Assisted living in Indiana runs a median of about $5,639 a month ($67,665 a year), below the national median of about $6,200 a month and 35th highest among the states. Yet the state issues no single license for assisted living. That last part trips up a lot of families, because it means two communities advertising the same words can be regulated very differently, which is exactly why how you vet a place matters here.

This guide walks through what assisted living actually means in Indiana, what you'll pay, how Medicaid and PathWays for Aging fit, and how to check out a community before anyone signs.

In This Guide

What Assisted Living in Indiana Is

If you've started touring communities and felt like "assisted living" means something slightly different at every door, you're not imagining it. Indiana's setup takes a minute to get your head around, and the single most useful thing to understand is that the state does not hand out one license called "assisted living." Instead, two separate state regimes touch what other states call by that name. Knowing which one a community falls under changes what protections come with the place.

Start with the definition. Under Indiana Code 12-10-15, a "housing with services establishment" provides sleeping accommodations to at least five residents and, for a fee, offers at least one regularly scheduled health-related service or at least two regularly scheduled supportive services, whether it provides them itself or arranges them through someone else. The law leaves several kinds of place out of that definition, including a comprehensive care facility licensed under IC 16-28-2, a hospital, a licensed group home, a private home whose residents are related to the person offering the services, and a condominium or cooperative where at least 80% of the units are owner-occupied. That is a legal definition, not the kind of health-and-safety license many families assume sits behind the assisted living label.

The second piece is where the inspections live. Separately, the Indiana Department of Health runs a Residential Care Facility Licensing and Certification Program, which enforces the state's rules for long-term care facilities. Its staff conduct health and life-safety code surveys and investigate complaints to check whether facilities comply. So a Residential Care Facility license means a state agency surveys the place and takes complaints about it.

And then the part that should make you slow down. Because no single license goes with the name, the "assisted living" sign on the door tells you less in Indiana than it would in a state with a single license. Which regime reaches a particular community depends on what it is and what it does, so ask each place directly. The burden of figuring out what you're really getting falls more squarely on you, which is what the vetting section below is for.

Regime What it is Where it comes from
Housing with Services Establishment A legal definition: a place housing 5+ residents that, for a fee, offers at least one health-related service or at least two supportive services (several kinds of place are excluded) Indiana Code 12-10-15
Residential Care Facility A license program whose staff conduct health and life-safety surveys and investigate complaints Indiana Department of Health

What Assisted Living in Indiana Costs

Indiana is one of the more affordable states for assisted living, which is genuine good news when you're staring at a budget that already feels stretched. In the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (released March 2026), the median cost of assisted living in Indiana is $67,665 a year, about $5,639 a month ($185 a day), 35th highest among the states and below the national median of about $6,200 a month ($74,400 a year). These are industry-survey medians, not government rates, so treat them as a starting point for your planning rather than a quote.

Where you look inside Indiana moves the number, because the survey collects rates by metropolitan area and they vary within the state. For context, here's how the settings compare in the same survey:

Setting Approximate median
Assisted living about $5,639/month (about $67,665/year)
In-home non-medical caregiver $35/hour (about $80,080/year)
Nursing home, semi-private room about $8,942/month, about $294/day (about $107,310/year)
Nursing home, private room about $10,326/month, about $340/day (about $123,918/year)

Notice the jump between assisted living and a nursing home. Assisted living at about $5,639 a month sits well below a semi-private nursing-home room at about $8,942 a month. Matching the setting to your parent's actual needs, rather than reaching for the highest level of care out of worry, can save real money over a year.

One caution when you compare quotes. The price a community advertises is usually a base rate that covers the room, meals, and a basic level of help. Care often gets billed in tiers on top of that, so a resident who needs more hands-on help, or memory care, pays more, sometimes a lot more. 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. Two communities with the same headline price can land far apart once the care fees are added.

Does Medicaid Pay? PathWays for Aging

This is where families most often get caught short. Medicaid does not cover the room and board, the rent and meals portion of an assisted living bill: federal rules let Medicaid home- and community-based waivers pay for the care and supportive services a resident receives, but the resident stays responsible for room and board. If you've been assuming Medicaid will pick up the whole tab the way people picture it covering a nursing home, that's the assumption to set down now, before it shapes a budget.

What Medicaid can do is cover the assisted-living services for people who qualify. Since July 1, 2024, Indiana delivers Medicaid long-term services and supports for members age 60 and older through a managed-care program called Indiana PathWays for Aging, run by three contracted health plans (Anthem, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare). CMS lists three current Indiana waivers that provide assisted living: PathWays for Aging (people 65 or older, and people 60 to 64 with physical or other disabilities), the Health & Wellness Waiver (people with physical or other disabilities through age 59), and the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver (people of any age with a brain injury). Each requires a nursing-facility level of care, or for the brain-injury waiver either that or an ICF/IID level of care. The split to hold onto is this: Medicaid can pay for the care services delivered in the setting, and the resident still pays the room and board from income or other resources.

