The 3 Best Memory Care Facilities in Bozeman, MT for 2024

Bozeman ranks as the fourth-largest city in Montana and has 56,000 residents, less than 11% of whom are seniors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer’s is increasingly taking a toll on public health. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of Alzheimer's-related deaths around Bozeman went from 14 to 24, representing a 71% surge and driving the 16% increase in deaths from all causes. At the beginning of this period, Alzheimer’s caused 3.2% of the region’s deaths, compared to 4.8% at the end. While Alzheimer’s continues to account for a relatively small percentage of deaths in Bozeman, the growing number of related fatalities highlights the need for comprehensive dementia care.

For many seniors and families, residential memory care is a practical option for managing dementia-related challenges, such as inadequate nutrition and social isolation. Dementia care facilities have nurturing environments tailored to those with memory loss, giving residents access to personal care and meal services, cognitive and social activities and innovative therapies.

This guide highlights the licensing rules these facilities follow and provides information on long-term care costs. 

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services licenses memory care facilities in Bozeman and the rest of the state as Category A, B or C assisted living facilities. This department requires facilities to comply with standard rules for housing, food services and care planning, and it has dementia-specific licensing requirements for caregiver training and site security.

 

• Bozeman has been a member of the AARP Age-Friendly Network since 2017, and it has an action plan for creating a welcoming environment for seniors, including those living with memory loss. The city has an overall livability score of 64 for its numerous parks and grocery stores and a low preventable hospitalization rate, which averages 19.3 per 100,000 people versus the national norm of 38.2. The city also has a reliable public transportation system, which may enable families to visit loved ones in memory care.
• Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital sits within the city limits and offers surgical services, rehabilitation and primary and specialty services for seniors. This 125-bed facility has an accredited Level III trauma center, as well as a 24-hour emergency room. While it doesn’t provide neurology services, its health care providers can give referrals to those who need dementia care.
• Bozeman shares the region’s semiarid climate and has an average annual temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures vary considerably depending on the season, climbing up to an average of 84 degrees Fahrenheit but occasionally surpassing 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, and then dropping to lows of 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Residents in memory care often have access to amenities such as individual climate controls, helping them stay comfortable throughout the year.
• Bozeman ranks as a relatively expensive place to live, with an overall cost of living that exceeds state and national norms by 25%. Housing costs are about double here compared to prices in a typical U.S. city, which may drive up memory care costs, but fortunately, Montana’s Big Sky Waiver may help qualified individuals pay for their care.
• Montana taxes all forms of retirement income, including Social Security benefits. Fortunately, Bozeman seniors whose adjusted gross annual income is below $25,000 don’t pay state taxes on their Social Security income, and those whose income is below $40,980 qualify for exemptions to reduce what they owe. This may make memory care in Bozeman accessible to those with limited incomes.

Note: Residential memory care is usually offered in assisted living facilities, and in general, memory care rates tend to be 20-30% higher than assisted living rates. No national database currently tracks memory care costs in the United States, so we've estimated the monthly memory care costs listed below by adding 25% to the rates listed in Genworth's 2021 Cost of Care Survey.

On average, memory care facilities in Bozeman charge a monthly rate of $5,705 for housing and dementia-informed services.

 

Memory care rates in Bozeman come in at $5,705 per month, exceeding the state’s average rate of $5,563 and the national norm of $5,625. While local care costs surpass rates in Great Falls by 10%, this average rate is a little lower than the $5,813 seniors in Missoula pay for dementia care. Across state lines, memory care facilities in Casper, WY, charge slightly higher monthly rates of $6,055, but in Idaho Falls, ID, care costs trend lower at $4,375.

 

In Bozeman, memory care rates average $5,705 per month. This rate comes in 25% below what nursing home facilities charge for around-the-clock medical care and supervision. However, it aligns with the $5,720 that agencies charge for full-time in-home care, which includes nonmedical custodial services in the individual’s home, and home health care, which features skilled nursing services. Seniors in assisted living facilities pay a lower average rate of $4,564 for housing and personal care services, and those who attend adult day health care pay 39% less than memory care residents for personal care, supervision and skilled nursing services in a daytime setting.

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

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

For more information about different ways to finance memory care, visit our Memory Care in Montana page.