The Cost of Aging in Place

Deciding whether to age in place (growing older at home) or move to an assisted living community is one of the biggest financial choices that seniors and their families can face. The costs can vary widely by state, affected by factors like housing prices, home repair costs, the cost of home health care, utilities, groceries, and taxes.

Aging in place may seem like the more comfortable choice, but it comes with a significant financial burden. As we touched on in our Seniors in the Workforce report, the price of living your senior years at home adds up quickly. And that’s just retirement. 

Aging safely in place often requires adding important but costly home modifications like stair lifts and walk-in tubs to the rising expenses for food, insurance, and home maintenance. In several parts of the country, moving to assisted living is more affordable than the ultimate cost of aging in place.

Let’s take a look at the breakdown.

South Dakota residents who opt for assisted living instead of aging in place stand to save the most, especially because choosing assisted living means waiving the piecemeal costs of home care, grocery shopping, and home modification. 

South Dakota seniors can save $81,768 in the first year when opting for an assisted living community, and $69,318 each year thereafter. The savings are this staggering not only because the state has the cheapest annual cost for assisted living in the nation — at just $52,200/ year (per Carescout) — but because South Dakota also happens to be one of the top 10 most expensive states in which to age in place based on our criteria.

Hiring a home health aide costs $100,672/year for seniors who remain at home in South Dakota, the highest rate in the country. While house-related expenses like property tax, utilities, and home maintenance are cheaper than the U.S. average, homeowners’ insurance costs $3,012/year (around a third higher than the $2,260 yearly national average).

South Dakota has no state income tax, which attracts retirees. However, the conditions are cold and rural, so aging in place often means costly winter maintenance and can lead to higher heating bills ($3,253 average annual utility and energy bill). This climate makes it more costly to age at home.

Utah is another state where residing in an assisted community offers huge savings compared to aging in place — even after the first year. On average, residents save $68,871 in the first year and $56,421 each year after that (a number we arrived at by determining what living at home would cost the year after home modifications were installed, and thus no longer an expense).

Utah ranks among the top five states for the cheapest annual cost of assisted living, with residents paying a median of $56,220 /year to live in these facilities.

A home health aide costs around $86,944/year in Utah, $6,864 more than the national average. Additionally, the annual cost of food per capita, at $3,758, is over $500 more than the U.S. average, adding to the cost of aging in place. Utah homeowners spend an average of $11,818 per year on home maintenance, exceeding the country’s average by $3,631 annually.

Utah’s population has grown by over 17% the last 10 years, making it the fastest-growing state in the 2020 census. The influx of people has created more demand for housing, maintenance, and groceries, pushing up the cost of living. Due to these expenses, assisted living in Utah could be a more practical and affordable choice for care than aging in place.

In Colorado, seniors can save $67,339 in the first year and $54,889 each year after by choosing assisted living over aging at home. While assisted living costs in the state are closer to the national average at $70,521 annually, the total cost of aging at home is much higher. Living at home costs $125,410 annually, $21,712 more than the average.

The financial strain of aging in place in Colorado — beyond the necessary home modifications  — comes from the cost of Colorado homeowners’ insurance ($3,194/year), annual home maintenance ($13,014), and a home health aide ($96,096/year).

Real estate markets, particularly in cities like Denver and Boulder, contribute to the state’s high cost of living. U.S. census data from 2023 placed median gross rent in Colorado at $1,771/month, compared to $1,406 nationwide. 

Hiring a home health aide in South Dakota will cost you more than any other state in the U.S. The median annual cost of this level of care is $100,672, over 25% more than the national average of $80,080. 

South Dakota’s sparse population increases the cost of this care. Over 40% of South Dakota residents live in rural areas, which means home health aides often travel long distances to reach those in their care. Hourly wages for home health care workers increase because their time and effort increases — not to mention supply and demand. 

Choosing assisted living in South Dakota instead of aging in place helps the state’s seniors reduce costs while receiving the care and support they need.

Hawaii residents face the most expensive utility bills in the nation. This is mainly due to the state’s geographic isolation from the rest of the U.S. Getting oil, which powers the island’s electric grid, across the ocean to Hawaii is expensive and subject to fluctuation from world events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These transportation costs are passed to consumers. 

Around 72% of net utility-scale electricity on the archipelago is generated using imported petroleum. Hawaii residents pay over 75% more for utilities per year than the rest of the country. The combination of high energy prices and the “paradise tax” (an unofficial rule where employers feel they don’t need to pay Hawaiian employees as much as employees in other places because Hawaii is so beautiful) makes utility bills higher on the islands.

Because the cost of living is so high, assisted living facilities are marginally cheaper than aging at home in Hawaii. While first-year home modifications, including a walk-in tub and grab bars, make the first year of aging in place $11,926 more expensive, seniors can save $524 each year by staying at home.

Residents of Alaska are familiar with the widespread high cost of groceries. This is primarily because 95% of foods are imported, often by plane or barge, to reach the scattered, remote communities. In Anchorage, 12 large eggs can cost $5.42, and two pounds of potatoes can cost $2.60. These challenges, coupled with extreme weather that disrupts transport, increase Alaskans' annual at-home food costs.

Despite the high cost of groceries, Alaska is the only state where it is cheaper to opt for home modifications rather than move to assisted living. Alaskan seniors can save $8,033 in the first year by aging in place, and $20,483 each year thereafter. The only other states where it’s more affordable to age in place are Hawaii and Delaware.

At $10,485/year, New Jersey’s property tax is the highest in the U.S., over $1,500/year more than in Connecticut, the state with the second-highest property tax in 2024. With the highest effective property tax rate nationwide, at 2.3%, homeowners pay significantly more than states with similar home values. Property tax remains one of the largest annual expenses for those in New Jersey, making it much more cost-effective to live in an assisted living community compared to aging at home.

Caring.com is a leading online resource for seniors and caregivers looking for help with finding senior living and senior care solutions. As the cost of living continues to rise, and pressure on seniors increases, we explored the cost of aging in place in each U.S. state to provide clear guidance to our community. 

The annual cost of living in an assisted community in each state was sourced using Carescout (2024).

We then compared Carescout’s assisted living data to the annual cost of aging at home, a figure we arrived at by combining:

• Cost of food at home per capita sourced using U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Expenditure Series (2024)
• Cost of a home health aide sourced using Carescout (2024)
• Hidden costs of home ownership, including property tax, homeowners insurance, utility and energy, internet and cable, and home maintenance for a single-family home, sourced using Bankrate (2025)

The first-year cost of aging at home also included the national average cost of home modifications, including:

• Four grab bars at $200/bar, sourced using Home Guide (2025)
• A walk-in tub costing $4,600, sourced using This Old House (2025)
• A stair lift costing $7,050, sourced using Angi (2025)

All data is accurate as of July 2025. New York was excluded due to data limitations

• Colorado ACS 1-year estimates. (2023). United States Census Bureau
• Cost of living in Anchorage, Alaska. (2025). Expatistan
• Governor Dunleavy announces Office of Food Security. (2022). Official Alaska State Website
• Hawaii State Energy Profile. (2025). U.S. Energy Information Administration
• Is the ‘paradise tax’ pricing out local talent in Honolulu? (2025). Living In Honolulu, Hawaii
• Moore, Bryce. Hawaii #1 for expensive electricity. (2024). KHON2
• New Jersey property taxes. (2025). Smartasset
• Rural population in South Dakota. (2023). America’s Health Rankings
• State population totals and components of change: 2010-2019. (2019). United States Census Bureau
• Taxes. (n.d.). South Dakota Department of Revenue