Free senior care guidance for Twin Cities families. No cost to you, ever.
Call (651) 390-4719
Minneapolis Senior AdvisorTwin Cities • Trusted • Free

What In-Home Care Costs

A verified current Minnesota hourly rate for non-medical home care was not available at publication -- here is how to get a real number and think through the math.

HomeCosts & PayingWhat In-Home Care Costs
Short answer

We were not able to independently confirm a current, primary-sourced hourly rate for non-medical home care in the Twin Cities at the time this page was published. Rather than repeat an unverified figure, we say so directly -- get written hourly quotes from two or three licensed home care providers serving your area instead.

How to think about the crossover point

The general math still applies even without a published rate: multiply a provider's quoted hourly rate by your actual weekly hours (10, 20, 40, 60, or around-the-clock at 168) and compare the monthly total against assisted living's roughly $6,573/month Minnesota median (itself third-party sourced and unverified against CareScout's own tables -- see our cost guide). Most families find that somewhere between 40 and 60 hours a week of paid in-home care, the math starts to favor a licensed community, though this varies by household and by the specific rate you are quoted.

Medicare does not cover this

Non-medical home care -- help with bathing, dressing, meals, companionship -- is generally private pay. Medicare-covered home health is a completely different, narrower benefit: skilled, intermittent, and physician-ordered.

Questions families ask

My spouse needs more care than I can provide at home — how do I protect our finances?

Minnesota's Community Spouse Asset Allowance (Minn. Stat. 256B.059) lets a healthy spouse protect between roughly $32,532 and $162,660 in assets, plus a Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance of income between about $2,705 and $4,066.50 per month, when a spouse enters Medicaid-covered long-term care — figures that should be reconfirmed for the current year with a county financial worker or elder-law attorney.

My parent fell and can no longer live alone — what should we do first?

Start with a call to the Senior LinkAge Line (1-800-333-2433) to request a MnCHOICES assessment, which determines whether a nursing-facility level of care is needed and opens the door to Elderly Waiver-funded in-home services, adult foster care, or licensed assisted living, depending on the assessed level of need and the family's preference.

What senior care options exist in Hennepin County?

Hennepin County, home to Minneapolis, Bloomington, Edina, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Plymouth, Maple Grove, and St. Louis Park, has the metro's widest concentration of licensed assisted living and memory care communities, anchored by the Abbott Northwestern (Allina Health) and University of Minnesota Medical Center (M Health Fairview) hospital systems. All licensing, Medicaid waiver, and ombudsman resources described for the metro apply the same way in Hennepin County as elsewhere, since Minnesota regulates and funds these programs at the state level.

What senior care options exist in Ramsey County?

Ramsey County, anchored by St. Paul, Minnesota's state capital, is served by Regions Hospital (HealthPartners) and is home to the headquarters of the Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care. Senior housing in Ramsey County, including Roseville and White Bear Lake, often includes communities in converted historic buildings alongside newer construction along transit corridors.

What senior care options exist in Dakota County?

Dakota County's fast-growing southern suburbs — Eagan, Burnsville, and Apple Valley — form the county's highest concentration of assisted living and memory care communities. Dakota County residents access the same Trellis Area Agency on Aging, Senior LinkAge Line, MAARC, and MDH licensing verification tools available across the entire seven-county metro.

Not sure where to start?

Answer five questions and a local advisor will come back with senior care options in your area that actually fit your situation and budget. It is free, and there is no obligation.

Find care options
Find senior care — free