Assisted Living in Tennessee

Tennessee offers exceptional assisted living options with highly rated amenities, quality care, and homelike environments, all for an average cost of about $4,400 per month.^[01] Senior residents can engage in on-site activities like birthday parties and barbecues, or join an off-site excursion to explore all that the area has to offer. Known for mountains and music, the state offers an ideal blend of reasonable living costs and enriching activities from border to border. Tennessee exudes Southern comfort, from soulful country and blues music to fried catfish and cornbread, making the state a wonderful place to call home.

In Tennessee, the average cost of assisted living is about $4,400 per month. That’s about $500 less than the national average. Because of factors like location, apartment size, care level, and quality of amenities, assisted living costs can vary quite a bit. Tennessee’s assisted living communities range between about $2,800 at the low end and $6,300 at the highest end.^[01]

Typically, you can expect the cost of assisted living to increase as the cost of living in a particular city increases, apartment floor plan size gets larger, care levels become more advanced, and amenities become more luxurious.

The figures above reflect actual prices paid by families who were referred to an A Place for Mom partner assisted living community in Tennessee. They account for all fees paid, including amenities, services, and care. Seniors and their families can use a combination of public and private payment methods to cover these costs. Read more about the payment options for assisted living in Tennessee below.

There are a variety of methods to pay for assisted living in Tennessee. Families can either use private pay, public pay options, or a combination of the two. Read about the payment options below, or view our guide to paying for long-term care for a more high-level overview.

The official licensure terms for assisted living in Tennessee are “Assisted-Care Living Facilities” and “Residential Homes for the Aged.” Assisted-Care Living Facilities typically provide a higher level of care, such as medical services, than Residential Homes for the Aged. Both settings are licensed by the Tennessee Department of Health’s Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities.^[04]

The state of Tennessee defines an Assisted-Care Living Facility as an establishment that accepts mainly older adults for home or community based care and services. If necessary, these facilities may provide medical services, such as medication administration and nursing care. They must also do the following:^[04]

• Provide personal services, such as protective care, room and board, and nonmedical care
• Meet each resident’s medical and safety needs safely and effectively through the provision of appropriate assisted living services
• Provide services in the least restrictive and most homelike environment
• Help residents safely age in place while encouraging their individuality, respect, and privacy

A Residential Home for the Aged is a home that accepts mainly older adults for relatively permanent care. These homes must provide room and board and personal care to at least four nonrelated residents. Residential Homes for the Aged must not provide medical care. However, if the home employs a licensed nurse, that nurse may administer medications for residents.^[04]

Ease of access to assisted living records in Tennessee

We developed a system to rate each state on how easy – or difficult – it is to find important assisted living records and reports, and compiled tips to help you in your search.

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 whether the facility accepts Medicaid.

Access to Tennessee assisted living records: Moderate

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

• Information about provider licensing is available online, but inspection reports are unavailable.
• Mandatory inspections are performed at least every 15 months.

How to look up Tennessee assisted living licenses and records

Use the following steps to look up assisted living records in Tennessee:

• To confirm a community is licensed, use the Current Search or History Search form on the Department of Health website.
• Visit Tennessee’s senior community Disciplinary Action page for information about the backgrounds of providers.

How we arrived at our Tennessee rating

We developed a standard methodology for state data collection and evaluation, and 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? Yes
3. If Yes to #1, is the list of licensed communities searchable? Yes
4. Does the state post inspections, complaints, survey results, or violations online? Yes
5. If Yes to #4, is the information updated frequently (within 90 days)? Yes
6. If Yes to #2 and #4, is the enforcement information included in the same place as licensed communities? No or N/A
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? Yes
9. Is capacity shown? Yes
10. Are payment types shown (e.g., Medicaid, private pay)? No
11. Is the administrator/contact name shown? Yes
12. Can the state fine a facility? Yes
13. What is the frequency of inspections? Every 15 months
14. Does the website include pricing of facilities? No