Nursing home, semi-private room costs in West Virginia
Here is the middle of the price range in West Virginia, and then — because it is the question that actually follows — who pays for it. The short answer on that second one surprises most people: Medicare does not.
The West Virginia median
$12,836 a month
- Works out to, monthly
- $12,836
- Works out to, yearly
- $154,032
That is about 34% higher than the national median of $9,581 a month. Within West Virginia the spread is usually wider still: a city costs more than a rural county, often by a great deal.
A room shared with one other resident in a licensed nursing facility, with round-the-clock nursing supervision, meals, laundry and basic supplies included in the room charge.
CareScout reported insufficient data in this state to publish a median for adult day health care in the 2025 survey, so no figure is shown for it here.
What this number is, and what it is not.
It comes from an industry cost-of-care survey — providers reporting their prices — not from a government rate table. There is no federal agency that publishes what assisted living costs, which is why the survey is the source of record here and why we label it plainly rather than dressing it up as official.
A median means half charged more and half charged less. It is not a quote for any particular home, agency or facility, and no provider is bound by it. Prices collected for the 2025 survey.
Where West Virginia sits
$12,836 a month ranks West Virginia 12th of the 50 states priced for nursing home, semi-private room: 11 charge more, 38 charge less.
Maryland is the next state up, at $12,927; New Jersey the next down, at $12,775.
The national median is $9,581, so West Virginia runs $3,255 above it — 34% more, or $39,060 a year ($3,255 × 12 months).
The column runs $5,627 (Texas) to $27,831 (Alaska). West Virginia sits 32% up it, 2.28× the lowest, with 10 other within a tenth of it.
Of the 5 kinds of care West Virginia was priced for, this is its 2nd dearest standing: at best 10th of 46 for skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse), at worst 43rd of 50 for in-home care (non-medical caregiver).
What $12,836 a month becomes
Our multiplication, holding the West Virginia median flat — no real bill does — with the same span of the state's least costly priced care beside it:
Six months
$77,016
$34,320 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)
One year
$154,032
$68,640 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)
Two years
$308,064
$137,280 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)
Three years
$462,096
$205,920 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)
Five years
$770,160
$343,200 of in-home care (non-medical caregiver)
Care is bought in years, not months, and $12,836 a month is $154,032 a year.
Five years at the national median would be $574,860: $195,300 less than five years in West Virginia.
Inside West Virginia, five years of in-home care (non-medical caregiver) runs $343,200 and five of skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) $1,430,000; this page's $770,160 sits 39% between them. Most families pay for more than one of these in sequence.
Against other care in West Virginia
Converted to a month on our schedule, set beside this page's $12,836:
Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse)
$23,833 a month
$10,997 a month more, $131,968 a year, 1.86× this page. West Virginia places 10th of 46 for it, 2 above its 12th here.
Nursing home, private room
$13,262 a month
$426 a month more, $5,112 a year, 1.03× this page. West Virginia places 18th of 49 for it, 6 below its 12th here.
Assisted living community
$6,340 a month
$6,496 a month less, $77,952 a year, 0.49× this page. West Virginia places 23rd of 50 for it, 11 below its 12th here.
In-home care (non-medical caregiver)
$5,720 a month
$7,116 a month less, $85,392 a year, 0.45× this page. West Virginia places 43rd of 50 for it, 31 below its 12th here.
On the same monthly footing, nursing home, semi-private room is the 3rd costliest of the 5 kinds of care priced in West Virginia, at $12,836. The conversions are ours; the medians are the survey's.
44 hours a week of in-home care in West Virginia is $5,720 a month against $6,340 for assisted living — 11% 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 West Virginia
The 2025 survey priced 5 of the 6 kinds of care in West Virginia — nursing home, semi-private room among them, at $12,836 a month. Too few providers reported adult day health care, so no median was published and there is no West Virginia 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 actually pays for this
This is the part most cost pages leave out, and it is the part that changes what a family does next.
Medicare does not pay for long-term care
Medicare pays for short stretches of skilled care — a limited stay in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital admission, or skilled home health under specific conditions. It does not pay for custodial care: help with bathing, dressing, meals, medication reminders and supervision. That is what most people need, and for years at a time.
Medicare's own page on long-term care ↗ says the same thing in its own words. It is worth reading once, because almost everyone assumes the opposite.
Medicaid may pay — after a spend-down
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care in the country, but it is needs-based: it begins once income and countable savings are inside the limits West Virginia sets. Getting there by spending savings on care is what people mean by a spend-down. There is also a look-back period, so gifts and transfers made in the years beforehand matter.
Veterans: Aid and Attendance may help
A wartime veteran, or a surviving spouse, who needs help with daily activities may qualify for an addition to the VA pension called Aid and Attendance. It is an income-and-net-worth benefit, it is paid monthly, and a great many families who qualify have never heard of it. Accredited veterans service organizations help with the claim for free.
Otherwise: savings, family, and long-term care insurance
Most families pay out of pocket first — from savings, a pension, the sale of a house, or several relatives contributing. A long-term care insurance policy bought years ago pays a daily or monthly amount if the policy's conditions are met; if there is a policy in the family, find it and read what triggers it before you need it.
Working out which of these applies to one particular family is exactly what a free West Virginia counselor does all day. They are paid by a federal grant, not by commission, and they have nothing to sell you. The Eldercare Locator (ACL): 1-800-677-1116 ↗ will connect you to the area agency on aging for your county.
Who to ask in West Virginia
West Virginia's free counseling program is State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-877-987-4463. It is grant-funded and sells nothing.
No West Virginia Medicaid limits sit beside this $12,836-a-month figure yet: the West Virginia pack is pending because this year's limits could not be read in the state's own document, and an unverified limit is worse than none.
Verified 2026-08-02 against CareScout (formerly Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025, fielded July-November 2025 (effective 2026-01-01)— an industry survey, not a government figure. Why we use it.
Verified 2026-08-02 against SHIP National Technical Assistance Center (effective 2026-01-01)— an industry survey, not a government figure. Why we use it.
Common questions
- Does Medicare pay for nursing home, semi-private room in West Virginia?
- 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 West Virginia than in other states?
- $12,836 a month places West Virginia 12th of the 50 states the survey priced for it: 11 charge more and 38 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 West Virginia?
- 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?
- West Virginia runs its free counseling program as State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-877-987-4463. 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.