What Assisted Living Costs in California

    What Assisted Living Costs in California

    We compared 2024 assisted living costs across California, by city and by county, with local retirement income and home values. The data shows what care costs, how far income falls short, and where the gap is widest.

    By Dharam Khalsa·

    Key findings

    Prices vary 2.4-fold across the state

    Assisted living averages $9,079 a month in Pacific Palisades. In the least expensive places, it costs about $3,700. The care is the same level; the price is not.

    Retirement income falls short

    In Los Angeles County, average retirement income is $37,517 a year. A year of care in Pacific Palisades costs $108,951. That leaves a gap of more than $71,000 a year.

    Many families turn to home equity

    In the most expensive areas, covering the gap over an average 22-month stay takes more than $100,000 in home equity. That is why home values matter so much in this data.

    Costs vary by county, too

    Among the 42 counties with published data, average costs run highest in the Bay Area and lowest in the Central Valley.

    $5,327

    The average monthly cost of assisted living in California in 2024

    $9,079

    The monthly cost in the state's most expensive place
    Pacific Palisades

    $63,927

    The state average over a full year

    Costs by county

    The map shows the average monthly cost of assisted living in each county. Darker shading means higher costs. Hover or tab through a county to see its figure. Data was published for 42 of California's 58 counties; the rest are shown unranked.

    Alameda: $6,045/moAlpine: Not publishedAmador: Not publishedButte: $5,225/moCalaveras: Not publishedColusa: Not publishedContra Costa: $5,589/moDel Norte: Not publishedEl Dorado: $4,842/moFresno: $4,742/moGlenn: Not publishedHumboldt: $4,967/moImperial: $6,179/moInyo: Not publishedKern: $4,590/moKings: $4,450/moLake: $5,246/moLassen: Not publishedLos Angeles: $5,317/moMadera: $4,495/moMarin: $6,553/moMariposa: Not publishedMendocino: $5,360/moMerced: $3,822/moModoc: Not publishedMono: Not publishedMonterey: $5,418/moNapa: $5,704/moNevada: $5,096/moOrange: $5,433/moPlacer: $5,262/moPlumas: Not publishedRiverside: $5,177/moSacramento: $5,119/moSan Benito: $4,075/moSan Bernardino: $5,330/moSan Diego: $5,397/moSan Francisco: $6,245/moSan Joaquin: $3,764/moSan Luis Obispo: $5,547/moSan Mateo: $6,414/moSanta Barbara: $5,684/moSanta Clara: $5,574/moSanta Cruz: $5,241/moShasta: $4,904/moSierra: Not publishedSiskiyou: Not publishedSolano: $5,017/moSonoma: $6,425/moStanislaus: $4,201/moSutter: $5,623/moTehama: $5,154/moTrinity: Not publishedTulare: $4,410/moTuolumne: Not publishedVentura: $5,460/moYolo: $5,319/moYuba: $4,739/mo
    LowerHigher
    Not published

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    California counties ranked by average monthly assisted living cost
    Alameda6,04572,53640,116-32,420
    Butte5,22562,69537,169-25,526
    Contra Costa5,58967,07344,999-22,074
    El Dorado4,84258,10643,673-14,433
    Fresno4,74256,90732,413-24,494
    Humboldt4,96759,60834,702-24,906
    Imperial6,17974,15127,469-46,682
    Kern4,59055,07533,040-22,035
    Kings4,45053,40129,969-23,432
    Lake5,24662,95530,077-32,878
    Los Angeles5,31763,80137,517-26,284
    Madera4,49553,93734,917-19,020
    Marin6,55378,63252,568-26,064
    Mendocino5,36064,32031,773-32,547
    Merced3,82245,86831,878-13,990
    Monterey5,41865,01943,867-21,152
    Napa5,70468,45343,918-24,535
    Nevada5,09661,14744,175-16,972
    Orange5,43365,19642,080-23,116
    Placer5,26263,14144,100-19,041
    Riverside5,17762,12536,392-25,733
    Sacramento5,11961,43040,396-21,034
    San Benito4,07548,89539,625-9,270
    San Bernardino5,33063,96234,417-29,545
    San Diego5,39764,76339,550-25,213
    San Francisco6,24574,94138,220-36,721
    San Joaquin3,76445,17035,236-9,934
    San Luis Obispo5,54766,57046,390-20,180
    San Mateo6,41476,96743,240-33,727
    Santa Barbara5,68468,21143,109-25,102
    Santa Clara5,57466,89041,273-25,617
    Santa Cruz5,24162,89337,695-25,198
    Shasta4,90458,85434,150-24,704
    Solano5,01760,20339,787-20,416
    Sonoma6,42577,10441,453-35,651
    Stanislaus4,20150,41229,010-21,402
    Sutter5,62367,47837,917-29,561
    Tehama5,15461,85133,128-28,723
    Tulare4,41052,91529,548-23,367
    Ventura5,46065,51640,647-24,869
    Yolo5,31963,83045,306-18,524
    Yuba4,73956,86930,116-26,753

