By Louisville Senior Advisor Care Team · October 20, 2026
Kentucky's 2025 medians: assisted living $63,480 a year (about $5,290 a month), semi-private nursing home $116,618 (about $9,718 a month), home care $74,360 at 44 hours a week (about $32.50 an hour), adult day $22,880 (about $88 a day). There is no Louisville median and no memory care median.
What did the 2025 survey find for Kentucky?
CareScout, the company that took over the long-running Genworth cost survey, collected rates from providers between July and November 2025 and released state results on March 2, 2026. For Kentucky, the headline is that facility care rose sharply while home care dipped.
| Care type | Kentucky annual median | About per month | Change from 2024 | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living (private one-bedroom) | $63,480 | $5,290 | +8% | $74,400 |
| Nursing home, semi-private | $116,618 | $9,718 | +11% | $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private | $135,050 | $11,254 | +13% | $129,575 |
| Home care (44 hrs/week) | $74,360 | $6,197 | -4% | $80,080 |
| Adult day health (5 days/week) | $22,880 | $1,907 | n/a | $24,700 |
Monthly figures divide CareScout's annual medians by twelve.
Is Louisville more expensive than the Kentucky median?
Nobody can say from published data. CareScout collects rates by metropolitan area but publishes only state and national medians in this release, so there is no Louisville-specific figure. Louisville is Kentucky's largest market and has many newer East End campuses, which suggests local quotes may run above the state median, but that is a guess, and we will not print a guessed number.
The practical answer is to treat the state median as a sanity check. A quote far above it deserves an explanation; a quote far below it deserves a question about what is excluded.
Why is there no memory care number?
CareScout does not survey memory care as a category, anywhere. In Kentucky, memory care means an ALC-DC license with a secured unit, dementia-trained staff and required programming, all of which push costs above the same building's assisted living rates. The only reliable number is a written quote at your parent's assessed care level.
How should a family build a budget from these numbers?
Start with the monthly median for the care type you expect, then add what the median leaves out: care-level charges tied to the functional needs assessment, medication management fees, community or move-in fees and second-occupant fees. Then project forward. An 8% annual increase, like Kentucky's assisted living jump this year, doubles a monthly rate in about nine years.
Kentucky law gives you two tools: every assisted living lease must list specific services and associated fees, and must give at least 30 days' notice before the fee structure changes (KRS 194A.713).
Who pays when savings will not cover it?
Medicare does not pay for assisted living or long-term nursing home stays. Kentucky Medicaid pays for nursing facility care for people with no more than $2,000 in countable resources, and through the HCB waiver and PACE for services at home, but has no waiver that pays for assisted living. State Supplementation helps SSI-level residents of personal care homes and family care homes. VA Aid and Attendance can add up to $29,093 a year for a qualifying single veteran.
That map is why the payment plan deserves as much attention as the monthly price.
Why did Kentucky's home care median fall while facility costs rose?
The survey does not explain individual state movements, and we will not speculate beyond the data. What the numbers do show is a widening gap between hourly home care and facility care. At $32.50 an hour, ten hours a week of help costs about $1,400 a month, a quarter of the assisted living median. At forty hours a week it costs about $5,600, more than the median. The crossover sits around 37 to 38 hours.
For families weighing a move, that means the decision often turns on nights. Daytime help at home is affordable at Kentucky's rates; around-the-clock help is not.
How do Kentucky's numbers compare nationally?
Kentucky ranks 40th among states for assisted living cost and 38th for home care, but 29th and 27th for semi-private and private nursing home rooms, meaning its nursing homes are now priced above the national median while its assisted living remains well below it. For a Louisville family, the relative bargain is assisted living, if the parent's needs fit a Kentucky ALC, ALC-BH or ALC-DC license and the money will last.
What should we ask a community about its own price history?
Ask for the last three years of base-rate increases and care-level price changes in writing. A community whose increases tracked Kentucky's 8% jump this year may be ordinary; one that raised rates far faster deserves an explanation. Also ask whether current residents are grandfathered at older rates or move to the new schedule, and how many days' notice residents received before the last increase. Kentucky's minimum is 30 days.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cost of assisted living in Kentucky in 2025?
CareScout's 2025 Kentucky median is $63,480 a year, about $5,290 a month, for a private one-bedroom.
How much did Kentucky nursing home costs rise?
The semi-private median rose 11% and the private-room median 13% from 2024 to 2025.
Is home care cheaper than assisted living in Kentucky?
At low hours, yes. At the 2025 medians, paid home care passes the assisted living median at roughly 37 to 38 hours a week.
Where does the Kentucky data come from?
CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey Kentucky release, published March 2, 2026.
