What assisted living actually costs in Evanston and Illinois
Short answer
The median cost of assisted living in Illinois is $6,219 a month, according to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey. That number is a starting point, not a quote. What a family actually pays depends on the level of care assessed, whether a second person is living in the apartment, and a one-time community fee that the monthly figure never includes.
What the median actually measures
A median is the middle of a range. Half of Illinois communities charge more than $6,219 a month and half charge less. It is a statewide figure, not an Evanston figure. CareScout publishes no separate median for Evanston or for the north-shore suburbs, so this guide will not tell you how local prices compare — it does not know. Treat the statewide median as the number that tells you whether a quote is roughly normal, not as the number you will pay.
For comparison, the same survey puts the Illinois nursing home median at $8,304 a month for a semi-private room and $9,216 for a private room. Those are different levels of care, not different prices for the same thing.
There is no Illinois median published for independent living, and this guide does not invent one. Where a reliable figure does not exist, saying so is more useful than filling the gap.
The four costs that surprise families
A community fee. A one-time charge at move-in, separate from rent. Ask for the amount in writing and ask whether any part of it is refundable if your parent leaves within a few months.
Care levels. Most communities assess a resident and assign a care tier that is billed on top of the base rate. The tier can change after a fall, a hospital stay, or a medication change. Ask what each tier costs, what moves someone between tiers, and who decides.
A second person. If both parents move in, there is almost always a second-occupant fee. It is rarely on the brochure.
The annual increase. Ask what the rate rose by in each of the last three years. A community that cannot answer that question has told you something.
What this means in Evanston
A statewide median cannot tell you what any one Evanston community charges, and the spread between communities is wider than a single number suggests. Rather than guess at a local average, get the actual numbers from the actual buildings — there are not many of them, and they will quote you.
The practical move is to collect three written quotes that each itemise base rent, the current care tier, the community fee and the second-person fee. Comparing all-in monthly totals is the only comparison that means anything.
If paying privately is not realistic
Illinois runs a Medicaid programme that pays for care in approved assisted-living-style settings, called the Supportive Living Program. It is not the same as private-pay assisted living and not every community participates. It is explained in detail in Illinois Supportive Living Program, explained.
Medicare does not pay for assisted living. That surprises most families, and the reason is worth understanding before you plan around it — see Does Medicare pay for assisted living or nursing home care?
Sources
- CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, published 2026
- Illinois HFS — Supportive Living Program Resident Fact Sheet
Every figure on this page was read from the source listed above on 18 October 2026. Figures change; the review date tells you how fresh this page is.
Related guides
Not sure which level of care applies?
Six questions, about two minutes. It asks for no name, no email and no phone number, and your answers never leave your device.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026.