Semi-private nursing home room cost in Alaska vs California vs Hawaii: expected 5-year cost for a 78-year-old woman needing help with 3 daily activities
California has the lowest expected 5-year cost of a semi-private nursing home room for a 78-year-old woman who needs help with 3 of the 6 daily activities: $613,812 ($166,818 less than the next state). Alaska: $1,404,095; California: $613,812; Hawaii: $780,630. These are expected costs in today's dollars, counting only the years the person is expected to be alive, from state median prices in the CareScout 2025 survey; they are not a quote from any provider.
The same assumptions in every column
In this comparison of Alaska, California, and Hawaii (expected costs in US dollars), every column is a semi-private nursing home room for the same 78-year-old woman who needs help with 3 of the 6 daily activities, projected over 5 years on the moderate path of decline. Only the state changes, and with it the survey's median price. 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 lowest and highest scenario for each state.
What the expected cost leaves out
For Alaska, California, and Hawaii, the expected costs in US dollars leave out the price of any particular provider and what insurance or Medicaid would pay. Not included in the survey prices: Housing and living costs at home (assisted living and nursing home fees include room and board), memory care (the survey prints no median), home modifications, medical care, the extra fees facilities charge for higher levels of care, and taxes. The range is the lowest and highest expected cost across nine scenarios: three paths of decline (0.25, 0.5 or 1 more daily activity needing help each year, an authored choice) against the 10th, 50th and 90th percentile price-growth windows. It is a scenario range, not a statistical interval, and not a forecast. The headline uses the moderate path of decline. Hours of in-home care scale with the number of daily activities needing help, up to the survey's 44-hour week at six; that scale is authored.
Try your own numbers
Open the Dorevanti calculator. The expected costs in US dollars for Alaska, California, and Hawaii come from this page's comparison. The calculator link carries this page for attribution; the form does not apply the comparison automatically. Enter the person's state, age and daily activities there to see all four care options with a range, the crossover age and every assumption listed.
More Dorevanti comparisons. How the numbers are computed. Read the CareScout survey.
Calculation provenance
Prices: the median for each of Alaska, California, and Hawaii for a semi-private nursing home room in the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025. Survey vintage: 2025 survey (July through November 2025); loaded 2026-10-11. In-home care is priced by the hour from the survey's non-medical caregiver median on a 44-hour week. Growth and discounting: prices grow 3.6 percent a year, the median of historical 5-year windows of CPI Medical Care Services through 2026-08, and are discounted at 5.22 percent a year, the 10-year Treasury yield. Each year is weighted by the share of it the person is expected to be alive for, from the CDC 2024 life table. Sample size UNAVAILABLE: the prices are survey medians by state and the life table a national series, so the survey's per-state sample sizes are not reported by the source. Inspect the API. Response hashes and retrieval times are retained separately in the calculation record.
More from Smart Tech Invest
Calculation data
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| care Option | nursing_home_semi_private |
| age | 78 |
| sex | female |
| adl Deficits | 3 |
| years | 5 |
| trajectory | moderate |
| Measure | Alaska | California | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expected 5-year cost of a semi-private nursing home room for a 78-year-old woman who needs help with 3 of the 6 daily activities (USD) | 1,404,095.00 | 613,812.00 | 780,630.00 |
| Expected cost in the lowest of nine scenarios (USD) | 1,382,330.00 | 604,297.00 | 768,529.00 |
| Expected cost in the highest of nine scenarios (USD) | 1,434,903.00 | 627,280.00 | 797,758.00 |
| First-year price of a semi-private nursing home room (USD) | 333,975.00 | 146,000.00 | 185,679.00 |
| Distance from winning value (USD) | 790,283.00 | 0.00 | 166,818.00 |
| Decision | Alternative value | Winning value | Alternative value |
Winner: California. Objective: minimize. Margin to next option: 166,818.00 USD. Assumption: Lowest expected cost of a semi-private nursing home room over the stated years for the stated person only. Where care happens is often not a choice: this shows how much of the cost is the state's prices. A particular provider, the level of care a facility charges for, housing costs at home and your own health will move the numbers.
- winner
- ca
- objective
- minimize
- metric
- expectedCost
Source and assumptions
- Prices: Alaska's median for a semi-private nursing home room in the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025. Survey vintage: 2025 survey (July through November 2025); loaded 2026-10-11. In-home care is priced by the hour from the survey's non-medical caregiver median on a 44-hour week.
- Growth and discounting: prices grow 3.6 percent a year, the median of historical 5-year windows of CPI Medical Care Services through 2026-08, and are discounted at 5.22 percent a year, the 10-year Treasury yield. Each year is weighted by the share of it the person is expected to be alive for, from the CDC 2024 life table.