    Where assisted living costs the most

    These are the 50 most expensive places in California for assisted living, along with the yearly gap between the cost of care and a typical retiree's income. City names link to their communities.

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    Most expensive California cities for assisted living
    1Pacific PalisadesLos Angeles County9,079108,95137,517-71,4343,398,370
    2Foster CitySan Mateo County8,836106,03143,240-62,7911,869,616
    3CalabasasLos Angeles County8,620103,44237,517-65,9251,706,467
    4Beverly HillsLos Angeles County8,450101,40037,517-63,8833,491,047
    5BerkeleyAlameda County8,377100,52040,116-60,4041,394,566
    6BelmontSan Mateo County7,91795,00643,240-51,7662,200,486
    7Palo AltoSanta Clara County7,59891,17741,273-49,9043,327,790
    8Playa VistaLos Angeles County7,50390,03037,517-52,5131,341,315
    9Corte MaderaMarin County7,28887,45052,568-34,8821,758,694
    10AlbanyAlameda County7,10985,30340,116-45,1871,210,168
    11WindsorSonoma County6,89582,73441,453-41,281804,937
    12Aliso ViejoOrange County6,85382,24042,080-40,160989,559
    13Rohnert ParkSonoma County6,83582,01941,453-40,566709,263
    14RosemeadLos Angeles County6,80781,67837,517-44,161877,337
    15Santa RosaSonoma County6,71580,58241,453-39,129723,906
    16Redwood CitySan Mateo County6,70680,47143,240-37,2311,782,957
    17BurlingameSan Mateo County6,64479,73143,240-36,4912,580,707
    18DublinAlameda County6,55978,70440,116-38,5881,374,888
    19Menlo ParkSan Mateo County6,54578,54343,240-35,3032,597,974
    20San CarlosSan Mateo County6,54378,51143,240-35,2712,293,374
    21CarpinteriaSanta Barbara County6,42777,12143,109-34,0121,359,959
    22NovatoMarin County6,41576,98652,568-24,4181,089,438
    23San LorenzoAlameda County6,40176,80740,116-36,691849,071
    24AlamoContra Costa County6,39376,71544,999-31,7162,461,057
    25Newport BeachOrange County6,39276,70942,080-34,6293,289,875
    26RichmondContra Costa County6,35076,19744,999-31,198633,441
    27San RamonContra Costa County6,33676,03444,999-31,0351,630,758
    28Alta LomaSan Bernardino County6,32775,92934,417-41,512781,513
    29PleasantonAlameda County6,31975,83240,116-35,7161,672,014
    30San Juan CapistranoOrange County6,31375,75242,080-33,6721,253,390
    31PetalumaSonoma County6,30775,68941,453-34,236913,469
    32OrindaContra Costa County6,26075,12344,999-30,1242,001,852
    33San FranciscoSan Francisco County6,24574,94138,220-36,7211,258,701
    34South San FranciscoSan Mateo County6,24074,87843,240-31,6381,227,768
    35El CerritoContra Costa County6,23174,76844,999-29,7691,144,141
    36Los AltosSanta Clara County6,21074,52541,273-33,2524,209,758
    37Daly CitySan Mateo County6,20974,50443,240-31,2641,139,242
    38AzusaLos Angeles County6,18874,25337,517-36,736696,182
    39San MateoSan Mateo County6,18474,20943,240-30,9691,610,517
    40El CentroImperial County6,17974,15127,469-46,682358,547
    41SunnyvaleSanta Clara County6,14573,74341,273-32,4702,014,550
    42IrvineOrange County6,14073,68542,080-31,6051,536,644
    43OaklandAlameda County6,13773,64940,116-33,533762,157
    44AlamedaAlameda County6,10673,27240,116-33,1561,196,730
    45BreaOrange County6,09773,15842,080-31,0781,085,510
    46Sierra MadreLos Angeles County6,09073,08537,517-35,5681,414,804
    47NipomoSan Luis Obispo County6,08372,99446,390-26,604906,216
    48San GabrielLos Angeles County6,05172,61037,517-35,0931,067,448
    49NapaNapa County6,02172,25243,918-28,334900,491
    50Grand TerraceSan Bernardino County5,99471,92834,417-37,511576,039

    Where assisted living costs the least

    The same data, from the other end: the California cities where assisted living costs the least.

