Compare care options
These terms get used interchangeably, but they mean very different things. Here's an honest look at what each one is for, so you can find the right fit, even if that turns out not to be us.
The right choice comes down to two questions: how much day-to-day supervision does your loved one need to stay safe, and how much of that need is medical? Start with the need, not the price.
Safe alone at times; needs daytime help.
Needs daily help, still directs their own day.
Dementia needing supervision and a safe, homelike setting.
Complex medical needs beyond residential care.
Home care figure assumes a non-nurse caregiver at about $35/hour (CareScout/Genworth 2025 Cost of Care Survey); nursing-level home care costs more. Other ranges are approximate 2026 figures and vary by community and level of care. They're a starting point, not a quote. We'll give you exact Savoy Place pricing during your visit.
If you want to compare line by line:
| In-home care | Assisted living | Memory care | Skilled nursing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Daytime help, safe alone at times | Daily assistance, self-directed | Dementia needing supervision & a safe setting | Complex medical / skilled needs |
| How advanced the need | Early — mostly independent, needs some help | Mild — needs daily assistance | Moderate to advanced dementia | Most advanced / heavy medical needs |
| Dementia-specialized | Varies by aide | Sometimes, in a wing | Yes, entirely | Varies |
| Secured setting | No | Usually no | Yes | Yes |
| 24-hr staff on-site | Only if paid around the clock | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Backup when staff are out | None — family fills the gap | Yes | Yes, always staffed | Yes, always staffed |
| Typical cost | ~$35/hr; 56 hrs/week ≈ $8,500/mo | $5,000–6,500/mo | $7,000–9,000+/mo | $8,000–12,000/mo |
| Medicaid help | Limited (waivers) | Limited (Supportive Living) | Largely private-pay | Yes, once qualified |
We're memory care, and only memory care. If your loved one is living with dementia and needs a safe, dementia-informed home, we may be exactly right. If their needs are mainly medical, we'll tell you honestly that skilled nursing is the safer choice, and help you think it through.
Our pricing sits at the upper end of the local market, in the low $7,000s to low $9,000s a month, because small households mean more caregivers per resident than a large building. It's worth knowing that many communities advertising around $5,000 a month quote a base rate that doesn't yet include level-of-care costs, which are added on top.
Today, your monthly rate starts with a base that includes the first level of care, with additional support added as needed through higher levels. We'll walk you through exactly what your loved one's care would cost during your visit, with nothing hidden.
The option most families weigh first
It's the first question nearly every family asks, and it comes from love. For a while, home is often the right answer. But dementia changes what “safe at home” really takes, and the math and the risks are rarely what families expect. Here's an honest look, so you can decide with clear eyes.
Most families picture daytime help — someone to cover the hours they're at work. But dementia's hardest moments come in the evening and overnight: sundowning, confusion, and wandering. The dangerous hours are exactly the ones a day-shift caregiver isn't there for.
Nighttime wandering, or “elopement,” is one of the most serious risks of caring for someone with dementia at home. It tends to happen when the paid help has gone home and the family is asleep.
The family home was never designed for someone frail. Stairs, throw rugs, toys underfoot, sharp corners, and the daily chaos of a busy household all become real hazards. And the caregiving lands on adults already stretched thin between work, kids, and their own lives.
Families try valiantly to make it work, and there's no shame in it. But dementia often outgrows what one household can safely provide.
A typical 56 hours a week of home care runs about $8,500 a month.
Early on, when a parent is still fairly independent, a few hours of help a week can be plenty, and staying home is often the right call. But as dementia progresses and supervision needs grow, the hours add up fast. At 56 hours a week and about $35 an hour, home care already approaches the cost of a community — while still leaving more than 100 hours a week, including every night, uncovered. Nursing-level care at home costs more still.
And home care has a gap no family plans for: when your one caregiver gets sick, takes vacation, or quits, the coverage falls back on you, often at 6am with no notice. A community is always staffed — every shift, every holiday, no matter who's out.
The quietest cost of staying home isn't on any invoice: it's isolation for your loved one, and exhaustion for you. In a small household, your parent has company and care all day — and you get to go back to being their family.
We'll give you a straight answer about whether memory care fits, with no pressure either way.
Call (217) 600-7705Occasional notes for families navigating memory care. Email sign-up is coming soon.
