By Naomi Foster · Health Writer, Senior Care CostsUpdated 2026-07-09
Enter your region, weekly hours, and hourly rate to see what home care runs per week, month, and year.
By Naomi Foster · Health Writer, Senior Care CostsAssumes one caregiver at a time. Overnight or live-in arrangements are usually priced differently by agencies.
A few hours a day of help with meals, bathing, and company is often the most affordable senior care option there is. The math shifts fast as needs grow, since every extra hour is billed at the same rate with no facility-style flat fee to spread it across.
Plan on $30 to $40 an hour nationally for a home care aide, with the total driven almost entirely by how many hours a week you book rather than the hourly rate itself.
Usually, yes, for light help a few hours a day. Once care approaches around-the-clock coverage, the hourly total often passes what a facility would charge for the same level of supervision.
Only in narrow situations, such as intermittent skilled nursing or therapy ordered by a doctor after an illness or injury. Medicare does not pay for ongoing help with bathing, dressing or meals.
A year has 52.14 weeks, and dividing that by 12 months gives 4.33 weeks per month on average. Using exactly 4 would understate the true monthly cost.
No. Agencies price differently based on training level, whether it is agency-employed or independent, and local demand, so use this as a starting range.
The calculator adjusts your hourly rate by the regional index, multiplies by weekly hours for a weekly total, then multiplies by 4.33 weeks for a monthly figure. Annual cost is the monthly number times twelve.
At the default 20 hours a week and $33 an hour nationally, that is 20 x $33 = $660 a week, and $660 x 4.33 = about $2,858 a month. Move to full-time coverage, 44 hours a week at the same rate, and the weekly cost jumps to $1,452, or roughly $6,290 a month before any regional adjustment, which is where home care starts to rival facility care.
See where hourly home care crosses over into facility territory on your budget.
The $33 national hourly rate and regional index in this calculator come from SeniorLivingCostGuide's own 2026 Senior Living Cost Reference. There is no outside benchmark rate for hourly home care in that reference the way there is for assisted living or nursing homes, since agency pricing varies too much by market to summarize in one external figure. The table below shows the site's own model at 20 hours a week and at 44 hours (roughly full-time) across low, national, and high-cost regions.
| Weekly hours | Low-cost region | National (site model) | High-cost region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 hrs/week | $2,229/mo | $2,858/mo | $4,572/mo |
| 44 hrs/week (full-time) | $4,904/mo | $6,287/mo | $10,059/mo |
Once hours climb high enough that a facility looks competitive, compare against the assisted living cost calculator or, for a resident who needs medical supervision, the nursing home cost calculator. For the payment side of this decision, see how to pay for senior care.