Assisted Living Cost in Indiana
Indiana is the cheapest of the first four state guides on this site for assisted living, and the most expensive of the four for adult day care. Both facts matter if your parent's plan mixes the two.
Sources: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, released March 2026, state release and Cost of Care calculator, accessed October 2026; Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Aged and Disabled Waiver page and assisted living provider document; Indiana Veterans Home site.
Indiana assisted living costs, against the national median
The table below is the CareScout 2025 survey for Indiana, 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 | Indiana median | National median |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted living, per month | $5,547 ($66,564 per year) | $6,200 ($74,400 per year) |
| Home care, non-medical caregiver, per hour | $35 ($80,080 per year at 44 hours a week) | $35 ($80,080 per year at 44 hours a week) |
| Adult day health care, per day | $127 ($33,020 per year at 5 days a week) | $95 ($24,700 per year at 5 days a week) |
| Nursing home, semi-private room, per month | $8,942 ($107,310 per year) | $9,581 ($114,975 per year) |
| Nursing home, private room, per month | $10,326 ($123,918 per year) | $10,798 ($129,575 per year) |
The assisted living cost Indiana median runs $653 a month below the national median, which is $7,836 over a full year (653 times 12). Home care in Indiana sits exactly on the national rate at $35 an hour, so the home care comparison needs no adjustment. The surprise is adult day care: at $127 a day, Indiana sits $32 above the $95 national rate, which is $8,320 over a year at 5 days a week (33,020 minus 24,700). Nursing home rooms run cheaper than the nation both ways: a semi-private room at $8,942 sits $639 below the $9,581 national figure (9,581 minus 8,942), and a private room at $10,326 sits $472 below the $10,798 national figure (10,798 minus 10,326). For the full national picture, read how much does assisted living cost and how much does a nursing home cost.
Assisted living cost Indiana 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 $5,579 to $6,667, a gap of $1,088 a month between the lowest and highest Indiana metro in this table.
| Metro area | Assisted living median per month, 2025 | Against the Indiana median |
|---|---|---|
| Evansville | $6,667 | $1,120 above |
| South Bend | $6,488 | $941 above |
| Fort Wayne | $6,013 | $466 above |
| Indianapolis | $5,579 | $32 above |
Indianapolis, the capital and largest metro, is the cheapest metro in this table, sitting just $32 above the state median. Evansville sits $1,120 above the state median, and the gap between Evansville and Indianapolis is $1,088 a month. That shape breaks the assumption that the biggest city costs the most: in Indiana it does not, at least at the median. 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.
Indiana's Medicaid rules set a floor for what an assisted living setting must provide: licensing from the Indiana State Department of Health, 24-hour on-site response staff, and 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, with a licensed administrator holding a Nursing Facility Administrator license or a Residential Care Facility administrator license. That is a staffing and licensing requirement, not a price cap, so it does not limit what a private-pay building may charge. Ask at the tour, in writing, which services the base rate covers and which are billed as extras, and what each extra costs. The tour checklist on assisted living checklist groups those questions for you.
Medicaid in Indiana: the PathWays for Aging Waiver
Indiana pays for assisted living services through the Indiana PathWays for Aging (PathWays) Waiver, for residents 60 and older. A waiver is the state program that pays for care, and PathWays is the waiver route that pays for services in a home or community setting instead of a nursing facility. The name matters because the old program it replaced, the Aged and Disabled Waiver, split on July 1, 2024 into two waivers: the Health and Wellness Waiver for people 59 and under, administered by the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services, and the PathWays Waiver for people 60 and older, administered by the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning. A senior reader needs PathWays, not the old name. Assisted living is a listed service under PathWays.
To qualify, a person must meet Medicaid financial eligibility and waiver eligibility, including meeting nursing facility level of care, and income no greater than 300% of the maximum Supplemental Security Income amount. Applications run through the local Area Agency on Aging; Indiana has 16 of them. Start there, not at a building, because the level of care determination comes first and the building choice follows it. 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 Indiana
For a veteran parent, two Indiana 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 home. The Indiana Veterans Home in West Lafayette, at 3851 N. River Road, offers long-term skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation, and memory care to honorably discharged Indiana veterans and their spouses, and its admissions packet describes it as the only state veterans home in Indiana. It is a state veterans home, not a private assisted living community, so treat it as a separate application track, not as a price comparison. For VA health care, the Indiana systems are VA Indiana Health Care, anchored by the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, and VA Northern Indiana Health Care, with hospitals in Fort Wayne and Marion; use VA.gov to find the facility nearest your parent.
Indiana against the national median, in one row
Indiana assisted living at $5,547 a month sits $653 below the $6,200 national median, home care at $35 an hour sits exactly on the $35 national rate, adult day care at $127 a day sits $32 above the $95 national rate, and a nursing home semi-private room at $8,942 a month sits $639 below the $9,581 national figure. Indiana is a cheaper-than-average state for rooms, an exactly average state for home care, and a dearer-than-average state for adult day care. If your parent's plan leans on adult day care to delay a move, the $127 daily rate is the number to carry: at 5 days a week it is $33,020 a year in Indiana against $24,700 nationally, a gap of $8,320 a year.
Frequently asked questions
Is Indiana getting a standalone assisted living waiver?
Not as a live program in the sources checked for this page. Indiana law directed the Family and Social Services Administration to apply for a standalone assisted living waiver, with a September 2026 application, but no approval has been confirmed in those sources. Until an approval is published, the working route for a senior is the PathWays for Aging Waiver, where assisted living is already a listed service. Do not sign a private-pay agreement that assumes the standalone waiver will pay, and check the Family and Social Services Administration public notices before repeating any claim that it has launched.
Why is Indianapolis cheaper than Evansville at the median?
Because a median reflects the providers surveyed in each metro, not the size of the city. Indianapolis has more providers competing across more price points, while Evansville's surveyed providers sit higher at the middle. The lesson is practical, not statistical: never carry one Indiana metro's median into another metro's budget. Price the metro where your parent will live, then replace the median with written quotes from buildings there.
Does the old Aged and Disabled Waiver still cover my parent?
No, not under that name. On July 1, 2024 it split into the Health and Wellness Waiver for people 59 and under and the PathWays for Aging Waiver for people 60 and older. If your parent is 60 or older, ask for PathWays by name at the Area Agency on Aging, and if a building or broker still cites the old waiver name, ask them to confirm the current program in writing before you rely on it.
Does the $5,547 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 start the PathWays application through the Area Agency on Aging before you sign. Start with assisted living checklist and assisted living costs.