In-home care costs about $35 per hour on average nationwide in 2026, and about $38 per hour in Arizona and the Phoenix West Valley. For most families that works out to roughly $3,300 a month for part-time care (20 hours a week) and about $6,600 a month for full-time care (40 hours a week). Around-the-clock care costs more: $10,000 to $14,000 a month for live-in care or $25,000 and up for 24-hour awake care. What you actually pay depends on three things: how many hours you need, how hands-on the care is, and where you live.
Key takeaways
National median for non-medical home care: about $35 an hour in 2025, up 3 percent year over year (CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey).
Arizona and the West Valley run about $38 an hour.
Part-time (20 hours a week): roughly $3,300 a month. Full-time (40 hours a week): roughly $6,600 a month.
Home care costs far less than a nursing home, and you only pay for the hours you actually use.
How much does in-home care cost per hour in 2026?
The national median for non-medical in-home care is about $35 per hour as of the 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey (the successor to the long-running Genworth survey), a 3 percent increase over the prior year. In Arizona, the going rate is closer to $38 per hour. What you pay depends on the type of care:
- Companion care - What it includes: Companionship, meals, light housekeeping, errands, medication reminders. Typical hourly rate: $30 to $38
- Personal care - What it includes: Bathing, dressing, toileting, transfers, mobility (hands-on ADL support). Typical hourly rate: $34 to $40
- Skilled home health - What it includes: Nursing, wound care, physical or occupational therapy (requires a licensed clinician). Typical hourly rate: $60 to $150+
Most private-pay families use companion care or personal care, the non-medical services that help someone stay safe and independent at home. Skilled home health is a separate, clinician-provided service that is usually short-term and sometimes covered by Medicare.
Note: These are median benchmarks, not quotes. Rates vary by agency, shift length, and acuity. Ask any agency for an itemized rate sheet, and confirm whether the quote is for companion or personal care.
What does home care cost per month?
Here is the part that eases most families' sticker shock: most people do not need round-the-clock care. They start with a few hours a day and scale up only if needs change, and you only ever pay for the hours you actually use. That flexibility is what makes in-home care so different from a facility's flat monthly fee. At the Arizona benchmark of about $38 an hour:
- A few visits - Hours per week: 10. Typical monthly cost: $1,650
- Part-time - Hours per week: 20. Typical monthly cost: $3,300
- Full-time - Hours per week: 40. Typical monthly cost: $6,600
- Live-in (flat daily rate) - Hours per week: 24/7. Typical monthly cost: $10,000 to $14,000
- 24-hour awake (hourly shifts) - Hours per week: 24/7. Typical monthly cost: $25,000+
There are two ways to cover around-the-clock care, and the cost is very different. Live-in care places a caregiver in the home for a 24-hour period with a legally required sleep window, billed as a flat daily rate. That makes it the most economical round-the-clock option. 24-hour awake care uses rotating shifts so a caregiver is awake at all times, which is why it costs roughly twice as much and is reserved for high fall risk, advanced dementia, or complex overnight needs.
What does in-home care cost in Arizona and the West Valley?
Arizona runs about $38 per hour for non-medical home care, and the West Valley communities of Buckeye, Goodyear, Surprise, Sun City, and Sun City West track that rate. A few local factors nudge the price up: dementia or memory care support, evening and weekend hours, short shifts (many agencies set a 3 to 4 hour minimum), and closer monitoring during Arizona's extreme summer heat.
How does home care compare to assisted living and nursing homes?
This is the comparison most families actually care about. Here are the Arizona medians side by side:
- In-home care, part-time - Typical Arizona cost (2026): About $3,300 a month (20 hours a week). Best when: You need a few hours of help a day and want to stay home
- In-home care, full-time - Typical Arizona cost (2026): About $6,600 a month (40 hours a week). Best when: You need most-of-day support but not 24/7
- Assisted living - Typical Arizona cost (2026): About $6,185 a month. Best when: You need daily support plus housing, meals, and community
- Nursing home, semi-private - Typical Arizona cost (2026): About $8,365 a month. Best when: You need skilled, round-the-clock medical care
The pattern is clear. For part-time needs, in-home care is the most affordable option and keeps your loved one at home. Once someone needs many hours every day, assisted living becomes cost-competitive, but home care still wins on one-to-one attention and staying in familiar surroundings.
What makes home care cost more or less?
The two biggest levers are hours per week and care acuity (how hands-on and complex the care is). Beyond those, watch for the number of caregivers required, medical complexity, and whether you hire through an agency or independently. An agency rate costs more per hour but includes vetting, background checks, payroll taxes, insurance, backup coverage, and supervision. An independent hire can be cheaper hourly but makes you the employer, responsible for taxes, liability, and finding a replacement when your caregiver is sick.
More than just care: the Ativo difference
At Ativo Home Care, in-home care is $38 an hour, and it includes more than most agencies offer. Because we are part of the Ativo Senior Living family, your rate buys caregivers trained to senior-living standards, a full continuum of care so your parent can step up to assisted living or memory care within the Ativo family if they ever need to (without switching providers), and the Care Concierge family portal with real-time visit updates for the whole family. It is still dramatically less than assisted living or a nursing home, with one-to-one attention a facility cannot match. A free in-home assessment is the fastest way to turn these ranges into a real number for your family. Call 623-264-4622 or explore care in Buckeye and the West Valley.
How can families lower the cost of home care?
Home care is largely private-pay, but several programs can offset it. VA Aid and Attendance provides a monthly benefit for eligible wartime veterans and surviving spouses, up to $2,424 a month for a single veteran in 2026. Most long-term care insurance policies cover in-home care once benefit triggers are met. Arizona's ALTCS program (part of AHCCCS) covers care for those who qualify medically and financially. And HSA or FSA funds, family cost-sharing, and medical-expense tax deductions can all help. Note that Medicare generally does not cover ongoing non-medical home care.
