When you start looking at assisted living in Georgia, the first thing worth knowing is that the state licenses two different kinds of places, and the label on the door tells you what care your parent can actually get. A personal care home and an assisted living community are not the same license, and the difference changes who can be admitted, what help is allowed, and when someone might have to move. The good news on cost: Georgia runs below the national average, with a median around $4,258 a month in 2025.
This guide explains what those two licenses mean, what you'll pay, whether Georgia Medicaid can help, how to check a facility's record before you sign anything, and how assisted living differs from memory care and a nursing home.
In This Guide
- Key Takeaways
- What "Assisted Living" Means in Georgia
- What Assisted Living Costs in Georgia
- Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living in Georgia?
- Personal Care Home vs. Assisted Living vs. Memory Care vs. Nursing Home
- How to Check a Facility's Record
- What to Look for When You Tour
- Frequently Asked Questions
What "Assisted Living" Means in Georgia
"Assisted living" is the phrase families use, but in Georgia it points to two distinct licenses, both regulated by the Georgia Department of Community Health through its Healthcare Facility Regulation Division. Knowing which one you're touring matters, because it tells you what the place is legally allowed to do for your parent.
A personal care home (PCH) is the broader, older category: any home that provides housing, meals, and one or more personal services (help with bathing, dressing, grooming, medication oversight) for two or more adults who aren't related to the operator. Many personal care homes are small, sometimes just a converted single-family house with a handful of residents.
An assisted living community (ALC) is a personal care home that serves 25 or more residents and is licensed by the state for a higher level of care, called "assisted living care." That license lets an ALC do things a basic personal care home can't: it can have certified medication aides administer medications, and it can provide limited nursing services, meaning a nurse can assess a resident's condition and handle certain nursing tasks on an intermittent basis. Georgia created this ALC/PCH distinction in state law in 2012, and HFRD's Personal Care Home Program now oversees roughly 2,910 facilities serving about 55,000 residents across the state.
That difference is the practical heart of choosing a place. If your father needs a hand with daily tasks and someone to manage his pills, a personal care home may be plenty. If he needs medications actually administered, or a nurse who can assess changes in his health, an assisted living community is the setting licensed to do that. Ask each place directly which license it holds.
What Assisted Living Costs in Georgia
Georgia is one of the more affordable states for assisted living. In the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, the median cost of assisted living in Georgia ran about $4,258 a month in its 2025 survey, against a national median of roughly $6,200 a month. The prior year's official Genworth release put Georgia's annual median at $59,280, ranking the state 42nd from the top, well below the national figure. Either way, the takeaway is the same: a family in Georgia generally pays less than the national norm.
Statewide medians hide a lot of spread, though. Where in Georgia you look changes the number:
| Reference point | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Georgia statewide median | ~$4,258/month |
| National median (for comparison) | ~$6,200/month |
| Metro Atlanta and coastal areas | Generally above the state median |
| Rural counties | Generally below the state median |
A word of caution when you compare quotes. The figure a community advertises is usually a base rate that covers the room, meals, and a basic level of help. Care is often priced in tiers on top of that, so a resident who needs help with several daily activities, or who needs memory care, pays more, sometimes a great deal more. Ask every facility for a written breakdown: what's in the base rate, what's billed as an add-on, how care levels get assessed, and how often rates rise. Two places with the same headline price can land far apart once the care fees are added.
Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living in Georgia?
This is the question that disappoints the most families, so here's the honest version first: Georgia Medicaid does not pay your room and board in a personal care home or assisted living community. The roof and the meals are yours to cover.
What Georgia Medicaid can cover is the care side, through two home and community-based waivers. The Community Care Services Program (CCSP) and SOURCE (Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment) both run under Georgia's Elderly and Disabled waiver authority, and both require that the person need a nursing-facility level of care. CCSP includes a benefit called Alternative Living Services, which pays for around-the-clock supervision and personal care delivered in a licensed personal care home; across the two waivers, covered services also include case management, personal support, adult day health, home-delivered meals, a personal emergency response system, and respite for family caregivers.
The line to hold onto: the waivers pay for services, not for the room. Even when CCSP or SOURCE covers your mother's care, she still pays room and board directly to the facility out of her own income. So Medicaid can make a personal care home reachable for a low-income senior who qualifies, but it isn't a free ride. For the eligibility rules and how to apply, see our guides to CCSP, SOURCE, and Medicaid long-term care in Georgia.
Personal Care Home vs. Assisted Living vs. Memory Care vs. Nursing Home
The words on the sign can blur together. Here's how the settings actually map in Georgia, ordered roughly by the level of care each is licensed to provide.
