The 10 Best Assisted Living Facilities in New Haven, CT for 2023

New Haven is a coastal city on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County. For seniors who like to remain active, New Haven is considered one of the most walkable city centers, and U.S. News ranked it #60 on its list of 150 Best Places to Retire. USA Today also states that Connecticut’s senior population is among the healthiest in the nation and ranks the state’s life expectancy of 85.4 years as the fourth highest nationwide. Over 134,000 people call New Haven home, including more than 13,800 seniors aged 65 or older.

Assisted living communities offer a safe, homelike environment for aging adults who need personalized supportive care but want to retain as much of their independence as possible. The average monthly cost of assisted living in New Haven is $6,445, which is slightly higher than the state average and significantly higher than the national average.

This guide provides information about assisted living in New Haven, including the costs of other senior care options and cost comparisons of assisted living in other Connecticut cities. It also provides several benefits and drawbacks of retiring in New Haven and a list of free senior resources.

Connecticut doesn’t license assisted living facilities. It licenses and regulates the assisted living service agencies that provide assisted living services at these facilities. The Department of Public Health, Facility Licensing and Investigations Section monitors, regulates, licenses and investigates over 1,900 licensed facilities, including assisted living service agencies in New Haven and throughout the state.

• Seniors in New Haven collecting retirement benefits may feel the sting from unfriendly state income taxes. Social Security income is only fully exempt for individuals with $75,000 or couples with $100,000 or less in federal AGI. However, seniors can deduct 75% of federally taxed Social Security benefits on their state tax returns. In 2021, only 42% of income from pensions and annuities was tax-exempt for individuals with $75,000 or couples with $100,000 in federal AGI. However, this exemption percentage increases 14% annually until it reaches 100% in 2025.
• Connecticut’s sales tax rate is 6.35%, and it doesn’t allow counties or cities to add to it. This rate is only lower than about 40% of other states. However, seniors in New Haven benefit from tax-exempt necessities, including groceries, prescription and nonprescription drugs and clothing costing less than $50.
• New Haven has four distinct seasons and frequent weather changes due to its proximity to the water. Summers are warm, and winters are cool, with occasional frigidity. The July high is around 83 degrees, giving New Haven a summer comfort index of 9 out of 10. It boasts four comfortable months with temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees, but it also averages 113 days with nighttime lows below freezing and six months with significant snowfall.
• The cost of living in New Haven is about 2% higher than the national average, but it’s more than 5% lower than the state average. Housing costs are around 25% less than the national average, but health care costs are about equal.
• New Haven seniors benefit from having a local hospital that’s ranked number one in the state. Yale New Haven Hospital is nationally ranked in eight adult specialties, including ranking 21st out of 4,523 hospitals in geriatrics. It’s also rated high performing in three adult specialties, including orthopedics, and 12 procedures or conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, heart bypass surgery, stroke and knee replacement, among others.

According to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey, the average cost of assisted living in New Haven is $6,445. While this is only $145 per month higher than the state average, it’s $2,145 above the national median.

New Haven’s higher-than-average monthly cost also makes it higher than many other cities throughout the state, but not all of them. Its cost per month is higher than Norwich’s cost by $745 and Hartford’s by $692 per month, but it’s lower than Bridgeport’s by $1,393. 

Seniors may also want to compare the costs of other types of senior care. Adult day health care is the least expensive at $1,110 but offers very limited levels of non-residential care. In Connecticut, seniors can get at-home care at a lower cost than assisted living. Homemaker services average $4,767 per month, and home health aides cost an average of $4,948. Nursing home facilities offer the highest level of residential care but can cost double the amount of assisted living. Semiprivate rooms average $12,395 while private rooms average $13,357 monthly.

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 Connecticut page.