Assisted Living in Ohio: A Family Guide
What assisted living is called in Ohio, what it costs, how Medicaid can help, how to check a community’s license and inspections, and who to call if something goes wrong. Every fact links to the official source.
- Licensed by
- Ohio Department of Health (ODH), Bureau of Regulatory Operations (Office of Health Assurance and Licensing)1
- Licensed communities on Lilisity
- 843 assisted living, 137 with memory care
- Medicaid help
- Limited: Assisted Living HCBS Waiver Program (Assisted Living Waiver)2
- Typical cost
- $6,103 a month (state median, CareScout 2025)
- Long-term care ombudsman
- 1-800-282-12063
- File a complaint
- 1-800-342-05534
What assisted living is called in Ohio
- Residential care facility (RCF)Ohio's licensed assisted living. An RCF gives housing plus supervision and personal care, and may offer limited skilled nursing such as giving medications. ODH licenses about 720 of them.1
What assisted living costs in Ohio
The median cost of assisted living in Ohio is $6,103 a month, below the national median of $6,200 (CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, collected July to November 2025). Prices vary with the apartment, the level of care and the community, so ask each one for its current rate sheet, including care-level fees.
If more care is needed later: nursing home costs in Ohio, with CareScout medians and the private-pay rates Ohio nursing homes publish.
Plan with our free tools: how long will the money last? and home care or assisted living?
Paying for assisted living in Ohio
Medicare does not pay for assisted living. Families pay from savings and income, long-term care insurance, or benefits such as VA Aid and Attendance (estimate it). Who actually pays for long-term care.
Medicaid. Ohio Medicaid's Assisted Living Waiver can pay for services in a licensed residential care facility that the Ohio Department of Aging has certified. A person who is eligible is enrolled only if the waiver has not reached the number of participants the federal government approved for that year. Program: Assisted Living HCBS Waiver Program (Assisted Living Waiver).2 Medicaid does not pay rent or meals in assisted living in any state, and not every community accepts it, so ask each one.
How to check a community in Ohio
Look up a license. Ohio's Long-Term Care Quality Navigator, built by the Ohio Department of Aging with other state agencies, is a dashboard to help you find a nursing home or assisted living facility. Assisted living facilities were added in February 2025. Search Ohio’s records.5
Inspection reports. The Ohio Department of Aging's Long-Term Care Quality Navigator shows two numbers for each assisted living facility: how many citations the Ohio Department of Health gave on licensure surveys and how many on complaint surveys. It does not say which years the counts cover, and it gives no survey dates or details. Its "See detailed survey information" link opens the state's survey page for the facility. For full survey reports, email a public information request to PRI@odh.ohio.gov.6
Lilisity shows Ohio’s inspection record on each community’s page where the state publishes one: the state’s own records, dated and linked to the official source.
Always visit in person, at a mealtime or in the evening if you can. Bring the tour scorecard and the 8 tour questions.
If something goes wrong
Complaints about care or conditions. ODH's Complaint Unit takes complaints about residential care facilities and other licensed health care facilities. The online form is preferred; you can stay anonymous. Surveyors investigate unannounced. Call 1-800-342-0553 or file online.4
Abuse, neglect or exploitation. Call 1-800-342-0553. How to report.4 If someone is in danger, call 911.
The long-term care ombudsman is a free advocate for residents of assisted living and nursing homes: they help resolve problems with a community, including move-out notices. Call 1-800-282-1206 or find your local ombudsman.7
Find assisted living in Ohio
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Common questions
Ohio Medicaid's Assisted Living Waiver can pay for services in a licensed residential care facility that the Ohio Department of Aging has certified. A person who is eligible is enrolled only if the waiver has not reached the number of participants the federal government approved for that year. Medicaid does not pay rent or meals in assisted living.
The median is $6,103 a month (CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025), compared with $6,200 nationally.
Ohio Department of Health (ODH), Bureau of Regulatory Operations (Office of Health Assurance and Licensing).
ODH's Complaint Unit takes complaints about residential care facilities and other licensed health care facilities. The online form is preferred; you can stay anonymous. Surveyors investigate unannounced. Phone: 1-800-342-0553.
Ohio's Long-Term Care Quality Navigator, built by the Ohio Department of Aging with other state agencies, is a dashboard to help you find a nursing home or assisted living facility. Assisted living facilities were added in February 2025.
Sources
- Licensing agency, license types (odh.ohio.gov)
- Medicaid (codes.ohio.gov)
- Ombudsman (aging.ohio.gov)
- Complaints, reporting abuse (odh.ohio.gov)
- License lookup (aging.ohio.gov)
- Inspection reports (aging.ohio.gov)
- Ombudsman (aging.ohio.gov)
- CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 (state medians)
Facts checked against these official sources on September 28, 2026. Rules and programs change; confirm with the agency before making a decision. General information, not legal or financial advice.
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