Senior care in Indiana runs at or below the national midpoint in most settings. Assisted living costs about $5,365 a month, and a semi-private nursing-home room about $101,835 a year. But which setting a family chooses, and how much help a person needs, can still swing the yearly bill by tens of thousands of dollars.
This guide lays out what every senior-care setting in Indiana costs side by side, what pushes the price up or down, and how families actually pay, from private funds to Medicaid for those who qualify.
In This Guide
- Key Takeaways
- What Each Setting Costs in Indiana
- What Drives the Price
- How Families Pay
- How to Plan and Budget
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Each Setting Costs in Indiana
The figures below come from the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, the 2024 release that gives the most recent state-level data. These are medians from an industry survey, not government rates and not maximums, so the cost at any one provider can land higher or lower depending on location, room type, and how much care a person needs.
Read across the settings and Indiana's pattern is consistent: costs sit at or below the national figures in most settings, with nursing-home care the clear high end and adult day care the clear low end. The ordering is what families expect, but the gaps between settings are wide, and that's where the planning decisions live. A semi-private nursing-home room costs more than half again as much as assisted living, so matching the setting to the actual level of need can save tens of thousands of dollars a year.
| Care setting | Indiana (year) | Indiana (month) | National (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult day care | about $24,440 | about $2,037 | n/a |
| Assisted living | about $64,380 | about $5,365 | about $70,800 |
| Homemaker services (44 hrs/wk) | about $73,216 | about $6,101 | n/a |
| Home health aide (44 hrs/wk) | about $75,504 | about $6,292 | n/a |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | about $101,835 | about $8,486 | about $111,325 |
| Nursing home, private room | about $124,283 | about $10,357 | about $127,750 |
The in-home figures assume a steady schedule of about 44 hours a week, which is closer to daily help than around-the-clock supervision. A home health aide, who can help with hands-on personal care like bathing and dressing, runs about $75,504 a year at that pace, and a homemaker, who handles household tasks like cooking and cleaning but not personal care, runs about $73,216. Round-the-clock home care costs far more, because the hours multiply quickly, which is why heavy daily needs often tip the math toward a facility even where the home is the preference.
What Drives the Price
The single biggest driver of cost is the level of care a person needs. A nursing home provides 24-hour licensed nursing care, with a staff of nurses and aides on every shift plus the building, equipment, and oversight that skilled care requires, and that's why it sits at the top of the range at about $101,835 a year for a semi-private room. Assisted living is built for people who need help with daily tasks but not constant skilled nursing, so it carries a lighter staffing load and a lower price, about $64,380 a year. Adult day care, which covers daytime hours only and sends a person home at night, is the lowest-cost setting at about $24,440 a year.
In-home care lands in the middle, but its price behaves differently because it's billed by the hour. A home health aide or homemaker in Indiana runs about $73,216 to $75,504 a year at 44 hours a week, below assisted living. Daily help for a few hours stays affordable, but the bill climbs fast as the hours grow, and continuous in-home care can quickly exceed the cost of a facility.
Where in Indiana you are matters too. The Indianapolis metro and the northern markets generally run higher than rural areas, so a statewide median understates the cost in some places and overstates it in others. Within any single setting, the advertised rate is rarely the whole bill: a facility usually quotes a base rate for room and routine services, then adds charges as care needs grow, for help with more activities of daily living, medication management, memory care, or a higher staffing tier. When you compare quotes, ask what the base rate includes and what triggers an add-on, because two facilities with similar headline prices can bill very differently once care needs rise.
How Families Pay
Almost no one pays for years of senior care out of a single source. Most families start with private funds and shift to other payers as the bills mount. Here's how the main options work in Indiana.
Private pay is savings, income, the proceeds of a home sale, and long-term care insurance if a person bought it. It's the most flexible option, since it covers any setting, but it's also the one that runs out, and at about $101,835 a year for a nursing home it can run out faster than families expect. Long-term care insurance, where it exists, can offset a share of the cost, though policies vary widely in what they pay and for how long.
Indiana Medicaid pays for long-term care, including nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, for people who meet both a nursing-facility level of care and the financial rules. Nursing-facility care is an entitlement: if a person qualifies, the coverage is theirs. For a single applicant seeking nursing-home or home and community-based long-term care in 2026, the income limit is 300% of the SSI federal benefit rate, about $2,982 a month, and the countable-asset limit is $2,000. When one spouse needs care and the other stays at home, the at-home spouse is protected by a higher resource allowance under the federal spousal-impoverishment rules, so the couple isn't held to the single-person asset figure.