- Personal care home is the entry point: personal care and supervision, often in a small home. It's a good fit when someone needs help with daily tasks but not hands-on medical care.
- Assisted living community is a personal care home of 25 or more residents licensed for "assisted living care." It can administer medications through certified medication aides and provide limited nursing services, so it suits someone whose needs are a step higher than a basic personal care home can meet.
- Memory care is not a separate Georgia license. It's a certified memory care center operated inside a personal care home or assisted living community. After the 2020 reform law HB 987 (signed July 2020, with most requirements taking effect July 1, 2021), a memory care center has to hold a DCH certificate, meet minimum direct-care staffing ratios, and ensure all staff complete dementia-specific training. If your parent has Alzheimer's or another dementia, ask what the facility's memory care certification actually authorizes, not just what the brochure promises.
- Skilled nursing facility (nursing home) is a different setting entirely: 24-hour licensed nursing care for people with complex medical needs. Conditions that need continuous skilled nursing fall outside what a personal care home or assisted living community is licensed to handle, and point toward a nursing facility instead. Our guide to the Medicaid nursing-facility level of care explains how that line gets drawn.
The practical takeaway: don't choose by the name out front. Match the setting to the level of care your parent needs now and is likely to need soon, and ask each place, in writing, what its license authorizes and what change in condition would trigger a move.
How to Check a Facility's Record
This is the step families skip and later regret. Georgia's licensing agency keeps oversight records, and you should look before you ever schedule a tour.
- Check the HFRD record. The Healthcare Facility Regulation Division licenses and inspects personal care homes and assisted living communities, investigates complaints, and posts facility licensing and survey information through dch.georgia.gov. Look for patterns of repeat deficiencies, not a single stray citation.
- Read the disclosure and admission agreement. Before admission, a facility should tell you in writing what it's licensed to do and the conditions under which a resident could be discharged or asked to move. That clause tells you when your parent might be asked to leave.
- Know who to call. The Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman, run through the state's Division of Aging Services, advocates for residents and investigates concerns independently of the licensing agency. If something feels wrong after a move, that office is your second set of eyes.
What to Look for When You Tour
Records tell you the history; a visit tells you the present. Tour at least three places, and go at least once around a mealtime, when staffing and the mood of a building are hardest to stage. Questions worth asking:
- Which license do you hold, a personal care home or an assisted living community? Can you administer medications, and provide nursing care?
- What's in the base rate, and what's billed on top? How are care levels assessed, and how often do rates rise?
- What's the staffing like during the day, and overnight?
- What conditions or changes would mean my parent has to move out? (Match this against the written disclosure.)
- If memory care might come into the picture, are you certified for it, and what does that certification cover?
- Do you accept CCSP or SOURCE for the care services, if Medicaid might come into the picture later?
Bring the admission agreement home and read it without a salesperson in the room. If the contract is dense, or the refund and discharge terms are unclear, have a family member or an elder law attorney look it over before anyone signs. The point isn't to find a perfect place. It's to find a place whose limits you understand going in, so a crisis doesn't catch you off guard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are licensed by the Georgia Department of Community Health's Healthcare Facility Regulation Division, but they're different licenses. A personal care home provides housing, meals, and personal-care help for two or more unrelated adults and is often small. An assisted living community is a personal care home of 25 or more residents licensed for a higher level of "assisted living care," which can include medication administration by certified medication aides and limited nursing services. Ask each place which license it holds before you compare them.
The statewide median was about $4,258 a month in 2025, based on the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, below the national median of roughly $6,200 a month. Costs run higher in metro Atlanta and along the coast and lower in rural counties. The advertised rate is usually a base price; memory care and higher care levels cost extra.
Not for room and board. Georgia Medicaid never pays the room and meals in a personal care home or assisted living community. The CCSP and SOURCE waivers can cover the care services for people who need a nursing-facility level of care (CCSP's Alternative Living Services pays for personal care in a licensed personal care home), but the resident still pays room and board out of their own income.
An assisted living community is licensed for "assisted living care," which is a step above a basic personal care home. It can administer medications through certified medication aides and provide limited nursing services, such as a nurse assessing a resident's condition and handling certain nursing tasks on an intermittent basis. It still isn't a nursing home: conditions that need continuous 24-hour skilled nursing point toward a skilled nursing facility instead.
Learn More
- Georgia Medicaid: Programs and Coverage
- Medicaid Long-Term Care in Georgia
- Georgia Medicaid CCSP Waiver
- Georgia Medicaid SOURCE Waiver
- Medicaid Nursing-Facility Level of Care in Georgia
- How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Georgia
Find personalized help choosing an assisted living facility in Georgia with Brevy's care navigator 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.