Genworth 2024 Cost of Care Survey: Nursing Home and Home Care Costs Reach New Highs

The annual survey that has become the most widely cited benchmark for long-term care costs was released with numbers that continued a familiar but sobering trend. The 2024 Cost of Care Survey, conducted jointly by Genworth and CareScout and based on responses from over 15,000 providers contacted between July and December 2024, showed rising costs across every major category of care—and increases that continued to outpace broader inflation rates for most care types.

For retirees and their families thinking about how to fund potential care needs, the survey is essential context.

The National Numbers

The 2024 survey found that the national median daily rate for a private room in a nursing home rose to $350 per day, up from $320 in 2023—a 9 percent increase. A semi-private room in a nursing home came in at $305 per day nationally, up from $285 in 2023—a 7 percent increase.

Assisted living community costs also rose. The national median rate for assisted living facilities was $100 per day in 2024, up from $95 in 2023—a roughly 5 percent increase. Home care services, including homemaker services that assist with household tasks, came in at a national median of $34 per hour, up from $33 in 2023.

Adult day health care—a community-based option that provides social and support services during daytime hours, often allowing a family member to remain in the workforce—was $100 per day nationally, up 5 percent from $95.

What's Driving the Increases

The survey data pointed to two primary forces behind the cost increases: labor expenses and general inflation. Long-term care is fundamentally a labor-intensive industry, and wages for direct care workers have risen as the labor market has remained tight. Nursing homes, assisted living communities, and home care agencies have all had to increase pay to attract and retain workers, and those costs have passed through to the consumer.

"Inflation and labor costs continue to drive rate increases," said Samir Shah, President and CEO of CareScout Services, in the survey announcement. The observation was consistent with what providers had reported throughout the year.

Geographic variation is enormous. Costs in the Northeast and on the Pacific Coast significantly exceed national medians, while the South and Midwest remain more affordable. A private nursing home room in Alaska or New England can cost twice what the same room costs in the rural South.

Putting the Numbers in Context

Even the most affordable care options represent a significant financial commitment when extended over months or years. At the national median rate for a private nursing home room—$350 per day—a one-year stay costs roughly $127,750 in 2024 dollars. The national median length of stay in a nursing home is approximately two and a half years. That implies potential costs well above $300,000 from nursing home care alone for a typical stay.

For home care, costs depend heavily on the number of hours per week required. Someone needing 40 hours per week of homemaker services at $34 per hour would pay nearly $70,000 per year—before considering any medical care component.

Medicare provides very limited coverage for long-term care. It covers short-term skilled nursing care following a qualifying hospital stay, but it does not pay for custodial care—the help with bathing, dressing, and daily activities that constitutes most long-term care need. Medicaid covers long-term care, but only after substantial asset spend-down to meet eligibility requirements.

Why Planning Matters

The Genworth survey is not designed to frighten retirees. It is designed to inform them. The longer care is needed, the more relevant the cost data becomes—and the more important it is to have thought through how those costs would be paid.

Options include long-term care insurance, hybrid life insurance policies with LTC riders, Medicaid planning, home equity, and family resources. None of these options is perfect, but each provides a different kind of protection against what has become one of the largest financial risks in retirement.