Assisted Living in Massachusetts

The average cost of assisted living in Massachusetts is around $6,800 a month, according to A Place for Mom’s most recent proprietary data from our network of partner communities. This is nearly $1,700 more than the national average cost of $5,100, making Massachusetts one of the nation’s most expensive assisted living locations.^[01]

Prices vary greatly depending on location, services, amenities, and the level of care a community provides. Throughout our network of Massachusetts assisted living communities, costs typically range from around $3,900 to roughly $9,900 a month. Communities in the larger metropolitan area of Boston generally cost more each month than facilities in more rural locations or smaller towns.

The monthly average cost of $6,800 may seem steep, but it covers a senior’s complete care needs within the community, including assistance with activities of daily living, like dressing, bathing, and using the restroom, three nutritious meals a day, housekeeping services, planned social events, and more.

Public programs like Medicare and Medicaid may cover some of the costs of medical care expenses in assisted living communities if your loved one qualifies.

Each senior has unique financial needs, preferences, and care requirements, all of which can affect the ways they choose to pay for assisted living. Across the board, the earlier you’re able to determine your family’s budget and financial resources, the more options your aging loved one may have available.

Timely consideration is essential, especially if your loved one plans to use Medicare or Medicaid to cover any medical services in assisted living. Applications for these programs may involve waiting and approval periods.

We’ll explore a mix of public and private payment options families tend to use below. For a high-level overview of how to pay for senior living, read through our complete guide to paying for long-term care.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs certifies assisted living facilities throughout the state. These communities must offer a combination of personal care services, housing, and meals on a monthly rental basis. They may not provide medical or nursing services to seniors in need of serious medical care.^[03]

Some assisted living communities in Massachusetts are designated as special care residences. These support seniors with specialized needs due to dementia or other cognitive impairments, and have additional regulations.

When licensing assisted living facilities, the state considers the following questions:

• Do residents receive help with activities of daily living? On-site staff members must be prepared to assist residents with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
• How is medication managed? Assisted living staff can help residents manage self-administered medications. Limited medication can be administered by an individual designated in writing by the resident or a family representative, or by a specially licensed and authorized nurse.
• Does the community meet state safety standards? Assisted living communities must comply with state sanitary regulations, fire and building codes, and communicable disease control plans. They also have to complete comprehensive emergency management plans.
• Does the facility comply with occupancy standards? No more than two people can occupy a unit in an assisted living facility. There must be at least one bathroom per unit in facilities built after 1995.
• Are residents assessed before admission? Before a resident moves in, a nurse will conduct an initial screening to determine the prospective resident’s care needs and ensure the community is able to meet those needs.

Staffing requirements for Massachusetts assisted living facilities

Every community must have a service plan coordinator and manager on staff. Depending on the number of residents in a facility, at least one staff member has to be present 24 hours a day. There’s no minimum staff to resident ratio, but communities are required to have sufficient staff to manage all resident needs and assist in case of an emergency.

All staff members who provide direct care must be licensed nurses, certified nursing assistants, certified home health aides or personal care homemakers. If a staff member isn’t licensed in one of these ways, they must complete a 54-hour training course in addition to ongoing education.^[03]

Understanding Massachusetts’s system of regulation and records

We developed a system to rate each state based on the ease of information access. In other words, how easy — or difficult — it is to find important assisted living records and reports.

States with the most transparent records allow you to look up important information about each assisted living facility online, including inspections, complaints, survey results, violations, capacity, and Medicaid acceptance.

Access to Massachusetts assisted living records: Basic

Public access to assisted living records and reports for the state of Massachusetts is basic. Key findings that informed this rating include:

• As of writing, it is unknown whether the Massachusetts residency list was recently updated as there is no published date available.
• Massachusetts does not post surveys or inspection reports of assisted living facilities online, so a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request is necessary to obtain records.

How to look up Massachusetts assisted living licenses and records

Visit the Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs for information about senior care licensing.

How we arrived at our Massachusetts rating

We developed a standard methodology for state data collection and evaluation, and we based our rating primarily on the objective, state-specific accessibility criteria outlined in these questions:
1. Are licensed assisted living communities listed online in any form? Yes
2. If Yes to #1, is the information updated frequently? No
3. If Yes to #1, is the list of licensed communities searchable? No
4. Does the state post inspections, complaints, survey results, or violations online? No
5. If Yes to #4, is the information updated frequently (within 90 days)? No or not applicable
6. If Yes to #2 and #4, is the enforcement information included in the same place as licensed communities? No or not applicable
7. If Yes to #4 and No to #6, are violations and inspections searchable at all? No
8. Is information about special licensing for care shown? No or not applicable
9. Is capacity shown? Yes
10. Are payment types shown (e.g., Medicaid, private pay)? No
11. Is the administrator/contact name shown? No
12. Can the state fine a facility? Yes
13. What is the frequency of inspections? Every 24 months
14. Does the website include pricing of facilities? No