What are average Memory Care costs in your area?

West central Illinois (rural) currently $230-$280/day ($6,995-$8,517/mo.) for semi-private room in memory care.

In the greater metro Denver area, my mother paid just under $7K per month for a private room in a Memory Care ALF, which included everything except incontinence supplies. There was no upcharge for extra services; caregivers were on staff 24/7, a nurse was physically on duty 24/7 *but stretched thin between the AL bldg and the MC bldg* but DID come pick mom up off the floor every time she fell and she fell a total of 95x, all food, activities, bus rides to events, 2 showers a week, housekeeping, med administration, dressing/undressing/helping into and out of bed, etc.

Mom paid extra for in house doctor visits, medicine, snacks, toiletries, clothing, incontinence supplies, telephone

At the national Memory Care AL I worked at, the rates were similar but up to $1K per month higher; the rooms were nicer/bigger though.

In Minnesota, typically the cost is determined by the level of services that are provided. Costs can range from $5,000-11,000.

Check also on the average increase per year. I read recently about one that averaged close to 10% per year. I don't know if that was just level of care or room/apartment rent (or both). Also, check if you can have an annual contract or just month-to-month lease. If it's the latter, I suppose it could be in case the person passes, but it could also be to allow the place to have increases (rent/level of care) more than annually.

I would suggest asking each facility if they have Medicaid beds and what would happen if Medicaid is ever needed. I have no personal experience but I know there are some facilities that don’t accept Medicaid which means if Medicaid is ever needed you have to move. I am thinking it would be best to find one with beds so hopefully you can simply transfer. Your choices may be limited when you need to be admitted if you only have Medicaid. All that being said, this possibly only applies to NH… but definitely needs to be considered for long term.

Southern California -- we paid $8900/ month for a private room and the highest of two levels of care (basically incontinence care). That was a year ago, so I'd assume it's over $9K now.

$6500
For this one gets crappy food, meds dispensed, laundry svc, room cleaned, and a person available to call 911 at night in the event of a fall or injury.
Plus they are locked in.

I'm in Oregon and my dads memory care is $7000 per month. It's not one of those big fancy ones. Those run about $8000 per month. When we were shopping for his, we had a specific set of needs because of his medical needs. They do a wonderful job for him.

Please be careful of the assessment process. We have had MIL assess at a few places while looking for the right Memory Care Facility. Many came in low on the assessment, meaning not much level of care. We on the other hand knew her level of care was much higher. So when we finally decided on a place we calculated the cost at the high end plus added an annual increase when crunching her numbers. I have heard where places assess lower and then after 2 weeks a month all of a sudden they are higher so just beware. We eventually found an all inclusive style facility where for Memory Care there was no level of care, it was all in one price. So when crunching her numbers we only needed to add the annual "rent" increase.

BTW we are in NJ and Memory Care facilities run roughly between $9000-$10000 a month. It is a lot of money however when we crunched numbers where we would have 24/7 care living in her own home, the care alone cost her $13000 a month PLUS you add all her expenses on top of that.....taxes, utilities, food, etc....so the sticker price was shocking but we really sat down and crunched numbers.....

Here good assisted living cost, which also provides memory care is to purchase condo $500,000 and up, or dingy apartment starting at 7000 per month, plus some basic care, little help morning or night starting $160 per day and memory care starting at 8000 per month.
It is outrageous!

I live in Alaska, and TRUE memory care, for the most toughest to care for memory loss patients, is practically non existent, and if you can get it, the cost is crippling. Do I know for certain the cost, no, but would not be surprised if it is over $10,000 a month. Probably more. Seriously, crippling. It’s a serious situation, and doubt it is going to improve. There’s an old Alaskan saying, that “when our time comes, just send us out on an iceberg, and we’ll be ok”. If only it really was that easy. :-(

Memory care is more than twice as costly as ALF. ALF starts at about 5,000 month in my own state of California. In many areas of my state Memory care can go as high as 20,000 a month in my own bay area. One wonders how anyone can afford that for long.
The best answer as to what care costs are in your area is to investigate facilities in your area one at a time,everything from nursing home to Board and Care to ALF to MC, and be certain to ask about all expenses involved, as level I care is every so much cheaper than level IV and they often don't explain that.