Des Moines Senior AdvisorWhat does senior care cost around Des Moines?
CareScout's 2025 Iowa medians are roughly $5,100 a month for assisted living, $9,277 for a shared nursing home room, $7,836 for 44 hours a week of home care and $1,614 for weekday adult day care; no Des Moines-only or memory care median is published.
Last verified: November 2026| Iowa, 2025 | Median per year | Per month (about) | 1-year change | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living (private one-bedroom) | $61,200 | $5,100 | -2% | $74,400 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $111,325 | $9,277 | +4% | $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private room | $120,450 | $10,038 | +4% | $129,575 |
| Home care, non-medical (44 hrs/week) | $94,037 | $7,836 | +8% | $80,080 |
| Adult day health care (5 days/week) | $19,370 | $1,614 | n/a | $24,700 |
CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Iowa results (released March 2, 2026). Monthly figures are the annual medians divided by 12. Home care is priced at 44 hours a week for 52 weeks (about $41 an hour); adult day at five days a week for 52 weeks.
Who pays for long-term care in Iowa?
Families usually pay first; Medicare covers short skilled stays, home health and hospice; Iowa Medicaid pays long nursing facility stays; the Elderly Waiver pays for services at home or in an assisted living program for eligible people 65 and older; PACE serves five of our six counties; and VA pension helps eligible veterans and surviving spouses.
Iowa's assisted living looks inexpensive by national standards: the 2025 Iowa median of $61,200 a year ranks 43rd among states, against a U.S. median of $74,400. Home care is the reverse, eighth-highest in the country.
Where can Des Moines families get free benefits help?
Aging Resources of Central Iowa ((515) 255-1310) offers free options counseling for Polk, Dallas, Warren, Jasper and Madison counties; Iowa Medicaid Member Services answers at 1-800-338-8366; and Polk County Veterans Affairs and the other county veterans offices help with VA claims at no charge.
Guthrie County families start with Elderbridge Agency on Aging at 1-800-243-0678. SHIIP, Iowa's free Medicare counseling program, helps compare Medicare plans each fall.
Costs & Paying: every guide
What senior care costs around Des Moines
CareScout's 2025 Iowa medians for assisted living, nursing homes, home care and adult day care, what they mean for Des Moines-area families, and why no Des Moines or memory care median exists.
Open the guide →The Elderly Waiver for Des Moines-area families
Iowa Medicaid's Elderly Waiver in 2026: who qualifies, the $2,982 income cap and $2,000 resource limit, the services it covers at home and in assisted living, managed care, the HOME redesign and how Des Moines families apply.
Open the guide →Medicaid for long-term nursing home care in Iowa
How Iowa Medicaid covers long-term nursing facility care for Des Moines-area residents: level of care, the income cap and Medical Assistance Income Trust, resources, the five-year look-back, protections for a spouse and how to apply.
Open the guide →What Medicare covers, and what it never covers
What Medicare pays for Des Moines-area seniors: skilled nursing after a three-day inpatient stay, home health, hospice and rehab, and why it does not pay for assisted living, memory care or long-term custodial care.
Open the guide →VA pension and Aid and Attendance in central Iowa
VA pension with Aid and Attendance for Des Moines-area veterans and surviving spouses: the December 2025 rates, the net worth limit, how care costs reduce countable income, county veterans offices and the Iowa Veterans Home.
Open the guide →PACE for Des Moines-area seniors
PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) in the Des Moines metro: Immanuel Pathways Central Iowa in Windsor Heights, the counties it serves, who qualifies, what it covers and how it compares with the Elderly Waiver.
Open the guide →Planning private payment for assisted living or nursing care
How Des Moines-area families plan private payment for assisted living, memory care and home care: monthly budgets against Iowa's 2025 medians, long-term care insurance, home sale timing, fee increases and the hand-off to Medicaid.
Open the guide →Side by side
| This section gives you | This section does not give you | |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Iowa's 2025 published medians | A Des Moines or memory care median that does not exist |
| Programs | How the Elderly Waiver, Medicaid, PACE, Medicare and VA work | A decision on your eligibility |
| Numbers | 2026 income and resource limits | Tax or legal advice |
| Planning | Questions to ask early | A replacement for an elder law attorney |
