What assisted living actually costs in Minnesota

The verified number, and its date

Genworth's 2024 Cost of Care Survey put the median annual cost of assisted living in Minnesota at $69,900 — about $5,825 a month. That was a 9% increase over the prior year, and it ranked Minnesota 29th among the states.

That figure is worth trusting more than most numbers you will find, for one specific reason: it comes from a Minnesota-specific release published by the survey's own author, rather than from a third party summarising something. It is a median across the state, which means half of Minnesota communities cost more and half cost less.

The same survey put Minnesota's other care types here — and it is worth seeing them together, because the gap between assisted living and a nursing home is the single biggest financial fact in this decision. Source: Genworth, 2024 Cost of Care Survey — Minnesota.

Why every website gives you a different number

Search for this and the answers you get for the same state in the same year differ by thousands of dollars a month. The sites are not all wrong — most are measuring different things and not telling you which. We are deliberately not repeating their figures here, because none of them publishes a traceable methodology, and a number you cannot check is worse than no number.

There are four distinct reasons the numbers diverge, and once you can name them you can read any quote correctly.

1. Base rent versus the all-in bill

This is the big one. Most Minnesota assisted living communities charge rent for the apartment, then add a separate care charge based on an assessment of how much help you need. A site quoting a low figure is usually quoting base rent alone; a site quoting a high one is describing what a resident with real care needs actually pays. Both can be honest — they are answering different questions — and neither is the number that will appear on your bill.

2. Partner networks versus the whole market

Referral sites are paid by the communities they list, so their averages describe the communities that pay them — which skew toward larger purpose-built buildings. That matters more in Minnesota than almost anywhere: of the 2,300-plus assisted living facilities MDH had licensed as of June 2025, more than 1,200 were licensed for five or fewer residents. Those small homes are most of the market by count and are barely represented in partner-network averages. Source: MN Office of the Legislative Auditor, Assisted Living Facility Licensing (2025).

3. Stale data presented as current

A page headed with the current year may be quoting a survey several years old. The page date and the data date are different things, and only one of them tells you anything. Always look for the survey year.

4. State figures that do not exist

Several sites publish a Minnesota number attributed to the 2025 CareScout survey. We read that release directly: it publishes national medians only and contains no state-level breakdown at all. Where those Minnesota figures came from is unclear, so we do not repeat them. Source: CareScout, 2025 Cost of Care Survey — national medians.

Every published Minnesota figure, side by side

So rather than add another number to the pile, here is how to grade any figure you find, including ours. Only the first two rows below carry a published, checkable methodology — which is why they are the only two we quote.

What is in the base rent, and what is not

Minnesota communities bundle differently, and the add-ons are where budgets break. Before you compare two quotes, make them comparable by asking about each of these line items specifically.

That last item is not a billing question, but it belongs on the same list. A community that is cheap today but cannot handle a two-person transfer next year has a cost you cannot see in the quote — the cost of moving again.

What Medical Assistance and the Elderly Waiver will and will not pay

Minnesota's Elderly Waiver can pay for assisted living services for people 65 or older who need a nursing-home level of care but choose to live in the community. What it never pays is room and board. DHS states it plainly: "the Elderly Waiver only pays for your services" and "you are responsible for paying the costs of room and board." Source: Minnesota DHS, "Elderly Waiver services in assisted living" (DHS-7935-ENG, 7-2024).

This is the most misunderstood point in Minnesota senior care. Qualifying for the Elderly Waiver does not make assisted living free. It covers the care half of the bill, and you or the Housing Support program cover the rent half.

There is a second thing worth knowing, because it changes which communities are actually available to you: DHS confirms that "not all assisted living facilities accept residents receiving Elderly Waiver services; some limit the number of residents in facilities who are receiving Elderly Waiver services." The provider also has to be enrolled with DHS before the waiver can pay it at all. Source: Minnesota DHS, "Elderly Waiver services in assisted living" (DHS-7935-ENG, 7-2024).

The ceiling on what the waiver pays

Minnesota publishes exact monthly limits on what the Elderly Waiver will pay a facility for customized living services, set by "case mix" — the classification that reflects assessed need. These are the rate limits effective 1 April 2026. They are published in a DHS rate document rather than anywhere consumer-facing, so most families never see them. Source: Minnesota DHS, Long-Term Services and Supports Service Rate Limits effective April 1, 2026 (DHS-3945-ENG).

Questions that get a real number out of a community

Touring is where the abstract becomes concrete. These are the questions that produce a number you can actually budget against, rather than a starting price.

The waiver questions come almost verbatim from DHS's own recommended list, which is the closest thing Minnesota has to an official script for these conversations. Source: Minnesota DHS, "Elderly Waiver services in assisted living" (DHS-7935-ENG, 7-2024).

Where to look next

Cost is one input. Licence status, inspection history, and whether a community actually has an opening are the others. You can browse every assisted living community we list in Minnesota, or narrow to a city — Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth — and see licence numbers and waivers accepted on each listing.

If the question behind the cost question is really "how are we going to pay for this", start with how to pay for long-term care in Minnesota and the Elderly Waiver guide.