At what point is home care more expensive than assisted living in Tennessee?
At Tennessee's 2025 median of about $31 an hour for a non-medical home care worker, home care costs more than the state's $5,595 monthly assisted living median once a family needs roughly 42 or more hours a week.
| Paid hours per week | Monthly home care at $31/hour | Versus assisted living median ($5,595) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $1,343 | less |
| 20 | $2,687 | less |
| 30 | $4,030 | less |
| 40 | $5,373 | less |
| 44 | $5,911 | more |
| 50 | $6,717 | more |
| 60 | $8,060 | more |
| 84 | $11,284 | more |
| 168 | $22,568 | more |
The table uses CareScout's statewide medians; Memphis-area agency rates and assisted living quotes will differ. Agencies often charge more for weekends, holidays and short shifts, and many set a minimum of three or four hours per visit.
What does home care not include that assisted living does?
Home care hours do not include housing, food, utilities, overnight supervision or a staff member awake down the hall, which are bundled into an ACLF's monthly charge along with three meals a day and activities.
On the other side, staying home keeps a parent in familiar surroundings and lets family members provide some of the hours unpaid. The honest comparison is the full monthly cost of staying home, including mortgage or rent, utilities, food, home repairs and paid hours, against the full ACLF quote.
Can public programs change the math?
Yes. TennCare CHOICES can pay for personal care visits at home or ACLF services (with room and board paid by the member), OPTIONS for Community Living offers homemaker and personal care hours on a sliding fee, and VA Aid and Attendance can offset either choice.
Adult day care can also change the math. At Tennessee's median of about $80 a day, four program days a week plus a few hours of home care in the evenings can cost far less than full-time home care while giving a family caregiver real working hours.
How do we budget for rising home care needs?
Plan for the hours a parent will likely need in a year, not today: needs usually grow, and each extra hour a day adds roughly $940 a month at Tennessee's $31 hourly median.
Revisit the plan after any hospital stay or fall, and compare the projected cost with a written ACLF quote at the matching care level.
At a glance
| The hourly math shows | The hourly math does not show | |
|---|---|---|
| Crossover | Around 42 hours a week at state medians | Your agency's actual rates |
| Home costs | Paid caregiver hours | Rent, food, utilities and repairs |
| Night care | That overnight hours multiply costs quickly | Whether one person can safely be alone at night |
| Programs | Where CHOICES, OPTIONS or VA could help | Eligibility decisions |
Sources include Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. chapters 0720-26, 0720-21 and 0720-18, Health Facilities Commission and TennCare pages, CareScout and VA rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
