New tool introduces a time-based approach to understanding how long older adults can afford private-pay assisted living
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (July 7, 2026) — Senior housing affordability measures often don’t account for key factors that influence immediate and long-term affordability for older adults. To address this gap, the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) launched the NIC Senior Housing Affordability Calculator, an interactive tool designed to expand how senior housing affordability is evaluated, initially focused on assisted living affordability.
Traditional affordability measures focus on whether an older adult can afford rent upon move-in, but NIC’s new calculator adds a critical dimension: time. The tool estimates how long older adults can sustain private-pay assisted living costs under a defined set of assumptions, incorporating factors such as income, assets, rent levels, and projected growth rates.
The calculator was developed to provide operators, investors, lenders, researchers, and policy stakeholders a more complete view of long-term assisted living affordability across markets.
“Assisted living affordability is not just about whether older adults can manage costs at move-in, but also how long those resources can support care and housing,” said Lisa McCracken, NIC’s head of research & analytics. “This senior housing affordability calculator helps the industry better understand what older adults can afford and how it varies across markets.”
NIC’s recent research into assisted living penetration across U.S geographic markets showed that markets with similar income profiles often have different penetration rates, suggesting affordability is shaped not only by income, but also by assets, confidence in long-term affordability, and visibility into future costs. The NIC Senior Housing Affordability Calculator addresses that gap by using a time-based framework to model affordability over multiple years. The tool allows users to explore how long a representative older adult household can sustain assisted living costs and test how results change under different assumptions and scenarios.
Using average monthly rent, median income, and net worth for households age 75 and older, along with a defined set of assumptions, the model shows that the median affordability duration is approximately eight years and four months as of 2025 across the 99 NIC MAP markets. However, results vary meaningfully by market based on differences in household finances and assisted living pricing.
The tool is intended to support a broader conversation around senior housing access— including middle market access—pricing transparency, and long-term planning for assisted living. Many households finance assisted living through a combination of income, savings, and home equity, and the pace at which those resources are accessible can significantly affect how long care remains financially sustainable.
“Improving access to assisted living requires more than understanding who can afford rent at a single point in time,” said Omar Zahraoui, NIC senior principal. “It also requires confidence in long-term affordability. By providing that lens, this calculator can help inform more strategic decision-making to make care accessible across the sector.”
The new calculator is flexible and scenario-based, giving users the ability to adjust inputs and assumptions to better understand affordability dynamics within and across markets.
To learn more, explore the NIC Senior Housing Affordability Calculator and accompanying article and methodology on nic.org .
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About the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care
The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), a 501(c)(3) organization, works to enable access and choice by providing data, analytics and connections that bring together investors and providers. The organization delivers the most trusted, objective, and timely insights and implications derived from its analytics, which benefit from NIC’s affiliation with NIC MAP, the leading provider of comprehensive market data for senior housing and skilled nursing communities. NIC events, which include the industry’s premier conferences, provide sector stakeholders with opportunities to convene, network and drive thought leadership through high quality educational programming. For more information, visit NIC’s website and follow NIC on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.