How that coverage is delivered depends on age. As of July 1, 2024, Indiana delivers most long-term services and supports for residents age 60 and older through a managed-care program called PathWays for Aging, run by contracted health plans (Anthem, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare). PathWays replaced the former Aged and Disabled waiver for that age group; people under 60 use the Health and Wellness Waiver instead. If a person is 60 or older and relying on Medicaid for long-term care, their services are coordinated through one of those PathWays plans.
One gap trips up many families: Medicaid's long-term-care coverage centers on nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, not the room and board of assisted living. Indiana delivers home and community-based services, including the care services in some assisted-living settings, through PathWays for Aging for people 60 and older, but a family choosing assisted living should plan to cover the rent-and-meals portion of the bill privately even where Medicaid helps pay for the care services themselves.
After a resident dies, Indiana operates a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program that seeks repayment from the estates of deceased members who received long-term care at age 55 or older. Since July 1, 2024 the state has 120 days from the date of death to file a claim, and recovery is deferred while a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child is living.
A note on Medicare, because the assumption is common: Medicare covers only short-term skilled rehab after a hospital stay, not the long-term custodial care, the ongoing help with daily living, that most families are budgeting for. That long-term care is what private pay and Medicaid cover.
How to Plan and Budget
Start by matching the setting to the actual need, not the other way around. The settings in Indiana are widely spaced in price, so the difference between, say, a few hours a day of in-home help and a full nursing-home stay is large. A candid assessment of how much help a person truly needs is worth more than a default assumption. Many people who need help with daily tasks but not skilled nursing are well served by assisted living, adult day care, or a few hours a day of in-home care, all of which cost less than a nursing home.
Then build a realistic timeline. Estimate the monthly cost of the right setting, list the resources available to pay for it, and work out how long private funds will last before Medicaid would come into play. If Medicaid is likely to be part of the plan, the estate-recovery rules and the financial limits reward starting early and getting advice. Two Brevy guides go deeper here: Medicaid Planning Strategies walks through how to position assets and income within the rules, and Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance, Explained covers the small monthly amount a nursing-home resident keeps while Medicaid pays for care.
Finally, budget for the add-ons, not just the base rate. Care needs tend to rise over time, so the figure you start with is rarely the figure you finish with. A plan that assumes some increase is more likely to hold up than one built on today's lowest quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends heavily on the setting. Per the 2024 CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, assisted living runs about $64,380 a year (roughly $5,365 a month), a semi-private nursing-home room about $101,835 a year, a private room about $124,283, a home health aide about $75,504 and homemaker services about $73,216 a year (the in-home figures at roughly 44 hours a week), and adult day care about $24,440 a year. These are statewide medians from an industry survey, not maximums, so an individual provider can cost more or less.
In most settings, yes. Indiana's median costs sit at or below the national medians: assisted living is about $64,380 a year versus about $70,800 nationally, a semi-private nursing-home room about $101,835 versus about $111,325, and a private room about $124,283 versus about $127,750. Within the state, the Indianapolis metro and northern markets generally run higher than rural areas, so a statewide median can understate the cost where you live.
For nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, yes, if a person meets a nursing-facility level of care and the financial rules. Nursing-facility care is an entitlement for those who qualify. For a single applicant in 2026, the income limit is 300% of the 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 at home. Residents age 60 and older receive long-term services and supports through PathWays for Aging; people under 60 use the Health and Wellness Waiver.
Not the room-and-board cost. Indiana's Medicaid long-term-care coverage centers on nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, and it delivers home and community-based services through PathWays for Aging for people 60 and older. A family choosing assisted living should plan to pay the rent-and-meals portion privately even where Medicaid helps with the care services.
Most start with private pay, savings, income, home-sale proceeds, and long-term care insurance if they have it, then turn to Indiana Medicaid once a person meets the level-of-care and financial rules. Because Indiana operates a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program that seeks repayment from the estates of members who received long-term care at age 55 or older, planning early and getting professional advice usually pays off.
Learn More
Find personalized help building a realistic senior-care budget for 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.