Adult day care vs Assisted living vs Home care aide vs Nursing home (private room) in California: what 3 years of care starting at age 80 costs
Adult day care has the lowest projected total cost for 3 years of care starting at age 80 in California: $154,479 ($376,378 below the next-cheapest type). Adult day care: $154,479; Assisted living: $530,857; Home care aide: $786,243; Nursing home (private room): $1,151,049. These are projected totals in US dollars from state survey medians grown at the observed rate of care-price inflation, not quotes from any provider.
The same assumptions in every column
In this comparison of Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room) (projected totals in US dollars), every column uses California, a current age of 65, care starting at age 80 and 3 years of care. Only the care type changes. Each column is its own call to the same API with the same inputs. The calculation table reports the exact dollar figures the API returned, with the low and high end of the inflation range for each care type.
What the projection leaves out
For Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room), the projected totals in US dollars leave out what the survey does not cover. The range is the same projection at the 10th and 90th percentile of past 12-month changes in that price index (2.82 to 5.32 percent a year). It covers inflation only. Sampling error in the survey median. The survey publishes no per-state sample size or standard error, so the band covers inflation only. Survey medians describe what providers reported charging, not a quote for any one provider. Nursing home means a private room. Home care aide uses the survey's non-medical caregiver rate at its standard weekly hours. Costs outside the survey (medications, supplies, home changes) are not included.
Try your own numbers
Open the Celuvra calculator. The totals in US dollars for Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room) come from this page's comparison. The calculator link carries this page for attribution; the form does not apply the comparison automatically. Enter your own age, savings and state there to see how paying for care from savings compares with insuring it. A person's actual care needs, health and coverage will move the numbers.
More Celuvra comparisons. Read the Cost of Care Survey. Read about the consumer price index.
Calculation provenance
Starting figure: the 2025 state median for adult day care from the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, adult day care median, CA: 2037 dollars a month. Growth: the compound annual growth of the index over the latest five years, to 2026-08, 4.76 percent a year (series CUUR0000SEMD02). Sample size UNAVAILABLE: the survey publishes no per-state sample size or standard error. Inspect the API. Response hashes and retrieval times are retained separately in the calculation record.
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Calculation data
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| state | CA |
| current Age | 65 |
| care Start Age | 80 |
| years Of Care | 3 |
| Measure | Adult day care | Assisted living | Home care aide | Nursing home (private room) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projected total cost of 3 years of adult day care (USD) | 154,479.00 | 530,857.00 | 786,243.00 | 1,151,049.00 |
| Total at the 10th percentile of observed inflation (USD) | 114,502.00 | 393,478.00 | 368,859.00 | 853,174.00 |
| Total at the 90th percentile of observed inflation (USD) | 168,140.00 | 577,802.00 | 1,380,300.00 | 1,252,840.00 |
| State median monthly cost today (USD) | 2,037.00 | 7,000.00 | 7,627.00 | 15,178.00 |
| Distance from winning value (USD) | 0.00 | 376,378.00 | 631,764.00 | 996,570.00 |
| Decision | Winning value | Alternative value | Alternative value | Alternative value |
Winner: Adult day care. Objective: minimize. Margin to next option: 376,378.00 USD. Assumption: Lowest projected total cost of the stated years of care only. Quality of care, availability, a person's actual needs and who pays (insurance, Medicaid, savings) are not compared.
- winner
- adult-day-care
- objective
- minimize
- metric
- totalProjectedCost
Source and assumptions
- Starting figure: the 2025 state median for adult day care from the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, adult day care median, CA: 2037 dollars a month. Growth: the compound annual growth of the index over the latest five years, to 2026-08, 4.76 percent a year (series CUUR0000SEMD02).
- The range is the same projection at the 10th and 90th percentile of past 12-month changes in that price index (2.82 to 5.32 percent a year). It covers inflation only. Sampling error in the survey median. The survey publishes no per-state sample size or standard error, so the band covers inflation only.
- Survey medians describe what providers reported charging, not a quote for any one provider. Nursing home means a private room. Home care aide uses the survey's non-medical caregiver rate at its standard weekly hours. Costs outside the survey (medications, supplies, home changes) are not included.
Adult day care. Data layer: Celuvra care_costs (CareScout survey medians) and care_inflation (BLS CPI-U). Source: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U CUUR0000SEMD02. Vintage: Survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; price index fetched 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T18:50:06.661Z
Source updated: survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; CPI series CUUR0000SEMD02, fetched 2026-10-11
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
b4cec4ba5f405e57f4abf243a3235ec660f7ba083186c9a1928b810e1fb09c0dAssisted living. Data layer: Celuvra care_costs (CareScout survey medians) and care_inflation (BLS CPI-U). Source: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U CUUR0000SEMD02. Vintage: Survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; price index fetched 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T18:50:06.970Z
Source updated: survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; CPI series CUUR0000SEMD02, fetched 2026-10-11
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
e965e4e987f7508e57f22da02a032b98638f92c4dec167be9d06baf83fabe863Home care aide. Data layer: Celuvra care_costs (CareScout survey medians) and care_inflation (BLS CPI-U). Source: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U CUUR0000SEMD03. Vintage: Survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; price index fetched 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T18:50:07.193Z
Source updated: survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; CPI series CUUR0000SEMD03, fetched 2026-10-11
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
9585f3133e7c61c32dac9bf018e5775daeb0419f1b0083acc5048c44e23f84bfNursing home (private room). Data layer: Celuvra care_costs (CareScout survey medians) and care_inflation (BLS CPI-U). Source: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U CUUR0000SEMD02. Vintage: Survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; price index fetched 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-11T18:50:07.396Z
Source updated: survey 2025, fetched 2026-10-11; CPI series CUUR0000SEMD02, fetched 2026-10-11
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
0573fb3ef36ec6d9805577f4d1ee49a1e86877a2bcd68e144c57ba417b33b26cQuestions about this comparison
Which type of long-term care costs the least in California?
Adult day care has the lowest projected total cost for 3 years of care starting at age 80 in California: $154,479 ($376,378 below the next-cheapest type). Adult day care: $154,479; Assisted living: $530,857; Home care aide: $786,243; Nursing home (private room): $1,151,049. These are projected totals in US dollars from state survey medians grown at the observed rate of care-price inflation, not quotes from any provider.
What is held constant in this comparison?
In this comparison of Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room) (projected totals in US dollars), every column uses California, a current age of 65, care starting at age 80 and 3 years of care. Only the care type changes. Each column is its own call to the same API with the same inputs.
What do these projections leave out?
For Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room), the projected totals in US dollars leave out what the survey does not cover. The range is the same projection at the 10th and 90th percentile of past 12-month changes in that price index (2.82 to 5.32 percent a year). It covers inflation only. Sampling error in the survey median. The survey publishes no per-state sample size or standard error, so the band covers inflation only. Survey medians describe what providers reported charging, not a quote for any one provider. Nursing home means a private room. Home care aide uses the survey's non-medical caregiver rate at its standard weekly hours. Costs outside the survey (medications, supplies, home changes) are not included.
How can I try my own numbers?
The totals in US dollars for Adult day care, Assisted living, Home care aide and Nursing home (private room) come from this page's comparison. The calculator link carries this page for attribution; the form does not apply the comparison automatically. Enter your own age, savings and state there to see how paying for care from savings compares with insuring it. A person's actual care needs, health and coverage will move the numbers.