Cost of Senior Care in Indiana (2026)

Senior care in Indiana costs less than in most of the country. The CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released in March 2026, places Indiana among the least expensive states for senior living and care, with its median costs sitting at or below the national figures in every setting it measures.1 In-home care in Indiana runs about $35 an hour for a non-medical caregiver. The bigger question for most families is not the headline number but which setting fits the actual level of need, because the gap between a few hours of home help and full nursing care runs into tens of thousands of dollars a year.

This guide lays out what each senior-care setting costs in Indiana, where those figures come from and why competing websites disagree, 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
• The Cost of Senior Care in Indiana by Setting
• Why Cost Websites Disagree
• What Drives the Cost of Senior Care in Indiana
• How Families Pay
• How to Plan and Budget
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Cost of Senior Care in Indiana by Setting

The figures below come from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey, specifically the 2025 survey released in March 2026, which is the most recent state-level data and the successor to the long-running Genworth survey. 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.1

The clearest confirmed numbers for Indiana are the in-home rates. A non-medical caregiver, the line that covers help with both household tasks and hands-on personal care, costs about $35 an hour. A private-duty nurse, who provides skilled clinical care at home, runs about $70 an hour, with a typical visit rate of about $175.1 For the residential settings, the 2025 survey confirms that Indiana sits below the national medians rather than publishing a separate widely circulated state dollar figure, so the table below pairs Indiana's confirmed in-home rates with the national medians the survey reports for the residential settings, which Indiana runs under.

One change in the 2025 survey matters when you compare these numbers to what you may have seen a year ago. CareScout merged its two former in-home categories, the "homemaker" line for household help and the "home health aide" line for hands-on personal care, into a single "non-medical caregiver" rate.1 So if last year's figure showed two separate hourly rates for home care and this year shows one, the categories changed, not just the price. The single $35-an-hour Indiana rate now covers the range of non-medical home support that used to be split in two.

Why Cost Websites Disagree

If you have searched for senior-care costs, you have probably noticed that no two sites agree, and the gap can be hundreds of dollars a month for what each calls the same "national median." The reason is straightforward once you see it: the major cost sources each run their own survey. CareScout (the successor to Genworth) reports one set of medians, SeniorLiving.org publishes its own survey, and A Place for Mom uses data from its own referral network. Each is measuring real prices, but from a different pool of providers in a different month, so the numbers land in different places.

This guide uses the CareScout 2025 survey for one reason: it is the longest-running, most widely cited cost-of-care benchmark, with state-level data, and it is the survey the eldercare and long-term-care-insurance industries treat as the standard.1 When you compare a quote from a real Indiana provider against any of these surveys, treat the survey as a midpoint to orient by, not a price you are owed. The number that matters most is the written quote in front of you.

What Drives the Cost of Senior Care in Indiana

The single biggest driver of cost is the level of care a person needs. A nursing home provides 24-hour licensed nursing care, with nurses and aides on every shift plus the building, equipment, and oversight that skilled care requires, and that is why it sits at the top of the range, below the national median of about $315 a day for a semi-private room.1 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, below the national median of about $6,200 a month. Adult day care, which covers daytime hours only and sends a person home at night, is the lowest-cost setting, below the national median of about $95 a day.1

In-home care behaves differently because it is billed by the hour. A non-medical caregiver in Indiana runs about $35 an hour, so a few hours a day stays affordable, but the bill climbs fast as the hours grow.1 A full-time daily schedule at that hourly rate can run into six figures a year, which is why heavy daily needs often tip the math toward a facility even where the home is the preference. A private-duty nurse, at about $70 an hour, costs more still because the care is clinical.1

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.1 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 is 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 is the most flexible option, since it covers any setting, but it is also the one that runs out, and at the cost of full nursing care 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.2 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 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate, about $2,982 a month, and the countable-asset limit is $2,000.2 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, keeping up to half the couple's countable assets to a maximum of $162,660, so the couple is not held to the single-person asset figure.2

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).2 PathWays replaced the former Aged and Disabled (A&D) waiver for that age group; people under 60 use the Health and Wellness Waiver instead.2 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.2

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.2 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.2

A note on Medicare, because the assumption is common: Medicare covers only short-term skilled rehabilitation 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.1

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.

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.