Honolulu Senior AdvisorWhat does senior care cost on Oahu?
Hawaii's 2025 CareScout medians are about $12,089 a month for assisted living (the highest in the country), $15,473 for a semi-private nursing home room, $7,817 for 44 hours a week of home care and $2,551 for five days a week of adult day health care; no one publishes a median for care homes or foster family homes.
Last verified: October 2026| Care type (Hawaii, 2025) | Annual median | About per month | Change | U.S. median | State rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living community | $145,065 | $12,089 | +7% | $74,400 | 1 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $185,679 | $15,473 | +3% | $114,975 | 4 |
| Nursing home, private room | $196,735 | $16,395 | 0% | $129,575 | 4 |
| Home care, non-medical (44 hrs/week) | $93,808 | $7,817 | -2% | $80,080 | 9 |
| Adult day health care (5 days/week) | $30,615 | $2,551 | n/a | $24,700 | 15 |
| Private duty nurse (1 hr/week, 52 weeks) | $3,380 | $282 | n/a | $4,680 | 42 |
CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Hawaii results (released March 2, 2026). Monthly and hourly figures are our arithmetic from CareScout's published annual medians (annual / 12; home care annual / 2,288 hours). Ranks run from most to least expensive state. CareScout does not survey adult residential care homes or community care foster family homes, and publishes no Honolulu-only figure.
Who pays for senior care in Hawaii?
Most Oahu families pay privately at first; Medicare covers only short skilled stays, home health and hospice; Med-QUEST pays for long-term care through QUEST Integration health plans for members who qualify, including in expanded ARCHs and foster family homes; VA pension helps eligible veterans; and EAD's Kupuna Care services help people stay at home.
The fact that surprises mainland families most is that Med-QUEST can pay for nursing-level care in a small family home, not only in a nursing home.
Where can Oahu families get free help with benefits?
The Elderly Affairs Division at (808) 768-7700 and the Hawaii ADRC at (808) 643-2372 help families sort out services and benefits, and Hawaii SHIP at (808) 586-7299 gives free Medicare counseling.
Hospital social workers can start a Med-QUEST application before a discharge.
Costs & Paying guides
What senior care costs in Hawaii
CareScout's 2025 Hawaii medians for assisted living, nursing homes, home care and adult day care, what is not surveyed (care homes), and how Oahu families should use the numbers.
Read →How Med-QUEST pays for long-term care
How Hawaii's Medicaid program, Med-QUEST, pays for nursing homes, expanded ARCHs, foster family homes and home care through QUEST Integration health plans, with 2026 income and asset figures.
Read →Paying for a care home on Oahu
How Oahu families pay for adult residential care homes, expanded ARCHs and foster family homes: private rates, Med-QUEST, long-term care insurance and VA benefits, and what to get in writing.
Read →VA benefits for Oahu veterans and surviving spouses
2026 VA pension rates with Aid and Attendance, how unreimbursed care costs count, the net worth limit, and the Daniel K. Akaka State Veterans Home in Kapolei.
Read →What Medicare covers, and what it does not
What Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage pay for after a hospital stay on Oahu: skilled nursing, home health and hospice, and the long-term custodial care they do not cover.
Read →Kupuna Care and help for family caregivers
The Elderly Affairs Division's in-home and community services for Oahu kupuna, family caregiver support, adult day care, and how to get on the list.
Read →Protecting a spouse at home, and the look-back
How the 2026 spousal impoverishment standards protect a husband or wife at home when the other spouse needs Med-QUEST long-term care, and how the five-year look-back works.
Read →Home care or a move: the math
How many hours of home care equal the cost of assisted living or a nursing home in Hawaii, using CareScout's 2025 medians, and what the numbers leave out.
Read →At a glance
| This section gives you | This section does not give you | |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Hawaii's published 2025 medians | A care home figure that does not exist |
| Programs | How Med-QUEST, Medicare, VA and Kupuna Care work | An eligibility decision |
| Limits | 2026 asset, income and spousal figures | Legal or tax advice |
| Planning | Questions to ask and when to start | A substitute for an elder law attorney |
