New Jersey remains among the nation’s most expensive states for long-term care

Vindicator Fact Briefs separate fact from rhetoric by using data, independent sources, and context to explain in plain language the complex public policy issues shaping life in New Jersey.

A Jersey Vindicator review of more than a decade of data from the Genworth Cost of Care Survey and its successor, the CareScout Cost of Care Survey (2014–2025), shows New Jersey consistently ranks among the nation’s most expensive states for long-term care.

While the cost of care has risen nationwide, New Jersey families continue to pay substantially more than the national average, particularly for nursing home care.

New Jersey nursing home costs remain well above the national average

Year after year, New Jersey consistently ranks about 10th to 14th nationally for the cost of skilled nursing facilities.

Since 2014, the median monthly cost of a private nursing home room in New Jersey has increased by roughly 46.2%, reaching $14,448 per month in 2025.

The gap between New Jersey and the rest of the country has also widened.

In 2014, a private nursing home room in New Jersey cost about $2,500 more per month than the national median. By 2024, that premium had grown to $3,711 per month — $14,357 in New Jersey compared with $10,646 nationally.

Even a semi-private room in New Jersey now costs more than a private room in many states, underscoring just how expensive institutional care has become in the Garden State.

Note: One unusual year in the data

The nursing home data shows an apparent decline in New Jersey costs in 2017. That drop was not the result of nursing home prices falling. Instead, it reflects changes in Genworth’s survey methodology, including a shift to strict median calculations and different facility sampling. National nursing home costs continued to increase during the same period.

Home care costs have nearly doubled

The cost of receiving care at home has also increased sharply. Since 2014, hourly rates for homemaker services and home health aides in New Jersey have climbed roughly 89% to 93%, nearly doubling over more than a decade.

Much of that increase occurred during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for caregivers surged while agencies struggled with labor shortages, rising wages, and employee turnover. As New Jersey expanded home- and community-based services, more older adults and people with disabilities with significant medical needs were also able to receive care at home instead of entering nursing facilities, increasing the average cost of care per client.

Even so, New Jersey’s premium over the national average is much smaller for home care than it is for nursing homes. In 2025, home care averaged about $38 per hour in New Jersey, compared with $33 to $34 nationally—about 12% to 15% higher. By comparison, New Jersey nursing home costs are roughly 35% higher than the national average, underscoring just how expensive institutional care is in the state.

New Jersey families pay only a modest premium over the national average for home care. For nursing homes, however, they pay roughly 35% more than the national average, making New Jersey one of the most expensive states in the country to require institutional long-term care.

Location matters

Statewide averages mask major regional differences. Northern New Jersey counties, such as Bergen and Morris, routinely report costs that rival the most expensive states in the nation, while nursing home care in southern New Jersey counties tends to be considerably less expensive.

Krystal Knapp

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Krystal Knapp is the founder of The Jersey Vindicator and the hyperlocal news website Planet Princeton. Previously she was a reporter at The Trenton Times for a decade.