Assisted Living Cost in Illinois
If your parent lives outside Chicago, do not budget from a Chicago quote, and do not budget from the state figure alone either. The metro table below is the page that matters.
Sources: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, released March 2026, state release and Cost of Care calculator, accessed October 2026; Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Supportive Living Program pages and provider notice; Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs veterans homes page.
Illinois assisted living costs, against the national median
The table below is the CareScout 2025 survey for Illinois, with the national median beside it. The survey collected more than 25,000 provider rates between July and November 2025 and reports medians, the middle price, not averages pulled up by luxury buildings. Assisted living figures are for a private one-bedroom apartment for 12 months of care.
| Care type | Illinois median | National median |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted living, per month | $6,054 ($72,645 per year) | $6,200 ($74,400 per year) |
| Home care, non-medical caregiver, per hour | $36 ($82,368 per year at 44 hours a week) | $35 ($80,080 per year at 44 hours a week) |
| Adult day health care, per day | $91 ($23,725 per year at 5 days a week) | $95 ($24,700 per year at 5 days a week) |
| Nursing home, semi-private room, per month | $8,304 ($99,645 per year) | $9,581 ($114,975 per year) |
| Nursing home, private room, per month | $9,216 ($110,595 per year) | $10,798 ($129,575 per year) |
The assisted living cost Illinois median runs $146 a month below the national median, which is $1,752 over a full year (146 times 12). Illinois is cheaper than the nation for rooms and dearer for hands-on help at home: home care at $36 an hour is $1 above the national rate, which is $2,288 over a year at 44 hours a week (82,368 minus 80,080). The nursing home gap runs the other way and is large: a semi-private room in Illinois medians $1,277 a month below the national figure (9,581 minus 8,304), and a private room medians $1,582 a month below it (10,798 minus 9,216). For the full national picture, read how much does assisted living cost and how much does a nursing home cost.
Assisted living cost Illinois by metro
Metro medians come from the same CareScout survey, through its Cost of Care calculator, which reports the closest survey region for each city. All figures are 2025 monthly medians for a private one-bedroom apartment. The spread runs from $5,774 to $7,350, a gap of $1,576 a month between the lowest and highest Illinois metro in this table.
| Metro area | Assisted living median per month, 2025 | Against the Illinois median |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $7,350 | $1,296 above |
| Peoria | $6,344 | $290 above |
| Rockford | $6,300 | $246 above |
| Springfield | $5,774 | $280 below |
Chicago is the only metro in this table that sits far above the state figure, at $1,296 a month above it. Peoria and Rockford sit close to the state median, $290 and $246 above it, and Springfield sits $280 below it. That shape matters for budgeting: a family in Springfield who budgets from the Chicago figure overstates the bill by $1,576 a month, and a family in Chicago who budgets from the state figure understates it by $1,296 a month. Use the metro where your parent will actually live, then get three written quotes in that metro with apartment size and care level stated. For how to use competing quotes, read can you negotiate assisted living costs.
What the monthly bill includes, and what it leaves out
The median buys the building and the base service: a private apartment, meals, housekeeping, supervision, and activities, with staff on site around the clock. It does not buy every charge a resident actually pays. Care is priced in levels, and the level rises as help needs grow, so the second year costs more than the first even before any annual rate increase. Medication handling, a higher care level, and a second occupant are commonly billed on top of the base rate, and many buildings charge a one-time community fee at move-in.
Illinois licenses assisted living through the Illinois Department of Public Health under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. That license is the starting check on any building you tour: ask for the license and the most recent review, and ask in writing which skilled services the building provides itself and which it brings in from outside. The tour checklist on assisted living checklist groups those questions for you.
Medicaid in Illinois: the Supportive Living Program
Illinois pays for assisted living services through the Supportive Living Program (SLP), administered by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS). A waiver is the state program that pays for care, and the SLP is the waiver route that lets a person who needs nursing facility level of care live in a service-enriched apartment instead of a nursing home. It covers services such as personal care, homemaking, laundry, medication assistance, activities, and 24-hour staff. It does not cover room and board: the resident pays for lodging and meals.
