Assisted living in San Diego: common questions
How much does assisted living cost in San Diego?
Among the 147 San Diego communities on Senior Places with a starting price on file, the median starting price is $4,300 a month. The middle half of those communities start between $4,300 and $5,600, and the full range is $2,000 to $12,000 a month. A starting price is the lowest monthly rate on a community's listing, usually a shared or studio room at the lightest level of care; some listings carry a market estimate instead of a quoted rate. Care fees, level-of-care charges and a second-person fee are added on top, so ask every community for an all-in monthly quote for the care your person needs.
How many assisted living communities are in San Diego, California?
Senior Places lists 153 senior living communities in San Diego, California: 143 offer assisted living, 39 offer memory care, and 20 offer independent living (many offer more than one). Of these, 120 are small residential care homes licensed for six residents or fewer, and 33 are larger communities. 145 of them carry a California Department of Social Services license number on their profile; in California, assisted living and memory care are licensed as Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE).
Which San Diego communities accept Medi-Cal (the Assisted Living Waiver)?
In San Diego, 20 communities are on the state's Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) participating-facility list or report accepting it. The ALW lets eligible Medi-Cal members pay for assisted living or memory care through Medi-Cal instead of private funds, but only communities enrolled in the program can accept it. Use the ALW filter on this page to see just those communities, and confirm current enrollment and any waitlist directly with the community.
See San Diego communities that accept the ALWCan I see state inspection records for San Diego communities?
Yes. 142 of the 153 San Diego communities on Senior Places show their California Department of Social Services inspection history on the profile: inspection visits, complaints, and Type A and Type B citations. Of those, 18 have had at least one Type A citation, the state's most serious kind, in the past three years. The records come from the state's public facility search and are refreshed regularly, so a citation on a profile is one to ask the community about on a tour, not a reason to rule it out on its own.
How does Senior Places match me with a community in San Diego?
Take the free quiz and every San Diego community is scored on care needs, lifestyle preferences, and budget against your own answers. Each match comes with an AI-written Match Report that explains where the community fits and where it falls short, and the Senior Places team offers optional, free help from your first look through move-in. Communities cannot pay for a better ranking or placement.
How matching works