To qualify on the money side as a single applicant seeking this kind of long-term care in 2026, a person may qualify with income up to 300% of the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit rate, about $2,982 a month (depending on income, they may owe a monthly waiver liability), and the countable-asset limit is $2,000. Treat that $2,982 as a ceiling, not a spend-down starting point: Indiana says someone whose income is above it is not eligible unless they have a valid Miller trust. A married applicant whose spouse remains at home can protect a higher share of the couple's resources for that spouse (half the countable assets, up to $162,660 in 2026). One more thing to plan for: Indiana runs a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program that can seek to recover what Medicaid paid on someone's behalf after age 55, though nothing can be recovered while the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child.

If your parent's income or assets are near these lines, it's worth understanding how the rules work before anyone applies, because how money is handled in the years beforehand can change whether and when someone qualifies. Our guides to Medicaid Planning Strategies and the Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance, Explained cover the questions that come up most.

How to Vet a Community

Because the "assisted living" label carries less regulatory weight in Indiana, your own homework does more of the work. Records tell you the history; a visit tells you the present. Do both, and do the records first.

1
Step 1

Ask which oversight applies, in writing

Ask whether the community operates as a Housing with Services Establishment under Indiana Code 12-10-15, and whether it holds a Residential Care Facility license from the Indiana Department of Health, the program whose staff survey facilities and investigate complaints. If the answers are vague, that's worth pressing on.

2
Step 2

Match the level of care to what your parent needs, now and next

A community suited to light help may be a fine fit now, but be honest about where your parent is headed, so you don't pick a community they'll outgrow in a year, or one that can't take on medication administration or skilled care later.

3
Step 3

Sort out who pays before you fall in love with a building

If your parent may rely on PathWays for Aging, ask up front whether the community accepts Medicaid members for the services, how those services are billed, and how room and board is handled, since Medicaid covers the services and not the rent.

4
Step 4

Read the contract and termination terms, and tour around a mealtime

A community should put in writing what it provides and the conditions under which a resident could be asked to leave. Visit at least a couple of places, and go around a mealtime, when staffing and the real feel of a building are hardest to stage.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does assisted living cost in Indiana?

About $5,639 a month ($67,665 a year) in the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, which ranks Indiana 35th among the states and puts it below the national median of about $6,200 a month ($74,400 a year). Rates vary by metro area within Indiana, since the survey collects them that way. These are approximate industry-survey medians, not government rates, and the advertised price is usually a base rate before care add-ons.

Does Medicaid pay for assisted living in Indiana?

Medicaid does not pay an assisted living community's room and board; federal rules leave that portion to the resident. What it can do is cover the assisted-living services for people who qualify, through PathWays for Aging for members 60 and older, the Health & Wellness Waiver for younger people with disabilities, or the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver for people of any age with a brain injury, while the resident still pays room and board from income or other resources.

Does Indiana have an "assisted living" license?

No. Indiana does not issue a license called "assisted living." Instead, two separate state regimes touch it: Indiana Code 12-10-15 defines a housing with services establishment (at least five residents and, for a fee, at least one regularly scheduled health-related service or at least two supportive services), and the Indiana Department of Health runs a Residential Care Facility licensing program that surveys facilities and investigates complaints.

What is a Residential Care Facility in Indiana?

A Residential Care Facility is one licensed through the Indiana Department of Health's Residential Care Facility Licensing and Certification Program, which enforces the state's rules for long-term care facilities. Program staff conduct health and life-safety code surveys and investigate complaints, so the license signals a level of state oversight that a legal definition alone does not.

Who qualifies financially for Medicaid help with assisted living in Indiana?

For a single applicant seeking long-term care in 2026, the income limit is 300% of the federal SSI benefit rate, about $2,982 a month, and the countable-asset limit is $2,000. A married applicant whose spouse remains at home can protect a higher share of the couple's resources for that spouse. Meeting these limits is one part of qualifying; a person also has to meet the waiver's level-of-care requirement, which is a nursing-facility level of care (or, for the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver, either that or an ICF/IID level of care).

Learn More

Care TypesAssisted Living by State: Costs, Rules and Medicaid CoverageWhat assisted living costs, how licensing and Medicaid coverage differ from state to state, plus a guide to all 50 states so you can jump straight to yours. Care TypesNursing Homes in IndianaNursing homes in Indiana in 2026: what a skilled nursing facility costs, how to check a facility's quality, and how Medicaid pays for long-term care. Care TypesMemory Care in IndianaIndiana regulates memory care through a dementia-care disclosure law. See what the required form tells you, what memory care costs, and how to vet a place. Care TypesHome Care vs. Home Health in IndianaHome care vs. home health in Indiana: home health is skilled care Medicare covers, home care is non-medical help it won't, and the IDOH license draws the line. Care TypesAssisted Living vs. Memory Care in IndianaAssisted living vs. memory care in Indiana: safety drives the choice. Assisted living runs about $5,639 a month; ask memory care units for itemized fees. MedicaidMedicaid Planning StrategiesSee which assets you keep, how the 5-year look-back works, and the legal moves that qualify you for Medicaid long-term care without losing the house. MedicaidMedicaid Personal Needs Allowance, ExplainedHow the Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance works in 2026: the $30 federal floor, what the states set, and how patient liability is calculated.

Find personalized help comparing assisted living in Indiana 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.

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