Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) costs in South Carolina
Here is the middle of the price range in South Carolina, 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 South Carolina median
$73.00 an hour
- Works out to, monthly
- $13,919
- Works out to, yearly
- $167,024
Our arithmetic, not the survey's. The survey reports this one by the hour, so the monthly and yearly figures assume a schedule: $73.00 an hour × 44 hours a week × 52 weeks ÷ 12 months. Fewer hours, smaller bill — the schedule is the biggest lever you have.
That is about 19% lower than the national median of $90.00 an hour. Within South Carolina the spread is usually wider still: a city costs more than a rural county, often by a great deal.
A licensed practical nurse or registered nurse who comes to the house for medical care such as wound care, injections, IV therapy, catheters, feeding tubes and medication management.
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 South Carolina sits
$73.00 an hour ranks South Carolina 36th of the 46 states priced for skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse): 35 charge more, 9 charge less. Washington report the same figure.
Montana is the next state up, at $74.00; Pennsylvania the next down, at $71.00.
The national median is $90.00, so South Carolina runs $17.00 below it — 19% less, or $38,896 a year ($17.00 × 44 hours a week × 52 weeks).
The column runs $43.00 (Mississippi) to $207.00 (Wyoming). South Carolina sits 18% up it, 1.70× the lowest, with 10 other within a tenth of it.
Of the 6 kinds of care South Carolina was priced for, this is its 3rd dearest standing: at best 36th of 50 for nursing home, semi-private room, at worst 41st of 45 for adult day health care.
What $13,919 a month becomes
Our multiplication, holding the South Carolina median flat — no real bill does — with the same span of the state's least costly priced care beside it:
Six months
$83,512
$9,360 of adult day health care
One year
$167,024
$18,720 of adult day health care
Two years
$334,048
$37,440 of adult day health care
Three years
$501,072
$56,160 of adult day health care
Five years
$835,120
$93,600 of adult day health care
Care is bought in years, not months, and $13,919 a month is $167,024 a year.
Five years at the national median would be $1,029,600: $194,480 more than five years in South Carolina.
Inside South Carolina, five years of adult day health care runs $93,600 and five of nursing home, private room $576,720; this page's $835,120 sits 100% between them. Most families pay for more than one of these in sequence.
Against other care in South Carolina
Converted to a month on our schedule, set beside this page's $13,919:
Nursing home, private room
$9,612 a month
$4,307 a month less, $51,680 a year, 0.69× this page. South Carolina places 38th of 49 for it, 2 below its 36th here.
Nursing home, semi-private room
$9,034 a month
$4,885 a month less, $58,616 a year, 0.65× this page. South Carolina places 36th of 50 for it, the same rung as here.
In-home care (non-medical caregiver)
$5,911 a month
$8,008 a month less, $96,096 a year, 0.42× this page. South Carolina places 41st of 50 for it, 5 below its 36th here.
Assisted living community
$5,350 a month
$8,569 a month less, $102,824 a year, 0.38× this page. South Carolina places 41st of 50 for it, 5 below its 36th here.
Adult day health care
$1,560 a month
$12,359 a month less, $148,304 a year, 0.11× this page. South Carolina places 41st of 45 for it, 5 below its 36th here.
On the same monthly footing, skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) is the 1st costliest of the 6 kinds of care priced in South Carolina, at $13,919. The conversions are ours; the medians are the survey's.
44 hours a week of in-home care in South Carolina is $5,911 a month against $5,350 for assisted living — 9% less. The first buys 44 hours and nothing else; the second includes the room, the meals, and someone awake overnight.
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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina
South Carolina's free counseling program is State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-800-868-9095. It is grant-funded and sells nothing.
No South Carolina Medicaid limits sit beside this $13,919-a-month figure yet: the South Carolina 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 skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) in South Carolina?
- 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 skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) dearer in South Carolina than in other states?
- $73.00 an hour places South Carolina 36th of the 46 states the survey priced for it: 35 charge more and 9 charge less. The national median is $90.00. 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 South Carolina?
- 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?
- South Carolina runs its free counseling program as State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-800-868-9095. 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.