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What Memory Care Costs

There is no published median for memory care in any state. Here is what that means and how to get real numbers.

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Short answer

The CareScout Cost of Care Survey, the most widely cited source for senior care pricing, does not survey memory care as a separate category anywhere. Every memory care price you find online is therefore an estimate, an average of self-reported figures, or an extrapolation from assisted living data.

Why no reliable memory care price exists

We could publish a number. It would get traffic. It would also be made up, and families make six-figure decisions on these pages.

How to get a real number

  1. Ask for the all-in monthly cost at your parent's current assessed care level, in writing.
  2. Ask what triggers a move to the next care level and what that costs.
  3. Ask for the rate increase history for the last three years.
Memory care regulation in New York. New York requires SNALR certification, an add-on to an ALR license, for dementia-specific memory care. Read the full explanation →

Questions families ask

Does Nassau County or Suffolk County have a bigger, more spread-out senior care market?

Suffolk County's senior care market is more geographically spread out, stretching from denser, transit-served western hamlets such as Huntington, Brentwood, Bay Shore, and Islip to more rural, exurban North and South Fork communities that have become popular retirement-relocation destinations. Nassau County's market is more geographically compact, concentrated along its village and LIRR corridor towns, including Garden City, Rockville Centre, Great Neck, Freeport, Long Beach, and Mineola.

What's the difference between standard assisted living and memory care in New York?

Standard assisted living in New York is licensed as an Assisted Living Residence (ALR) under 10 NYCRR Part 1001. Memory care is not a separate license; it's delivered through a Special Needs Assisted Living Residence (SNALR) certification, an additional certification an ALR can obtain to serve residents with dementia or cognitive impairments per an Individualized Service Plan, regulated under the same Part 1001 rules.

What's the difference between a nursing home and an assisted living residence in New York, regulation-wise?

Nursing homes are licensed under 10 NYCRR Part 415, Nursing Homes - Minimum Standards, a distinct regulatory chapter focused on skilled, medically intensive care. Assisted Living Residences are licensed under 10 NYCRR Part 1001, and can only exist as an additional certification on top of an already-licensed Adult Home or Enriched Housing Program, themselves licensed under 18 NYCRR Parts 487 and 488.

At what point does hourly in-home care cost more than assisted living in New York?

Using CareScout's 2025 New York State medians, in-home non-medical caregiving costs $35 per hour, or about $6,673 per month at 44 hours a week, compared to assisted living's median of $7,110 per month ($225 per day). At roughly 45 to 46 hours per week of paid in-home care, the monthly cost crosses over and exceeds the assisted living median; families needing care beyond that, including any overnight or 24/7 coverage, would generally spend more on home care than on a private one-bedroom assisted living apartment.

What's the difference between a CCRC or Life Plan Community and a standalone assisted living or nursing facility on Long Island?

A Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), also called a Life Plan Community, offers a full continuum of care, independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing, on one campus, so a resident can move between levels of care as needs change without relocating to a different facility or provider. Long Island examples include Jefferson's Ferry in South Setauket, which describes itself as Long Island's first Life Plan Community, and Peconic Landing in Greenport, which describes itself as New York's only equity-based CCRC; a standalone assisted living or nursing facility, by contrast, offers only one level of care and requires a resident to move elsewhere if their needs change.

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