Senior care in Indiana costs at or below the national median in every care category but one. In the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released in March 2026, assisted living in Indiana runs about $5,639 a month and a semi-private nursing-home room about $8,942 (35th and 38th highest among the states), but adult day health care costs about $127 a day, the 13th most expensive in the country and well above the national median of about $95. In-home care in Indiana runs about $35 an hour for a non-medical caregiver, exactly the national median. 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

The Cost of Senior Care in Indiana by Setting

The figures below come from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey, specifically the 2025 survey, built from rates gathered from long-term care providers between July and November 2025 and released in March 2026. 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.

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. In the residential settings Indiana runs below the national medians, ranking 35th for assisted living and 38th and 33rd for a semi-private and a private nursing-home room. Adult day health care is the exception: at about $127 a day, Indiana is the 13th most expensive state for it.

Care setting Indiana National median (2025)
In-home non-medical caregiver about $35/hour about $35/hour
In-home private-duty nurse about $70/hour (visit about $175) about $90/hour
Adult day care about $127/day (about $33,020/year) about $95/day (about $24,700/year)
Assisted living about $5,639/month (about $67,665/year) about $6,200/month (about $74,400/year)
Nursing home, semi-private room about $294/day (about $107,310/year) about $315/day (about $114,975/year)
Nursing home, private room about $340/day (about $123,918/year) about $355/day (about $129,575/year)

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. 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 sites don't agree on what each calls the same "national median." Cost publishers don't all draw on the same data. CareScout's figures come from its own survey of long-term care providers, with rates gathered between July and November 2025, so a site built on a different survey, a different pool of providers, or a different collection period can land on a different number.

This guide uses the CareScout 2025 survey because it gathers rates directly from long-term care providers, collects them by metropolitan area, and publishes Indiana medians and state rankings for every major care setting. 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 nursing care and 24-hour supervision, with services that focus more on medical care than most assisted living does. That is why it sits at the top of the range, at about $294 a day for a semi-private room in Indiana, below the national median of about $315. Assisted living is for people who need help with daily care, but not as much help as a nursing home provides, and it costs less, about $5,639 a month in Indiana against a national median of about $6,200. Adult day health care still costs less per day than either, at about $127 a day, but unlike the others it runs well above the national median of about $95 a day, so the option families reach for as the cheap one is comparatively expensive here.

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. CareScout's annual Indiana figure for non-medical in-home care is about $80,080, already more than the assisted-living median of about $67,665, and a longer daily schedule costs more, 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.

Where in Indiana you are matters too. CareScout collects its rates by metropolitan area, so costs vary within the state, and 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. Assisted living communities typically offer a few levels of care, and residents pay more if they need extra services or special care. 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, so check what a policy pays and for how long before counting on it.

Indiana Medicaid pays for long-term care, including nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, for residents who meet the state's financial eligibility rules. In 2026, a single applicant who lives in a facility or qualifies for home and community-based waiver services may qualify with monthly income up to $2,982, which is 300% of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate, counting the applicant's income only, and the countable-asset maximum is $2,000. Depending on their countable income, they may owe a monthly patient or waiver liability. In that calculation a nursing-home resident keeps a personal needs allowance of $52 a month, while a waiver member's personal needs allowance equals the $2,982 Special Income Level. And $2,982 is a ceiling: Indiana says a person whose income exceeds it is no longer eligible unless they have a valid Miller trust. 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.

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 covers members 60 and older in a full-coverage aged, blind or disabled category who live in a nursing or long-term care facility or are approved for an Aged and Disabled waiver. It is not open to every member 60 and older: the state's not-eligible list includes, among others, members on Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services waivers, the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver, and the End Stage Renal Disease waiver.

