on timing: the federal (CMS) waiver record lists an expiration date of June 30, 2026, and when we last checked it showed no renewal beyond that date, so confirm the waiver's current status with Arkansas DHS before relying on it.2

Here is what we can't tell you, and we'd rather say so than guess. What that per diem covers, and what a participant still owes each month toward their own housing and meals, is not something we can state from an Arkansas source. Don't assume it either way. Ask the facility and your DHS county office directly what a Living Choices participant is billed for, and get the answer in writing before anyone signs. Living Choices also carries eligibility bounds families miss: it serves Arkansans aged 21 through 64 with a physical disability, or aged 65 and older, and it requires an intermediate level of care as determined by the Office of Long Term Care. Someone who needs skilled care is not eligible for it.3

To qualify for Arkansas's long-term-care Medicaid, the financial rules are strict. For a single applicant in 2026, the income standard is 300% of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate, about $2,982 a month, and the countable-asset limit is $2,000, with a higher resource allowance protected for a spouse who stays in the community (the 2026 federal community spouse resource standards run from $32,532 to $162,660). Arkansas sets that income limit by rule, at three times the current SSI standard payment amount, and updates it each year. Be aware that the state's own long-term services and supports page still prints the 2023 figures, a $2,742.00 income limit and a spousal resource table topping out at $148,620; the 2026 figures above are the current ones.3 Income over that limit is not automatically the end of it: Arkansas is an income-cap state, so an applicant whose gross countable income exceeds the cap can still become eligible by establishing an income trust (a Miller or qualified income trust). Under DHS's current policy manual and its income trust fact sheet, only the countable income above the limit has to go into the trust each month, not all of it. Putting only the excess in does not lower what your parent owes the facility, though: that amount is still calculated from all gross income. The LTSS caseworker can walk a family through setting one up.3 A nursing-home resident on Arkansas Medicaid contributes their income toward the cost of care, after a personal needs allowance and other deductions. Arkansas sets that allowance at $40 a month for most facility residents, or $30 for a resident whose only income is SSI.3

Two more things to plan for, because they can change whether and when someone qualifies. Arkansas applies a 60-month look-back to assets given away or transferred for less than fair market value.3 And Arkansas runs a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, which reaches the estate of someone who was 55 or older when they received nursing facility, home and community-based, or related services. Recovery can be made only after a surviving spouse has died, and only when there is no surviving child who is under 21 or blind or permanently and totally disabled.3 Arkansas groups its long-term care coverage, for facility and non-facility care alike, under one Long-Term Services and Supports umbrella. It includes ARChoices in Homecare for care at home and Living Choices for care in a Level II facility, and DHS says these programs share common income and resource requirements.3 If your parent's income or assets are near the line, it's worth understanding the rules before anyone applies, because how money is handled in the years beforehand matters. Our guides to Medicaid Planning Strategies and the Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance, Explained cover the questions that come up most.

How to Vet a Facility

Records tell you the history; a visit tells you the present. Do both, and do the records first.

Bring the contract home and read it without a salesperson in the room. If the refund, care, or termination terms are unclear, have a family member or an elder law attorney look it over before anyone signs. The goal isn't a perfect place. It's one whose limits you understand going in.

Learn More

Find personalized help comparing Level I and Level II assisted living options in Arkansas at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.