Nursing home, semi-private room costs in Delaware

Where Delaware sits

$14,494 a month ranks Delaware 6th of the 50 states priced for nursing home, semi-private room: 5 charge more, 44 charge less.

Connecticut is the next state up, at $15,208; Massachusetts the next down, at $14,448.

The national median is $9,581, so Delaware runs $4,913 above it — 51% more, or $58,956 a year ($4,913 × 12 months).

The column runs $5,627 (Texas) to $27,831 (Alaska). Delaware sits 40% up it, 2.58× the lowest, with 7 other within a tenth of it.

Of the 5 kinds of care Delaware was priced for, this is its 1st dearest standing: at best 6th of 50 for nursing home, semi-private room, at worst 42nd of 46 for skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse).

What $14,494 a month becomes

Our multiplication, holding the Delaware median flat — no real bill does — with the same span of the state's least costly priced care beside it:

• Six months

  $86,964

  $40,040 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)

• One year

  $173,928

  $80,080 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)

• Two years

  $347,856

  $160,160 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)

• Three years

  $521,784

  $240,240 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)

• Five years

  $869,640

  $400,400 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)

Care is bought in years, not months, and $14,494 a month is $173,928 a year.

Five years at the national median would be $574,860: $294,780 less than five years in Delaware.

Inside Delaware, five years of in-home care (non-medical caregiver) runs $400,400 and five of nursing home, private room $907,920; this page's $869,640 sits 92% between them. Most families pay for more than one of these in sequence.

Against other care in Delaware

Converted to a month on our schedule, set beside this page's $14,494:

• Nursing home, private room

  $15,132 a month

  $638 a month more, $7,656 a year, 1.04× this page. Delaware places 9th of 49 for it, 3 below its 6th here.

• Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse)

  $12,393 a month

  $2,101 a month less, $25,208 a year, 0.86× this page. Delaware places 42nd of 46 for it, 36 below its 6th here.

• Assisted living community

  $7,600 a month

  $6,894 a month less, $82,728 a year, 0.52× this page. Delaware places 10th of 50 for it, 4 below its 6th here.

• In-home care (non-medical caregiver)

  $6,673 a month

  $7,821 a month less, $93,848 a year, 0.46× this page. Delaware places 26th of 50 for it, 20 below its 6th here.

On the same monthly footing, nursing home, semi-private room is the 2nd costliest of the 5 kinds of care priced in Delaware, at $14,494. The conversions are ours; the medians are the survey's.

44 hours a week of in-home care in Delaware is $6,673 a month against $7,600 for assisted living — 14% more. The first buys 44 hours and nothing else; the second includes the room, the meals, and someone awake overnight.

What the survey could not price in Delaware

The 2025 survey priced 5 of the 6 kinds of care in Delaware — nursing home, semi-private room among them, at $14,494 a month. Too few providers reported adult day health care, so no median was published and there is no Delaware page for it.

Thin reporting also tends to mean fewer such providers locally — a supply problem before it is a price one, and a good question for the counselor below.

Who to ask in Delaware

Delaware's free counseling program is Delaware Medicare Assistance Bureau, on 1-800-336-9500. It is grant-funded and sells nothing.

the Delaware Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance decides Medicaid long-term care here — not a facility, and not us. Delaware runs it as Nursing facility (institutional) Medicaid, Home and community based services waiver and Regular Medicaid for the aged, blind and disabled, with a 60-month look-back on gifts and transfers.

Beside $14,494 a month — our comparison, its limits — that is what "spend-down" means: countable assets may not top $2,000, or about 4 days of nursing home, semi-private room at this rate.

Common questions

Does Medicare pay for nursing home, semi-private room in Delaware?

No. Medicare pays for short stretches of skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay, and for skilled home health in limited circumstances. It does not pay for long-term custodial care — help with bathing, dressing, meals and supervision — which is what most families are actually paying for.

Is nursing home, semi-private room dearer in Delaware than in other states?

$14,494 a month places Delaware 6th of the 50 states the survey priced for it: 5 charge more and 44 charge less. The national median is $9,581. That ranking is our arithmetic on the survey's published medians, not a ranking the survey itself publishes.

Is this the price I will be quoted in Delaware?

No. It is the middle of a range from an industry cost-of-care survey: half of the providers surveyed charged more, half charged less. Prices vary a great deal between a city and a rural county in the same state, and no facility is bound by this figure.

Who can help me work out how to pay for it?

Delaware runs its free counseling program as Delaware Medicare Assistance Bureau, on 1-800-336-9500. It is paid for by a federal grant, sells nothing, and the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116) will connect you to the area agency on aging that covers your county.

Other kinds of care in Delaware

• In-home care (non-medical caregiver) in Delaware
• Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) in Delaware
• Adult day health care in Delaware
• Assisted living community in Delaware
• Nursing home, private room in Delaware