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 Medicaid does pay for assisted living as a home and community-based waiver service, for example through the PathWays for Aging Waiver for people 65 and older, and 60 to 64 with a disability, who meet a nursing-facility level of care. But federal law bars these waivers from paying for room and board, so 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 to recover the total amount Medicaid paid on a member's behalf after age 55. Beginning July 1, 2025, the state has nine months from the date of death to file a claim, though that limit does not apply to assets never reported to the Division of Family Resources, such as assets passed by a Transfer on Death deed. Nothing can be recovered while the member is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child.

A note on Medicare, because the assumption is common: Original Medicare does not pay for custodial care, the non-skilled help with bathing, dressing and other daily activities, when that is the only care a person needs, whether at home, in assisted living or in a nursing home (hospice care is the exception). It covers skilled care instead, such as a limited post-hospital stay in a skilled nursing facility and part-time skilled care at home. The long-term help most families are budgeting for 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

How much does senior care cost in Indiana?

It depends heavily on the setting. Per the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, in-home care in Indiana runs about $35 an hour for a non-medical caregiver and about $70 an hour for a private-duty nurse. In the residential settings, Indiana's 2025 medians were about $5,639 a month for assisted living, about $294 a day (roughly $107,310 a year) for a semi-private nursing-home room, and about $10,326 a month (roughly $123,918 a year) for a private room, each below the national figures. Adult day health care runs about $127 a day, above the national median of about $95. These are industry-survey medians, not maximums, so an individual provider can cost more or less.

Is senior care cheaper in Indiana than the national average?

In most settings, yes. In the CareScout 2025 survey Indiana ranks 35th for assisted living, 38th for a semi-private nursing-home room and 33rd for a private room, all below the national medians, and it sits exactly at the national median for in-home non-medical caregiver care. The exception is adult day health care, where Indiana is the 13th most expensive state, at about $33,020 a year against a national median of about $24,700. CareScout collects rates by metropolitan area, so costs also vary within the state and a statewide median can understate the cost where you live.

Why do different websites give different costs for Indiana?

Because cost publishers don't all draw on the same data, and a site built on a different survey, provider pool or collection period can land on a different number. This guide uses the CareScout 2025 survey because it gathers rates from providers and publishes Indiana medians and state rankings for every major setting. Treat any survey as a midpoint to orient by, and trust the written quote from a real provider over any published median.

Does Medicaid pay for senior care in Indiana?

For nursing-facility care and home and community-based services, yes, if a person meets the state's financial eligibility rules. For a single applicant in 2026, monthly income up to $2,982 (300% of the SSI federal benefit rate) may qualify, though depending on countable income the person may owe a monthly patient or waiver liability; income above that ends eligibility unless the person has a valid Miller trust. The countable-asset maximum is $2,000, with a higher resource allowance protected for a spouse who stays at home. Most members 60 and older who receive long-term services and supports get them through PathWays for Aging, though some waiver groups are excluded.

Does Medicaid cover assisted living in Indiana?

It can cover the care services, but not the room-and-board cost. Indiana Medicaid pays for assisted living as a waiver service, for example through the PathWays for Aging Waiver for people who meet a nursing-facility level of care. Federal law bars these waivers from paying for room and board, so a family choosing assisted living should plan to pay the rent-and-meals portion privately.

How do families pay for senior care in Indiana?

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 financial eligibility rules. Because Indiana operates a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program that seeks to recover what Medicaid paid on a member's behalf after age 55, planning early and getting professional advice usually pays off.

Learn More

Care TypesCost of Senior Care by State: Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Home CareThe 2026 national median cost of assisted living, memory care, nursing homes, and in-home care, why your state differs, and your state's own cost guide. Care TypesAssisted Living in IndianaAssisted living in Indiana runs about $5,639 a month, 35th highest among the states. What it costs, who regulates it, and how families pay for it. 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. Nursing Home in IndianaAssisted living vs. a nursing home in Indiana comes down to level of care and who pays. Compare costs, when each fits, and what Indiana Medicaid covers.
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 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.

Still have questions?

Brevy answers from this guide and every other guide here, and can check what you qualify for.

BC

Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.