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    Most affordable California cities for assisted living
    1LynwoodLos Angeles County2,15825,89637,5170654,264
    2LathropSan Joaquin County3,36040,32435,236-5,088657,413
    3PacificaSan Mateo County3,51442,17143,24001,273,298
    4South PasadenaLos Angeles County3,54842,57637,517-5,0591,714,496
    5Los BanosMerced County3,57042,83631,878-10,958466,110
    6San FernandoLos Angeles County3,70544,46337,517-6,946715,995
    7StocktonSan Joaquin County3,72544,70035,236-9,464441,009
    8TehachapiKern County3,74744,96433,040-11,924418,901
    9SalidaStanislaus County3,78845,45129,010-16,441491,814
    10TracySan Joaquin County3,80745,68635,236-10,450782,661
    11VisaliaTulare County3,81145,72929,548-16,181385,163
    12LodiSan Joaquin County3,81745,79935,236-10,563514,500
    13BakersfieldKern County3,81745,80933,040-12,769388,567
    14PattersonStanislaus County3,85946,30229,010-17,292519,749
    15RiponSan Joaquin County3,92247,06135,236-11,825677,295
    16MantecaSan Joaquin County3,95447,44835,236-12,212599,021
    17FresnoFresno County3,99247,90532,413-15,492382,370
    18ModestoStanislaus County4,01448,16529,010-19,155445,500
    19PortervilleTulare County4,03148,37529,548-18,827317,272
    20OntarioSan Bernardino County4,03748,43934,417-14,022668,110
    21HollisterSan Benito County4,07548,89539,625-9,270763,815
    22MercedMerced County4,07548,89931,878-17,021395,670
    23RiversideRiverside County4,11249,34836,392-12,956640,448
    24San BernardinoSan Bernardino County4,23150,77234,417-16,355488,102
    25OakdaleStanislaus County4,35152,20729,010-23,197550,139
    26TurlockStanislaus County4,36052,32329,010-23,313481,156
    27FortunaHumboldt County4,38152,56934,702-17,867419,833
    28HanfordKings County4,45053,40129,969-23,432366,243
    29Lake BalboaLos Angeles County4,46953,63037,517-16,113851,183
    30ReddingShasta County4,49153,89734,150-19,747390,749
    31MaderaMadera County4,49553,93734,917-19,020403,669
    32MarysvilleYuba County4,51754,20930,116-24,093386,421
    33Santa ClaraSanta Clara County4,54354,51141,273-13,2381,666,143
    34MarinaMonterey County4,55354,63943,867-10,772867,975
    35MontroseLos Angeles County4,58354,99037,517-17,4731,289,595
    36CovinaLos Angeles County4,59255,10937,517-17,592782,690
    37LawndaleLos Angeles County4,60955,31037,517-17,793765,303
    38SuisunSolano County4,62755,52139,787-15,734547,159
    39Seal BeachOrange County4,66555,97542,080-13,895879,884
    40CupertinoSanta Clara County4,68956,26241,273-14,9892,874,109
    41PlacervilleEl Dorado County4,70056,40043,673-12,727530,156
    42WalnutLos Angeles County4,74656,95037,517-19,4331,161,160
    43El Dorado HillsEl Dorado County4,75357,03143,673-13,358926,227
    44West SacramentoYolo County4,76857,22145,306-11,915525,719
    45FremontAlameda County4,79557,53640,116-17,4201,552,321
    46MoorparkVentura County4,82157,84940,647-17,202937,466
    47OakleyContra Costa County4,83357,99044,999-12,991678,103
    48RiverbankStanislaus County4,83558,02529,010-29,015479,014
    49InglewoodLos Angeles County4,83658,03037,517-20,513743,072
    50WhittierLos Angeles County4,85358,23237,517-20,715799,561

    Methodology

    Overview

    This study looks at 2024 assisted living costs across California. It compares those costs with local retirement income and home values to show how much families would need to pay on their own.

    How we measured the shortfall

    The annual shortfall is the yearly cost of care minus the average yearly retirement income in that county. If retirement income covers the cost, the shortfall is zero.

    How we measured home equity needed

    The home equity figure is the amount needed to cover the shortfall over 22 months, the average length of a stay in assisted living.

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