AARP Public Policy Institute reports that assisted living communities provide residential, community-based care to older adults and people with disabilities where nearly 1 million people live and receive care. More than half are age 85 and over (from 408,000 in 2020 to 522,000 in 2022), with residents being older and with more chronic conditions. Residents living in assisted living communities typically need help with one or more activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing or dressing, but they generally do not require round-the-clock medical supervision and more intensive supports that a nursing home provides.
The United States has 1.3 million assisted living beds. The size of assisted living communities range from 4 to more than 400 licensed beds (the average is about 39 beds). From 2020 to 2022, the number of beds increased by 9 percent while the number of residents increased by 24 percent (there are more beds than number of people living in these communities; however, occupancy is growing faster than capacity).
Over the past decade, there has been a steady decrease in the number and proportion of adults age 85-plus living in nursing homes, while their presence in assisted living has increased since 2012: compared to the increase in assisted living, about 360,000 people in the 85-plus age cohort lived in nursing homes in 2022, a 15 percent decline from 2020.
In 2022, 44 percent of assisted living residents had dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnoses, compared to 41 percent in nursing homes.
Chronic conditions such as depression, diabetes, and heart disease are highly prevalent among assisted living residents: one-third of residents have heart disease, one quarter have depression, and over half have high blood pressure.
Assisted living facilities have the highest rates of white residents (91 percent in 2022). Women comprise 70 percent of all assisted living residents.
Family caregivers who support an older adult or person with a disability often continue to do so even after the person moves into an assisted living community: about 1.4 million family caregivers in the United States provide support to a person who lives in an assisted living facility (often, the person moving into assisted living is the family caregiver’s parent). 78 percent of family caregivers have out-of-pocket costs related to caregiving (an average of $7,242 annually).
In 2024, the median annual cost for assisted living services was $70,800, whereas the median household income for
adults age 75 and older was $47,790 in 2024. Memory care facilities are typically costlier than standard assisted living facilities, with residents paying as much as 20 percent to 30 percent more for memory care, depending on the location and services. Most assisted living residents pay for care out of pocket; Medicare does not pay for assisted living services.
Although some federal laws and regulations, such as labor laws, housing laws, and the HCBS Settings Rule (specific to those residents with Medicaid coverage), apply to assisted living, no federal regulations govern critical aspects of these services such as quality and safety, staffing, construction standards, required services and/or staffing levels, and resident eligibility. Only nine states have mandated minimum staff-to-resident ratios for all facilities at all times. Thirty-five states have no minimum staffing requirements at all. Staff training requirements for dementia care vary from 5 hours in Maryland to 90 hours in Kansas.
A 2024 analysis reviewed a consumer-facing website that uses reviews to rank assisted living facilities for public referral and found that of the nearly 900 facilities labeled as “high quality” in states with publicly available incident and quality complaint reports, more than one-third (324) received citations for neglect or substandard care in the two years preceding the report.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries (or worse) while a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility in the United States due to an assisted living or nursing home fall, assisted living or nursing home neglect, assisted living or nursing home negligence, assisted living or nursing home abuse, assisted living or nursing home under-staffing, or an assisted living facility or nursing home failing to properly care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find an assisted living claim lawyer (nursing home claim lawyer) in your state who may investigate your assisted living claim or nursing home claim for you and file an assisted living claim or nursing home claim on your behalf or on behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
Visit our website to be connected with assisted living attorneys or nursing home attorneys in your U.S. state who may assist you with your claim, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
