Allentown Senior AdvisorHow much does senior care cost in Pennsylvania in 2025?
CareScout's 2025 survey puts Pennsylvania's median at $76,218 a year for an assisted living community (about $6,352 a month), $143,445 for a semi-private nursing home room, $164,250 for a private room, $77,792 for a full-time non-medical home care worker and $30,420 for adult day health care.
| Care type (Pennsylvania, 2025) | Annual median | About per month | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living community | $76,218 | $6,352 | 4% over 2024; national median $74,400 |
| Home care, non-medical caregiver (44 hrs/week) | $77,792 | $6,483 | about $34 an hour; national $80,080 |
| Adult day health care | $30,420 | $2,535 | national $24,700 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $143,445 | $11,954 | about $393 a day; national $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private room | $164,250 | $13,688 | about $450 a day; national $129,575 |
Source: CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released March 2, 2026. CareScout's 2025 release reports Pennsylvania statewide medians only. It publishes no Allentown or Lehigh Valley figure, so we do not print one.
Is there a cost figure for Allentown or the Lehigh Valley?
No: CareScout's 2025 release reports Pennsylvania statewide medians only, and no other primary source publishes an Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton or Lehigh Valley median, so any site quoting one is estimating.
In practice Lehigh Valley quotes cluster around the statewide figure, with wide spread: a shared room in a small personal care home in Carbon County and a private suite on a large Allentown campus can differ by thousands of dollars a month. Ask every home for its full fee schedule, including care levels, medication management, incontinence care and the dementia unit premium.
Does Pennsylvania's assisted living median apply to personal care homes?
Mostly yes: CareScout's 'assisted living community' category covers the kind of residence most Pennsylvanians use, which is usually a personal care home, but true Chapter 2800 assisted living residences, with private units and kitchens, tend to price above it.
Because almost every licensed home in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties is a personal care home, the median is a reasonable starting point here. Memory care is not surveyed at all, and dementia units typically charge more than the same building's regular floor.
When does home care cost more than a personal care home?
At Pennsylvania's 2025 median of about $34 an hour, paid home care passes the median assisted living cost somewhere around 43 hours a week, so a parent who needs help most of the day, or overnight, usually costs more at home.
| Paid caregiver hours per week | Monthly cost at $34/hour | Compared with the PA assisted living median ($6,352) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $1,473 | less |
| 20 | $2,947 | less |
| 30 | $4,420 | less |
| 44 | $6,483 | more |
| 56 | $8,251 | more |
| 84 | $12,376 | more |
| 168 | $24,752 | more |
The table counts only caregiver hours; a home also covers rent, food and utilities. Home health visits ordered by a doctor and covered by Medicare are a different service and cost an eligible patient nothing.
What drives the price at a Lehigh Valley personal care home?
The biggest drivers are room type (private or shared), the care level assigned at assessment, whether the resident lives on a secured dementia unit, medication management, and extras such as transportation, incontinence supplies and escorts to appointments.
Ask whether the home charges by levels, by points, or all-inclusive; how often it reassesses; and what the last annual increase was. Pennsylvania does not cap increases, but contracts must state the notice period.
At a glance
| Published 2025 data gives you | Published 2025 data does not give you | |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted living | A Pennsylvania median of $76,218 a year | A Lehigh Valley figure |
| Memory care | Nothing; CareScout does not survey it | A reliable premium to add |
| Nursing homes | Semi-private and private medians | What a specific home charges |
Sources include 55 Pa. Code Chapters 20, 2600 and 2800, Pennsylvania DHS, Department of Health and Department of Aging pages, CMS, VA and CareScout rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
