Assisted Living in Texas: A Family Guide
What assisted living is called in Texas, 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 communities on Lilisity
- 1,952 assisted living, 737 with memory care
- Medicaid help
- Yes: STAR+PLUS Home and Community Based Services (STAR+PLUS HCBS) Waiver Program2
- Typical cost
- $5,666 a month (state median, CareScout 2025)
- Long-term care ombudsman
- 800-252-24123
- File a complaint
- 800-458-98584
What assisted living is called in Texas
- Type A assisted living facilityFor residents who do not need staff help at night and can follow directions to get out in an emergency.1
- Type B assisted living facilityFor residents who need staff help to leave in an emergency, cannot follow directions in an emergency, and need care during the night.1
- Alzheimer's license classification (Sec. 247.029)A special license classification the state set up for facilities that advertise or promote care for people with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders. A facility does not need it to care for residents with Alzheimer's.5
Memory care rules
Any assisted living facility may care for people with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders without the state's Alzheimer's license classification. A facility that advertises memory care must tell each resident in writing whether it holds that license.5
Questions to ask memory care about nights.
What assisted living costs in Texas
The median cost of assisted living in Texas is $5,666 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 Texas, with CareScout medians and the private-pay rates Texas 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 Texas
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. Texas Medicaid can help pay for assisted living for people enrolled in the STAR+PLUS HCBS waiver, which helps people who would otherwise need to be in a nursing home. HHSC checks whether you need this program when you apply for Medicaid. Program: STAR+PLUS Home and Community Based Services (STAR+PLUS HCBS) Waiver Program.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 Texas
Look up a license. HHSC posts a downloadable spreadsheet listing every licensed assisted living facility in Texas. It is linked from the HHSC assisted living page. Search Texas’s records.6
Lilisity shows Texas’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. HHSC Complaint and Incident Intake takes complaints about the care or treatment of people served by providers HHSC regulates, including abuse, neglect, or exploitation. You can call, file online, or email. Call 800-458-9858 or file online.4
Abuse, neglect or exploitation. Call 800-458-9858. 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 800-252-2412 or find your local ombudsman.3
Find assisted living in Texas
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Common questions
Texas Medicaid can help pay for assisted living for people enrolled in the STAR+PLUS HCBS waiver, which helps people who would otherwise need to be in a nursing home. HHSC checks whether you need this program when you apply for Medicaid. Medicaid does not pay rent or meals in assisted living.
The median is $5,666 a month (CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025), compared with $6,200 nationally.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), Long-Term Care Regulation.
HHSC Complaint and Incident Intake takes complaints about the care or treatment of people served by providers HHSC regulates, including abuse, neglect, or exploitation. You can call, file online, or email. Phone: 800-458-9858.
HHSC posts a downloadable spreadsheet listing every licensed assisted living facility in Texas. It is linked from the HHSC assisted living page.
Sources
- Licensing agency, license types (hhs.texas.gov)
- Medicaid (hhs.texas.gov)
- Ombudsman (ltco.texas.gov)
- Complaints, reporting abuse (hhs.texas.gov)
- License types, memory care rules (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
- License lookup (apps.hhs.texas.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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