- The range is the lowest and highest expected cost across nine scenarios: three paths of decline (0.25, 0.5 or 1 more daily activity needing help each year, an authored choice) against the 10th, 50th and 90th percentile price-growth windows. It is a scenario range, not a statistical interval, and not a forecast.
- Housing and living costs at home (assisted living and nursing home fees include room and board), memory care (the survey prints no median), home modifications, medical care, the extra fees facilities charge for higher levels of care, and taxes.
- The headline uses the moderate path of decline. Hours of in-home care scale with the number of daily activities needing help, up to the survey's 44-hour week at six; that scale is authored.
Alaska. Data layer: Dorevanti state_care_costs (CareScout), life_table (CDC) and cost_indices (BLS via FRED, Treasury via FRED). Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 Median Cost Data Tables; CDC NCHS United States Life Tables 2024 (NVSR 75-5); BLS CPI-U Medical Care Services CUSR0000SAM2; Board of Governors 10-year Treasury yield DGS10. Vintage: Prices loaded 2026-10-11; life table loaded 2026-10-11; price index through 2026-08, loaded 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-12T00:36:02.682Z
Source updated: CareScout 2025 survey (July through November 2025); loaded 2026-10-11; CPI to 2026-08
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
e6667d99c82fc61d84dff57784d1106340c07a5c5e8f56e141260c18307f3347California. Data layer: Dorevanti state_care_costs (CareScout), life_table (CDC) and cost_indices (BLS via FRED, Treasury via FRED). Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 Median Cost Data Tables; CDC NCHS United States Life Tables 2024 (NVSR 75-5); BLS CPI-U Medical Care Services CUSR0000SAM2; Board of Governors 10-year Treasury yield DGS10. Vintage: Prices loaded 2026-10-11; life table loaded 2026-10-11; price index through 2026-08, loaded 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-12T00:36:02.809Z
Source updated: CareScout 2025 survey (July through November 2025); loaded 2026-10-11; CPI to 2026-08
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
4909a05b6fbdc049ca4335c92accdde1885d6dfeb7f019fee4ed90e5fcd940bdHawaii. Data layer: Dorevanti state_care_costs (CareScout), life_table (CDC) and cost_indices (BLS via FRED, Treasury via FRED). Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 Median Cost Data Tables; CDC NCHS United States Life Tables 2024 (NVSR 75-5); BLS CPI-U Medical Care Services CUSR0000SAM2; Board of Governors 10-year Treasury yield DGS10. Vintage: Prices loaded 2026-10-11; life table loaded 2026-10-11; price index through 2026-08, loaded 2026-10-11. Sample size: UNAVAILABLE.
Fetched: 2026-10-12T00:36:02.943Z
Source updated: CareScout 2025 survey (July through November 2025); loaded 2026-10-11; CPI to 2026-08
Cache: Unreported
Response SHA-256
156fb6bf9faecf8a14cf69dd076addb96b941adb672d6362ec9ad434ca044eb2Questions about this comparison
In which state does a semi-private nursing home room cost the least over 5 years: Alaska, California, and Hawaii?
California has the lowest expected 5-year cost of a semi-private nursing home room for a 78-year-old woman who needs help with 3 of the 6 daily activities: $613,812 ($166,818 less than the next state). Alaska: $1,404,095; California: $613,812; Hawaii: $780,630. These are expected costs in today's dollars, counting only the years the person is expected to be alive, from state median prices in the CareScout 2025 survey; they are not a quote from any provider.
What is held constant in this comparison?
In this comparison of Alaska, California, and Hawaii (expected costs in US dollars), every column is a semi-private nursing home room for the same 78-year-old woman who needs help with 3 of the 6 daily activities, projected over 5 years on the moderate path of decline. Only the state changes, and with it the survey's median price. Each column is its own call to the same API with the same inputs.
What does this expected cost leave out?
For Alaska, California, and Hawaii, the expected costs in US dollars leave out the price of any particular provider and what insurance or Medicaid would pay. Not included in the survey prices: Housing and living costs at home (assisted living and nursing home fees include room and board), memory care (the survey prints no median), home modifications, medical care, the extra fees facilities charge for higher levels of care, and taxes. The range is the lowest and highest expected cost across nine scenarios: three paths of decline (0.25, 0.5 or 1 more daily activity needing help each year, an authored choice) against the 10th, 50th and 90th percentile price-growth windows. It is a scenario range, not a statistical interval, and not a forecast. The headline uses the moderate path of decline. Hours of in-home care scale with the number of daily activities needing help, up to the survey's 44-hour week at six; that scale is authored.
How can I try my own numbers?
The expected costs in US dollars for Alaska, California, and Hawaii come from this page's comparison. The calculator link carries this page for attribution; the form does not apply the comparison automatically. Enter the person's state, age and daily activities there to see all four care options with a range, the crossover age and every assumption listed.