What does senior care cost in the Memphis area?
Tennessee's 2025 CareScout medians are about $5,595 a month for assisted living, $9,429 for a semi-private nursing home room, $5,911 for 44 hours a week of home care and $1,733 for five days a week of adult day health care; no Memphis-specific or memory care median is published.
Last verified: October 2026| Care type (Tennessee, 2025) | Annual median | About per month | Change | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living (private one-bedroom) | $67,140 | $5,595 | +4% | $74,400 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $113,150 | $9,429 | +3% | $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private room | $120,450 | $10,038 | +2% | $129,575 |
| Home care, non-medical (44 hrs/week) | $70,928 | $5,911 | +3% | $80,080 |
| Adult day health care (5 days/week) | $20,800 | $1,733 | n/a | $24,700 |
| Private duty nurse (1 hr/week, 52 weeks) | $4,108 | $342 | n/a | $4,680 |
CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Tennessee results (released March 2, 2026). Monthly, hourly and daily figures are our arithmetic from CareScout's published annual medians (annual / 12; home care annual / 2,288 hours; adult day annual / 260 days; nursing home annual / 365). CareScout collects rates by metro area but its Tennessee release publishes statewide medians only, and it does not survey memory care as a separate category.
Who pays for senior care in Tennessee?
Most Memphis families pay privately at first; Medicare covers only short skilled stays, home health and hospice; TennCare CHOICES pays for nursing home care (Group 1) and for home care and assisted living services (Groups 2 and 3, room and board excluded); OPTIONS for Community Living helps at home on a sliding fee; and VA Aid and Attendance helps eligible veterans and survivors.
The fact that surprises families most is the room-and-board gap: TennCare can pay for the care in an ACLF but not the rent and meals, so a resident's own income must cover those.
Where can Memphis families get free help with benefits?
The Aging Commission of the Mid-South, the Area Agency on Aging and Disability for Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties, screens for TennCare CHOICES and enrolls people in OPTIONS through its Information and Assistance line at (901) 222-4111, and TN SHIP gives free Medicare counseling at 1-877-801-0044.
TennCare applications can be filed through TennCare Connect at 855-259-0701.
Costs & Paying guides
What senior care costs in the Memphis area
CareScout's 2025 Tennessee medians: assisted living $67,140/yr (about $5,595/mo), semi-private nursing home $113,150/yr, home care $70,928/yr at 44 hrs/wk. No Memphis or memory care median exists.
Read →TennCare CHOICES for Memphis families
How TennCare CHOICES works in Memphis: Groups 1, 2 and 3, the $2,982 income cap and $2,000 resource limit for 2026, Assisted Care Living Facility services, and how to apply through the Aging Commission of the Mid-South.
Read →TennCare's financial rules for long-term care
TennCare long-term care money rules for 2026: $2,982 income cap and Qualifying Income Trusts, $2,000 resource limit, five-year look-back, spousal resource standard $32,532-$162,660, and the $50 personal needs allowance.
Read →OPTIONS for Community Living and local in-home help
Tennessee's OPTIONS for Community Living program: homemaker, personal care and home-delivered meals with a sliding fee and no income limit, plus Title III-B services, through the Aging Commission of the Mid-South.
Read →What Medicare does and does not pay for
Medicare in Memphis: up to 100 days of skilled nursing after a qualifying hospital stay, intermittent home health, hospice, and why it never pays assisted living rent or long-term custodial care.
Read →VA Aid and Attendance in the Memphis area
VA Aid and Attendance 2026 rates ($29,093/yr for a single veteran, $18,697 for a surviving spouse), the $163,699 net worth limit, and how care costs lower countable income.
Read →Paying privately, and making the money last
How Memphis families pay privately for assisted living and home care: long-term care insurance, home sale or rental, life insurance options, and planning ahead for TennCare.
Read →Home care or assisted living: running the numbers
At Tennessee's 2025 median of about $31/hour, home care passes the $5,595 assisted living median at roughly 42 hours a week. A table of weekly hours and monthly cost.
Read →At a glance
| This section gives you | This section does not give you | |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Tennessee's published 2025 medians | A Memphis or memory care figure that does not exist |
| Programs | How CHOICES, OPTIONS, Medicare and VA pension work | An eligibility decision |
| Limits | 2026 income, resource and spousal figures | Legal or tax advice |
| Planning | Questions to ask and when to start | A substitute for an elder law attorney |