To qualify, a person must be 65 or older, or 22 to 64 with a physical disability, and must be screened as needing nursing facility level of care. The resident contribution for room and board in 2026, effective January 1, 2026, is $874.00 a month for single occupancy and $625.50 a month for double occupancy, per the HFS provider notice. One Illinois distinction matters here: Supportive Living facilities are a separate category from licensed assisted living, and HFS lists them as exempt from the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. A building can therefore be a Supportive Living facility without holding the assisted living license, and a private-pay assisted living building may not accept the SLP at all. Ask the building, before you fall for it, whether it accepts SLP residents and how many SLP apartments it holds. For the national Medicaid rules, read does medicaid pay for assisted living, and for the full payment map, read how to pay for assisted living. Medicare does not pay for assisted living room charges or custodial care; see does medicare pay for assisted living for the exact boundary.
VA resources in Illinois
For a veteran parent, two Illinois routes sit beside the private market. The first is VA Aid and Attendance, a monthly cash benefit added to a VA pension for a veteran or surviving spouse who needs help with daily living; the amounts and rules are on VA Aid and Attendance requirements and veterans affairs assisted living. The second is the state's own veterans homes system. The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs operates five veterans homes, in Anna, Chicago, LaSalle, Manteno, and Quincy, offering skilled and domiciliary care to Illinois veterans and eligible spouses. The department's page states the monthly cost of care at $1,720 as of June 2025, with a maintenance charge based on the veteran's and spouse's monthly income only. These are state veterans homes, not private assisted living communities, so treat them as a separate application track, not as a price comparison. For VA health care, the Illinois systems include Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago and Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines; use VA.gov to find the facility nearest your parent.
Illinois against the national median, in one row
Illinois assisted living at $6,054 a month sits $146 below the $6,200 national median, home care at $36 an hour sits $1 above the $35 national rate, adult day care at $91 a day sits $4 below the $95 national rate, and a nursing home semi-private room at $8,304 a month sits $1,277 below the $9,581 national figure. Illinois is a near-average state for assisted living and home care, a slightly cheaper state for adult day care, and a markedly cheaper state for nursing home rooms. If your parent's plan leans on a nursing home instead of assisted living, the room gap is the number to carry: $1,277 a month for a semi-private room, which is $15,324 over a year.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Supportive Living facility the same as assisted living?
No, not in Illinois law. A Supportive Living facility is a Medicaid waiver setting run under the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and HFS lists Supportive Living providers as exempt from the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act that licenses ordinary assisted living. The practical difference is the bill: in Supportive Living, the waiver pays for services and the resident pays room and board at the published 2026 amounts, while in private-pay assisted living one monthly rate bundles room, board, and services. Ask which category a building belongs to before comparing its price with any other building.
Does the Chicago median mean Chicago buildings charge $7,350?
No. A median is the middle price across surveyed providers, so half of Chicago-area providers charge more and half charge less. Your parent's quote depends on apartment size, care level, and the building, and it can sit far from $7,350 in either direction. Use the median to set the budget range, then replace it with three written quotes from buildings in the same metro, each stating apartment size, care level, and every extra fee, before you sign.
Which agency licenses the building I am touring?
For ordinary assisted living, the Illinois Department of Public Health, under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, which requires an annual on-site review of each establishment. For a Supportive Living facility, oversight sits with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services as the waiver administrator, and the building is exempt from that Act. Ask the building to name its license or program on paper, then check it with the named agency, because the two routes carry different rules and different bills.
Does the $6,054 median cover two people sharing one apartment?
No. The CareScout median is for a private one-bedroom apartment occupied by one person. A second occupant adds a second-person fee set by each community, on top of the median, not inside it. Couples should budget the median plus the community's written second-person fee, plus a care level for each spouse who needs help, since care is priced per person. See average cost of assisted living for a couple for how couples totals are built.
Your next step is to take the metro median for the city where your parent will actually live, get three written quotes that state apartment size, care level, and every extra fee, and check whether the building accepts Supportive Living residents before you sign. Start with assisted living checklist and assisted living costs.