The 5 Best Assisted Living Facilities in Suffolk, VA for 2024

Suffolk is home to several assisted living communities that cater to seniors who require daily caregiver support and don’t need nursing home placement. These communities provide nonmedical care services, ensuring that seniors receive the assistance they need while maintaining their independence and a higher level of autonomy. Costs for assisted living in Suffolk average $4,690 a month.

By reading this guide, seniors in Suffolk should get a solid idea of various senior care costs with a special emphasis on assisted living and its alternatives. The guide also lists resources for seniors along with regulatory information and contacts for state assistance.

Seniors in Virginia’s assisted living facilities are protected by state licensing requirements put out by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Adult Protective Services Division. This unit of the state government enforces best care practices and conducts scheduled and unannounced inspections to ensure a consistently high standard of senior care throughout the state.

• Suffolk’s cost of living is exactly in line with national averages. On a 100-point comparison scale, where the national rate is 100, Suffolk also gets a 100. This is a bit lower than the 104.2 average for the rest of Virginia.
• The crime rate in Suffolk is generally very low. On a scale where the national average for violent crime is 22.7, Suffolk gets 17.7. Property crimes in the area are somewhat higher, however, rating 38.9 on the same scale where the national rate is 35.4.
• Suffolk is near the Virginia coast, which means its climate is breezy and generally sunny, with just 5 inches of snow in a year. This is significantly less than the national average of 28 inches of snow. The region does get about 10 inches of rain more than the national average, although Suffolk’s 205 sunny days are close to the 210 national average.
• Seniors in Suffolk have access to excellent health care services in large local hospitals and medical centers. For example, Greater Suffolk Medical Center has senior health specialists and accepts Medicare for payment. While health costs in the region are an average of 15% higher than they are nationally, other local health factors are generally good. The water quality, for example, is a solid 83, while the equivalent national rate is just 55.
• Virginia has a state income tax that may apply to seniors’ earnings from various retirement accounts. This is somewhat offset by the state’s $12,000 tax deduction for pension and retirement savings income. Social Security benefits are not taxed by the state government.

The cost of care in Suffolk averages $4,690 for assisted living and often varies with the location and amenities offered by any specific facility. 

Assisted living costs in Suffolk are competitive with many other Virginia cities and with the state and national averages. The area’s assisted living communities cost about $190 a month more than the $4,500 seniors pay nationwide but $460 less than the Virginia average. Other cities such as Blacksburg, at $5,595, and Roanoke, at $5,925, are considerably more expensive than Suffolk. Richmond is less so but still costs $211 more at $4,901. Lynchburg averages $4,625 a month, which is competitive with Suffolk. 

Seniors who need medical care may pay an average of $8,410 a month for a semiprivate room in a Suffolk nursing home. Other types of care, such as in-home care and home health care, cost $4,767. Seniors may pay an average of $1,690 a month for adult day health care in Suffolk, which is a solid $3,000 less each month than average assisted living costs.

While many families use their own funds or personal assets to pay for assisted living, there are plenty of additional options to cover these costs. Some additional ways to finance assisted living costs include:

• Veterans Benefits
• Life Insurance Policy
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Reverse Mortgage

For more information about different ways to finance assisted living, visit our Assisted Living in Virginia page.