What Senior Care Costs in Virginia and Hampton Roads

Last verified: October 2026. Figures and rules are re-checked against primary sources.

What does senior care cost in Virginia in 2026?

Virginia's median for a private one-bedroom assisted living apartment is $83,328 a year, about $6,944 a month, according to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey released March 2, 2026. Nursing home care runs higher, and home care and adult day health care are priced by the hour or the day. The table shows each service type.

CareScout gathered provider rates from July through November 2025. Monthly figures below are the annual median divided by 12 and rounded, so treat them as planning numbers rather than a price list. Home care assumes 44 hours a week for 52 weeks, which works out to roughly $35 an hour, and the national home care median is the same $80,080.

Why is there no Virginia Beach-Norfolk cost figure on this page?

No published median exists for the Virginia Beach-Norfolk area alone, so Norfolk Senior Advisor does not print one. CareScout collects rates at the metro level, but its public release for Virginia reports statewide medians only. Any Hampton Roads number you see elsewhere is an estimate, and we would rather give you none than a guess.

What you can do is use the state median as a reference and compare it with written quotes from communities on the Southside and the Peninsula. A quote above or below the median tells you something only after you know what it includes.

Is there a memory care cost median for Virginia?

No. CareScout does not survey memory care as a separate category in Virginia or anywhere else, so there is no memory care median to quote. Any memory care average you find online is an estimate built from other data. The only reliable number is the one a community puts in writing for your parent's specific needs.

Families often assume memory care adds a flat percentage to assisted living. In practice, communities price it very differently: some fold supervision into a higher base rate, and others add a care tier on top. Ask each one for the full monthly total, not the starting rate. The safe, secure unit rules explain what staffing and activities a licensed unit must provide.

How do Virginia nursing home costs compare with assisted living?

A semi-private nursing home room in Virginia has a median of $123,005 a year, roughly $10,250 a month, about 48 percent above the assisted living median of $83,328. A private room is $140,160. Nursing home prices rose 18 to 19 percent from 2024, far faster than assisted living's 7 percent.

Both Virginia assisted living and nursing home medians sit above the national figures ($74,400 and $114,975 a year, respectively), and Virginia's assisted living median ranked 12th-highest among the states. Nursing home care is also where public help is deepest: Medicaid for nursing facility care exists for people who run out of money, which assisted living lacks beyond the small Auxiliary Grant.

How should Hampton Roads families read a senior living quote?

Read a quote by finding the monthly total for your parent's actual care level, not the advertised starting price. Ask for a written list of what the base rate covers, what each added level of care costs, any one-time community or entrance fee, a second-person charge for couples, and how often rates are raised.

Compare quotes on the same footing. Hampton Roads communities range from small homes to large campuses, and amenities such as transportation to Sentara or Riverside appointments may be included in one and billed in another. Also ask what happens to the price if a reassessment moves your parent to a higher level. A community that cannot answer in writing is telling you something, and that is worth knowing before a deposit changes hands.

What programs help pay for senior care in Hampton Roads?

Several programs help, but each covers a narrow slice of the bill and each has its own eligibility rules. The <a href="/costs/auxiliary-grant/">Auxiliary Grant</a> helps very-low-income residents in participating assisted living facilities, and the <a href="/costs/ccc-plus-waiver/">CCC Plus Waiver</a> pays for care at home. Veterans may qualify for <a href="/costs/va-aid-and-attendance/">VA Aid and Attendance</a>, a pension add-on.

Medicare pays for short skilled stays and hospice but not custodial care. If you are not sure where your family stands, our advisors can walk through the options at no charge. We are paid a fee by the community when a referred family moves in, and that fee never changes what you pay.