Cost & care · by state
Cost & care in California
A calm starting point for care in California — the real local care landscape from Medicare, the national cost medians, and the official places to find help. Not advice; a place to begin.
California's care landscape
3,147Medicare-certified home-health agenciesavg CMS quality rating 3.2★
1,164Medicare/Medicaid nursing homesavg CMS overall rating 3.2★
Counts and star ratings are from Medicare Care Compare (CMS provider data), retrieved 2026-07-08. A star rating is CMS's own quality measure — a screening tool, never a substitute for touring in person and asking questions.
What care costs (national medians)
Genworth/CareScout doesn't publish a free figure for every state, so these are national medians — California's costs may run higher or lower. Use them as a middle estimate, then confirm locally.
| Type of care | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| In-home care (non-medical caregiver) | — | $80,080 |
| Homemaker services | — | $75,504 |
| Home health aide | — | $77,792 |
| Adult day health care | — | $24,700 |
| Assisted living facility | $6,200 | $74,400 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | — | $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private room | — | $129,575 |
Finding help in California
- Eldercare Locator (eldercare.acl.gov) ↗ — the official ACL service to find your local Area Agency on Aging and services by ZIP.
- Your state Medicaid agency ↗ — Medicaid may help with long-term care costs; each state runs its own program (no eligibility promise here).
- BenefitsCheckUp (NCOA) ↗ — a free, confidential screen for programs you or your parent may qualify for.
- Medicare Care Compare ↗ — look up and compare specific agencies and nursing homes in California.
Where to begin in California
Wherever your parent lives, the first steps are the same. These calm, printable checklists walk you through them:
- Your first week as a caregiver — the handful of things that actually matter in the first seven days.
- Choosing in-home care — the questions that separate a good fit from a stressful one.
- Bringing a parent home from the hospital — what to pin down before discharge.
This page gathers public facts and official links for California; it is not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a statement of what any program will cover. Provider counts and ratings change — confirm current details on Care Compare, and verify any benefit eligibility with the program directly.