Questions families ask about assisted living in Minnesota

Minnesota's median is $4,508 a month (Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2023, Minnesota, assisted living, monthly median). Plan for $4,500–$5,300 once medication management is added, plus a one-time move-in fee with a median near $3,000. No facility in Minnesota publishes its rate; the cost page shows how to get the real number.

2549 hold a Minnesota Department of Health assisted living licence as of 2026-09-15. 1545 are small homes of six beds or fewer and 610 carry the dementia-care designation. The full list is on this page.

The state does not publish pet policy, so Palmelle asks each operator. 0 operators across the 132 towns on this site have confirmed yes so far. Facilities that have not answered are shown without a pet line — never as a no.

MDH has not posted a licensing survey or a complaint finding for that licence. Most newly licensed homes read this way for their first year. It is not a bad sign and not a good one; here is what the score is built from.

By the state's dementia-care designation: Minnetonka (19), St. Paul (19), Edina (14). 1,220 facilities in the 132-town ring hold it; all of them are listed on the memory care page.

Assisted living is licensed by MDH under chapter 144G and provides housing, meals and help with daily living, with nursing services arranged as needed. A nursing home is federally certified, staffed for skilled nursing around the clock, and roughly twice the cost. The full comparison is on Palmelle.

Minnesota has no separate adult-family-home licence: a four-bed house and a 150-bed community hold the same 144G assisted living licence. What families mean by the term is a small residential home, and 3,090 of the 5,098 facilities in this ring have six beds or fewer — here is how to find and judge them.

Look at its score and its record link. A score below the top band means MDH posted a survey with correction orders or substantiated a complaint; the record page on Palmelle shows the basis. "Not yet scored" means MDH has posted nothing for that licence. How the score is built.

When wandering, night-time confusion, or resistance to care makes an unlocked setting unsafe, or when the current home says it can no longer meet the need. The MDH dementia-care designation requires trained staff and a secured setting. Palmelle's longer answer.

Yes, and go twice — once announced, once at a mealtime. Ask for the all-in monthly price in writing, the staff-to-resident ratio at night, who the licensed nurse is and how often they are on site, and what happens when care needs rise. The full tour list.