Senior care in the Lehigh Valley, explained from the license up

What is Allentown Senior Advisor?

Allentown Senior Advisor is a free senior care referral and advisory service for families in the Lehigh Valley: Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and the surrounding towns of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania.

We publish what Pennsylvania's regulators require, what the published cost data says, and every licensed personal care home, assisted living residence and certified nursing home on the state's and Medicare's own records; then a local advisor helps you narrow the list. Facilities pay us a referral fee when a family moves in, which is why the service is free to you, and you should know that from the start.

How many older adults and licensed care options are there in the Lehigh Valley?

Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties had about 164,100 residents 65 and older on July 1, 2025, by Census Bureau estimates, and the state's records show 70 licensed personal care homes and assisted living residences and 30 certified nursing homes there.

Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 county population estimates by age (CC-EST2025-AGESEX-42), July 1, 2025. Licenses: PA DHS, retrieved November 6, 2026; CMS, data as of October 1, 2026.

What does 'assisted living' mean in Pennsylvania?

In Pennsylvania the phrase covers two different licenses: personal care homes under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2600, which make up almost every license in the Lehigh Valley, and assisted living residences under Chapter 2800, which must offer private units with a kitchen area and can keep residents with heavier care needs.

Only a Chapter 2800 licensee may legally call itself "assisted living." Read the difference between the two licenses before you compare prices.

What does senior care cost in Pennsylvania?

CareScout's 2025 Pennsylvania medians are about $6,352 a month for assisted living, $11,954 for a semi-private nursing home room and about $34 an hour for home care; no Lehigh Valley figure and no memory care figure is published.

Medical Assistance pays for nursing home care but not for a personal care home; see costs and paying for care.

Where should a Lehigh Valley family start?

Start from the situation rather than the care type: a discharge from Lehigh Valley Hospital or St. Luke's, a fall, a dementia diagnosis, an exhausted caregiver or savings running low each point to different first steps.

• A parent is leaving the hospital
• A parent can no longer live alone
• A new dementia diagnosis
• Savings are running out
• Moving a parent here from New York or New Jersey