How much does a nursing home cost in Louisiana?
The median nursing home cost in Louisiana is $8,076 per month for a private room and $7,604 per month for a semi-private room, based on the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey released March 2026. That's roughly $96,908 per year for a private room.
Louisiana has the lowest nursing home costs in the country — 35% below the national median.
2026 Louisiana senior care costs at a glance
| Care type | Louisiana median/month | National median (CareScout 2025) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing home (private) | $8,076 | $10,798 | −25% |
| Nursing home (semi-private) | $7,604 | $9,581 | −21% |
| Memory care (est) | $6,450 | $7,750 | −17% |
| Assisted living | $5,163 | $6,200 | −17% |
| Non-medical caregiver (hourly) | $26 | $35 | −26% |
See your exact spend-down timeline for Louisiana
Enter your savings, income, and care type to see how long your money lasts before reaching Louisiana Medicaid asset limits.
Open the Louisiana calculator →Nursing home costs by Louisiana city
Costs vary by metro area within the state. Urban markets typically run 10–25% above state medians, while rural areas can be 10–20% below.
City-level estimates are based on CareScout 2025 metro-area data. Individual facility costs vary 20–40% from these medians depending on amenities, staffing ratios, and room type.
Louisiana Medicaid for nursing home care
Louisiana Medicaid covers nursing home care for residents who meet both medical eligibility (need for skilled nursing care) and financial eligibility (limited assets and income). Understanding the rules before you need them can save your family hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Louisiana Medicaid 2026 asset limits
Individual applicant: $2,000 in countable assets (2026)
Married couple, one spouse applying: Community spouse may keep up to $162,660 under the federal Community Spouse Resource Allowance (2026 maximum), plus the home, one vehicle, and personal belongings
The 5-year look-back period in Louisiana
Louisiana Medicaid reviews all asset transfers made within 60 months (5 years) of your application date. Gifts to family, property transfers below market value, or large unexplained withdrawals trigger a penalty period that delays Medicaid eligibility — during which you must private-pay.
Louisiana's 2026 penalty divisor is approximately $8,076 per month (~$266 per day). A $50,000 transfer that violates the look-back rule would create roughly a 186-day penalty period during which Louisiana Medicaid will not cover care costs.
This is why elder law attorneys consistently advise families to begin Medicaid planning at least 5 years before nursing home care is needed.
Find a Louisiana elder law attorney
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys maintains a state-by-state directory of certified elder law attorneys.
Find a Louisiana attorney →What makes Louisiana different
Louisiana Medicaid (Healthy Louisiana) operates the Community Choices Waiver (CCW) with approximately 7,900 slots for seniors needing nursing-facility-level care at home. Two distinctives shape Louisiana planning: the state does not directly fund assisted living through standard Medicaid — the CCW reviews assisted-living placements case-by-case rather than as a standard benefit, leaving most assisted-living costs to private pay — and Louisiana operates Monitored In-Home Caregiving (MIHC), a service that pays a live-in principal caregiver, including a spouse, for daily in-home care. CCW waitlist priority goes first to Adult Protective Services referrals, then to applicants with ALS, then to residents of state permanent supportive housing. Personal Needs Allowance is $38 per month — among the lowest in the country.
Sources: state Medicaid agency program documentation and CMS spousal-impoverishment standards. See our methodology page for the broader data sources used across this site.
How Louisiana compares to neighboring states
Cost differences across state lines can be substantial. Some families consider relocating for care, particularly if adult children live across a border.