Considering where to retire? Wondering whether you should plan for yourself or your older relatives to be cared for at home or in a nursing home? Curious about the average costs of each? There are some nifty tools out there online that can help you make informed choices about what city and state to retire to if you’re thinking of nursing homes as an option, and what neighborhoods to choose if you want to live at home as long as possible. Check them out and find out what your costs and limits may be when it comes to planning for senior living.
Do you know about Walk Score®? If not, you should.
Walk Score® is a nifty site you can use both when you’re shopping for a new neighborhood and when you’re working with a real estate practitioner to market your house.
The site measure walkability and ranks cities, neighborhoods, and specific addresses on a 0-100 scale.
In calculating rankings, Walk Score® measures proximity to an array of daily living necessities, such as transit and health care and venues, such as restaurants, grocery stores, and parks.
How you can use Walk Score
- Research your next home. If walking is important to you as you age, you can type in a specific address to see how a house or condo you’re considering ranks. As an example, Walk Score gives one address in a Chicago lakefront neighborhood a 92 and calls it a Walker’s Paradise because of its excellent access to public transit and restaurants, and a grocery store that is situated within 524 feet. An address in a suburb 40 miles outside Chicago ranks a mere 15. Why? To accomplish nearly all errands, residents need a car. But move within that same suburb’s downtown and the score rises to 78 because more amenities are accessible on foot. Thetford Mines, a Quebec town, scores a 52, and Walk Score describes it as somewhat walkable. Toronto gets a solid 100 because, says the site, daily errands don’t require a car.
- Market your house. If you’re selling your house, type in your address to see its score. If it’s a good one, the number can be a marketing advantage. Be sure your real estate practitioner is aware of Walk Score and that he or she promotes your home’s high ranking in your property’s marketing materials.
Some long-term care costs rise
In addition to a city’s walkability, another consideration when assessing retirement venues is the cost of care, whether that’s nursing or assisted living facilities or in-home care.
MetLife Mature Market Institute released its annual survey, “The 2012 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs,” and it’s no surprise that some costs in the United States have risen.
Since 2011, for instance, nursing home rates climbed by 3.8%. The average price of a private room in a U.S. nursing home stands at $248 per day.
Care costs, of course, vary by place, and even within a state and a metro area, rates can be quite different.
Here are two charts from the study. One gives you a snapshot of the national picture and the other is a spot check of nursing home costs around the country.
To see complete charts and to compare costs for specific cities.
Summary of National Findings
|
|
Nursing Homes |
|
Assisted Living Communities |
Home Care |
Adult Day Services |
|
|
Semi-private room |
Private room |
Home Health Aide |
||
|
Rate type |
Daily |
Daily |
Monthly |
Hourly |
Daily |
|
2012 Average Rate |
$222 |
$248 |
$3,550 |
$21 |
$70 |
|
2011 Average Rate |
$214 |
$239 |
$3,477 |
$21 |
$70 |
|
Percent increase from 2011 |
3.7 |
3.8 |
2.1 |
0 |
0 |
|
2012 Annual Rate |
$81,030 |
$90,520 |
$42,600 |
$21,840 |
$18,200 |
Nursing Home Costs 2012
| State |
Semi Private Room (Average Cost) |
Private Room(Average Cost) |
| Alabama | $180 | $192 |
| Birmingham | $179 | $191 |
| Montgomery | $201 | $209 |
| Ohio | $203 | $225 |
| Cincinnati | $211 | $235 |
| Cleveland | $201 | $227 |
| Columbus | $205 | $220 |
| California | $249 | $330 |
| Los Angeles | $219 | $260 |
| San Diego | $225 | $285 |
| San Francisco | $346 | $487 |
| Illinois | $175 | $216 |
| Chicago | $183 | $206 |
| Des Plaines area | $208 | $271 |
| New York | $356 | $368 |
| New York | $388 | $396 |
| Rochester | $336 | $348 |
| Syracuse | $335 | $342 |
Source: https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2012/studies/mmi-nursing-home-costs-table.pdf
