Can Your Aging Parents Afford to Live in Your State?

Consider Your State's Cost of Senior Care, Overall Cost of Living, and Access to Elderly Support Services

San Mateo, CA; Feb. 21, 2018 — As adult children assume greater care for their aging parents, the issue of senior care costs in the area where their parents live becomes increasingly important. Oklahoma is the most affordable state in the nation for aging adults, according to a new Caring.com report. The study ranked the affordability of all 50 states for adults who are 65 and older using 11 financial metrics.

Mississippi, Missouri, Wisconsin, Idaho, South Carolina and Tennessee follow the Sooner State at the top of the list of the cheapest states for seniors, especially those who are in need of some assistance, such as in-home care or assisted living.

Meanwhile, the study found that the most expensive states for older adults were North Dakota, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Wyoming.

See the results:
The 10 Cheapest States for Aging Parents 
The 10 Most Expensive States for Aging Parents
Rankings for all 50 states, plus info about what makes some states more affordable for older adults

“One of the most frequent questions we hear from adult children looking for senior care is ‘How much will it cost?’ followed by, ‘How do we pay for it?’,” said Caring.com vice president Tim Sullivan. “We want to encourage folks to plan for these costs sooner rather than later, and to help spread awareness about the resources -- or lack thereof -- for both seniors and those caring for older adults in their state.”

The study looked at each state’s cost of living index, availability of senior health care programs and support for family caregivers, and the average costs of senior care. It found that there was not always a correlation between at state’s senior care costs and supportive policies and programs for the elderly and family caregivers. For example, Mississippi, the second-cheapest state for seniors, ranked #35 for elderly and caregiver support. And Massachusetts, one of the most expensive states for senior care and cost of living (#46 for both), scored #3 for such programs.

Sources:

• Data from senior care facilities and in-home care providers (Caring.com)
• 2017 Cost of Care Survey (Genworth)
• 2017 Long-Term Services & Supports State Scorecard (AARP, The Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation)
• 2017 State Level Cost of Living Index (The Council for Community and Economic Research)

With millions of visitors to its flagship website, Caring.com, Caring is a leading senior living referral service and the nation’s top site for senior care reviews. Founded in 2007, Caring’s mission is to help as many seniors and their caregivers as possible through empathetic, expert guidance. Applying cutting-edge technology to this humane mission, Caring provides relevant senior care information and support, as well as comprehensive senior living and senior care directories for the United States, including nearly 400,000 consumer reviews. Through a toll-free referral line at (800) 558-0653, Caring’s trusted, nationwide team of Family Advisors — who are among the most highly trained, highly skilled, and knowledgeable experts in senior care — helps seniors and their families research and connect to the most appropriate services and support for their specific situations. For more information about our organization and our free services for seniors and their families, please visit http://www.caring.com/about and join with Caring on Facebook.