What Assisted Living Costs in Philadelphia

How Philadelphia compares to the national number

CareScout and Genworth's 2024 Cost of Care Survey reports a national median of $70,800 a year for assisted living, along with separate state-level medians, but it does not publish a Philadelphia-specific figure 1Ref 1Genworth Financial / CareScout (2025).Genworth and CareScout Release Cost of Care Survey Results for 2024.National 2024 median annual assisted living cost ($70,800, up 10% year over year), used as the reference point since no Philadelphia-specific figure is published.2Ref 2CareScout (Genworth) (2024).Cost of Care Survey 2024.The underlying 2024 Cost of Care Survey methodology and its national/state-level, not metro-level, reporting structure.. Philadelphia tends to sit above Pennsylvania's statewide average, because the survey's state number blends the city with much lower-cost rural counties across the rest of the commonwealth.

The national median rose 10% between 2023 and 2024 1Ref 1Genworth Financial / CareScout (2025).Genworth and CareScout Release Cost of Care Survey Results for 2024.National 2024 median annual assisted living cost ($70,800, up 10% year over year), used as the reference point since no Philadelphia-specific figure is published., and Pennsylvania's own survey figure moves with it year to year. A family comparing prices should read the current-year survey directly rather than relying on a number that could already be a year or two out of date by the time they're touring communities.

Personal care homes vs. assisted living residences — Pennsylvania's two licenses

Pennsylvania licenses two distinct levels of this care, and the difference matters for price. A personal care home is the older, more common license, built for residents who need help with daily activities but not ongoing health monitoring. An assisted living residence is a newer license created for residents with higher needs who want to age in place rather than move again as their care needs grow, and it typically costs more.

The assisted living residence license lets a community keep residents with somewhat greater physical or cognitive needs under a negotiated-risk agreement worked out between the resident, family, and provider, instead of discharging someone the moment their needs increase. Families searching only for 'assisted living' in Philadelphia may overlook personal care homes that offer a lower-cost, appropriate option for someone who doesn't yet need that higher tier.

This distinction is worth asking about on the first phone call, not discovering later: a community licensed only as a personal care home may not legally be able to keep a resident whose needs progress past a certain point, which can force a second move at the exact moment a family least wants to make one.

What pushes Philadelphia's rate above the rest of the state

Philadelphia's rate runs higher than Pennsylvania's rural counties for the same reasons any city costs more: commercial real estate, a competitive direct-care labor market, and a denser regulatory environment that adds administrative overhead smaller rural operators don't carry. The suburbs immediately outside the city — Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks counties — often price close to Philadelphia itself, while central and northern Pennsylvania run meaningfully lower.

That gap matters for a family weighing a move from the city to a cheaper county nearby: the same level of care can cost noticeably less an hour or two outside Philadelphia, though it also means moving a resident away from family, familiar doctors, and social ties — a tradeoff that isn't only financial.

What's actually included in the monthly rate

Most Philadelphia communities price a base rate that covers the room, meals, housekeeping, and general supervision — the custodial care that separates assisted living from a skilled nursing facility — and bill everything past that as a separate, tiered charge.

• An entrance or community fee, charged once at move-in
• A care-level fee that rises in steps as a resident needs more help bathing, dressing, or managing medication
• Memory care support, billed at a materially higher tier when needed
• Transportation beyond scheduled outings, sometimes an extra charge
• Beauty, barber, and other personal services, almost always billed separately

Ask for the fee schedule at every care level, not just the entry-level rate — that's the number that predicts what year three actually costs.

A shared room usually costs less than a private one, and the difference tends to be smaller in Philadelphia than in a market like New York simply because square footage isn't as scarce here. Two communities advertising the same starting rate can still land on very different total bills once care-level tiers are added, which is why the entry-level number alone is a poor way to compare them.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Pennsylvania's home- and community-based options

Medicare does not cover the custodial cost of assisted living in Pennsylvania or anywhere else 3Ref 3Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2026).Long-term care coverage.That Medicare and most Medigap plans do not cover the custodial cost of assisted living.. Medicaid can help pay for care at this level, but coverage runs through home- and community-based services authorities rather than the traditional nursing-home benefit, and Pennsylvania — like every state — sets its own eligibility rules and waitlist under that federal framework 4Ref 4Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2025).Home & Community Based Services Authorities.That Medicaid coverage for assisted-living-level care runs through home- and community-based services authorities rather than the standard nursing-home benefit, and that eligibility and coverage vary by state..

These waiver programs are capped, not automatic: a resident has to meet income and asset limits, and a slot has to be available, so the wait for an opening can run months. Starting the application well before private funds are exhausted is the single biggest factor in whether a resident can stay in the same community or has to move when the money runs low.

Paying the gap: VA benefits and other supplements

Veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily activities may qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, a monthly pension add-on that supplements rather than replaces an existing VA pension 5Ref 5U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2025).Aid and Attendance benefits and Housebound allowance.VA Aid and Attendance as a monthly pension add-on for qualifying veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily activities.. Long-term care insurance, where a family holds a policy, is another common piece of the puzzle, alongside retirement income and the proceeds from selling a home.

Most families cover the bill with two or three sources layered together, not one. Checking a long-term care policy's benefit trigger — usually needing help with a set number of daily activities — before move-in avoids assuming coverage starts on day one when it may not.

How to check a Pennsylvania facility before you sign

Every state, including Pennsylvania, runs a Long-Term Care Ombudsman program that advocates for residents of personal care homes, assisted living residences, and nursing homes, and helps resolve complaints about health, safety, and rights 6Ref 6Administration for Community Living (HHS) (2025).Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.That state Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs advocate for residents of personal care homes, assisted living residences, and nursing homes, and that the program operates in every state.. Contacting the ombudsman program before signing, not just after a problem arises, is a legitimate way to ask what's on file about a specific community.

Pennsylvania's licensing agency inspects both personal care homes and assisted living residences, and inspection history is public information a family can request before touring. Reading a community's most recent inspection report alongside its fee schedule gives a fuller picture than either one alone — a low price attached to a long list of unresolved citations is not actually the better deal.