What assisted living, nursing homes and home care cost around Winston-Salem

What does assisted living cost in Winston-Salem, NC?

No survey publishes a Winston-Salem price; CareScout's 2025 North Carolina median for assisted living is $74,400 a year, about $6,200 a month, and that is the most reliable benchmark available for Forsyth County.

CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, North Carolina results (released March 2, 2026). Monthly figures are the annual medians divided by 12. Home care is priced at 44 hours a week for 52 weeks (exactly $30 an hour). CareScout's North Carolina release publishes statewide medians only: there is no Winston-Salem or Forsyth County figure and no memory care figure.

Expect real quotes to spread widely around that number. Newer buildings along the Clemmons and Reynolda Road corridors tend to quote above it, and small family care homes in Lexington, King or eastern Winston-Salem often quote below. Ask every home for its base rate, its care-level charges and its last two annual increases.

How much does a nursing home cost in North Carolina?

CareScout's 2025 statewide medians are $116,800 a year (about $9,733 a month) for a semi-private room and $129,575 (about $10,798 a month) for a private room, up 10% and 9% from the year before.

Few families pay that full price for long. Medicare covers a short skilled stay after a qualifying hospital admission, and NC Medicaid pays for most long-term nursing home residents once their own money is spent down. The private-pay rate still matters, because it sets how fast savings disappear in the months before Medicaid begins. See how Medicaid pays for long stays.

What does home care cost per hour around Winston-Salem?

CareScout's 2025 North Carolina median for a non-medical home care worker is $30 an hour, which works out to about $5,720 a month at 44 hours a week; agencies in the five counties set their own rates and minimum shifts.

The table shows why home care is the bargain at low hours and the expensive choice at high ones. Around 48 hours a week, paid help at home passes the assisted living median, and round-the-clock care costs several times as much. Many families combine a few paid hours with family help, adult day care and CAP/DA hours if a parent qualifies.

Is there a published price for memory care in Winston-Salem?

No. Neither CareScout nor any state agency publishes a memory care median for North Carolina or any part of it, so any memory care “average” you see for Winston-Salem is an estimate, not a survey result.

Special care units usually cost more than standard assisted living because they need more staff. The only reliable number is a written quote from each unit, broken down into base rate and care charges. For residents with limited income, Special Assistance pays its higher Enhanced Rate in a special care unit; see how it works.

How should a Forsyth County family budget for long-term care?

Add up monthly income from Social Security, pensions and any annuity, subtract the likely monthly cost, and divide the savings by the gap; the result is roughly how many months private payment can last, and it tells you when to plan for Special Assistance, Medicaid or VA help.

Run the numbers with a cost increase each year, because assisted living and nursing home rates usually rise every January. Check, too, whether a long-term care insurance policy exists, and whether a veteran or surviving spouse might qualify for VA pension. If the math says money will run out within two or three years, choose a home that accepts Special Assistance or Medicaid before you move, not after.