Cost of Senior Care in Minnesota (2026)

The cost of senior care in Minnesota runs high in every setting. In the most recent industry survey, the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Minnesota came in above the national median across the board: about $6,572 a month for assisted living, about $10,646 a month for a semi-private nursing-home room, and about $8,389 a month for in-home care, a rate that ranks 6th highest in the country.1 That means which setting a family chooses can swing the yearly bill by tens of thousands of dollars.

This guide lays out what each senior-care setting costs, using the latest survey figures, why no two cost websites seem to agree on a number, and how Minnesota families actually pay, from private funds to Medical Assistance for those who qualify.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What Each Senior Care Setting Costs in Minnesota
• Why Every Website Gives a Different Number
• What Drives the Cost of Senior Care in Minnesota
• How Families Pay
• How to Plan and Budget
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Each Senior Care Setting Costs in Minnesota

The figures below come from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey (formerly the Genworth Cost of Care Survey), specifically the 2025 release, with data collected from July to November 2025 and published in March 2026, the most recent state-level data available. 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

Two things to know before reading the table. First, Minnesota sits above the national median in every setting CareScout measures, so a family here should budget above whatever national figure they have seen quoted elsewhere; the gap is widest in in-home care, where Minnesota ranks 6th highest in the country.1 Second, the Twin Cities metro runs higher than rural Minnesota, so where in the state a person lives shifts the bill as much as which setting they choose.1

Every Minnesota figure in that table sits above its national counterpart.1

One change in the 2025 survey matters if you are comparing this year's home-care number to one you saw last year. CareScout merged its former "homemaker" and "home health aide" categories into a single "non-medical caregiver" rate, because the two had converged in price.1 So where older guides list two separate in-home numbers, the current survey reports one. Non-medical caregiver care covers hands-on personal help like bathing and dressing along with household tasks like cooking and cleaning. At Minnesota's median of about $44 an hour, a steady schedule of 44 hours a week comes to about $100,672 a year, roughly $8,389 a month, against a national median of about $35 an hour ($80,080 a year).1 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.

Why Every Website Gives a Different Number

If you have searched for senior-care costs, you have likely seen wildly different figures for the same setting, and the reason is simple: the major cost websites each run their own survey. The CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, the long-running industry standard once published by Genworth, reported a national median of about $6,200 a month for assisted living.1 Other widely cited publishers run separate surveys with different methods and report their own numbers for the same care setting, which is why no two sites agree.

When you compare a number, check three things: which survey it comes from, what year the data was collected, and whether the in-home figure uses the new single "non-medical caregiver" category or an older two-line homemaker-and-aide split. A figure with no survey name and no date is the least reliable kind. The figures in this guide are all from the CareScout 2025 survey, released in March 2026, so they describe the most recent year measured.1

What Drives the Cost of Senior Care in Minnesota

The single biggest driver of cost is the level of care a person needs, and the settings spread far apart because of it. 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. Assisted living is built for people who need help with daily tasks but not constant skilled nursing, so it carries a lighter staffing load. In Minnesota that gap is wide in dollar terms: about $127,750 a year for a semi-private nursing-home room against about $78,870 a year for assisted living, a difference of nearly $49,000 a year.1

In-home care is the setting that surprises people most. Minnesota's non-medical caregiver rate is about $44 an hour, the 6th highest in the country and roughly a quarter above the national median of about $35 an hour, and because in-home help is billed by the hour, the bill climbs fast as the hours grow.1 Daily help for a few hours is affordable; continuous home care rarely is. Location matters too, since the Twin Cities metro runs higher than rural parts of the state.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: help with more activities of daily living, medication management, memory care, or a higher staffing tier. A resident who enters needing little help and later needs much more can see the monthly cost climb well past the opening figure. 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 Minnesota.

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. With a Minnesota nursing-home room running about $127,750 a year semi-private and about $166,440 a year private, well above the national medians of about $114,975 and $129,575, private funds can drain faster than families expect.1 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.

Minnesota Medical Assistance (MA) is the state's Medicaid program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), and it pays for long-term care for people who meet both a level-of-care test and the financial rules.2 MA covers nursing-facility care for people found to need a nursing-home level of care, which is determined by a MnCHOICES assessment delivered through the long-term care consultation services of Minnesota Statutes 256B.0911 and coordinated with preadmission screening, and who meet the financial rules. Under Minnesota Statutes 256B.056, the asset limit for a senior on MA is $3,000 for an individual and $6,000 for a two-person household, plus $200 per additional legal dependent, more generous than the $2,000 federal standard many states use.2 Minnesota is also a medically needy state, so a person whose income sits above the limit can still qualify by spending down, deducting incurred medical expenses from the excess income to reach the income standard.2

If a nursing home is not the right fit, Minnesota funds home and community-based care through the Elderly Waiver (EW), a Section 1915(c) waiver for people who need a nursing-home level of care but choose to live in the community. DHS requires all four of: age 65 or older, eligible for MA, a nursing-home level of care determined by a MnCHOICES assessment, and services the waiver can provide for less than the cost of care in a nursing home.2 The Elderly Waiver can fund customized living services delivered in an assisted living facility licensed under Minnesota Statutes chapter 144G, or by a comprehensive home care provider licensed under chapter 144A in a setting exempt from assisted living licensure under 144G.08, subdivision 7, clauses (10) to (13). A companion program, Alternative Care (AC), is narrower than it is often described: it serves Minnesotans age 65 or older who would be eligible for MA within 135 days of admission to a nursing facility.2 Families should also plan for estate recovery: Minnesota may make a claim against the estate of someone who received MA at age 55 or older, but only for the MA that consisted of nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services, subject to federal and state exemptions.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 Medical Assistance cover.

How to Plan and Budget

Start by matching the setting to the actual need, not the other way around. Because Minnesota's nursing-home rates run above its assisted-living rates, the difference between settings is large here, and 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, a few hours a day of in-home care, or adult day care, while someone needing continuous skilled care may have no real alternative to 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 Medical Assistance would come into play. If MA is likely to be part of the plan, getting advice early tends to pay off, because the level-of-care screening, the spenddown rules, and estate recovery all reward planning ahead rather than scrambling at the last minute. 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 resident keeps.

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 Minnesota 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.