Guides
What Home Care Costs in Bergen County, NJ
Real numbers first. Then what they mean for your family.
Real numbers first. Then what they mean for your family.
In the most recent CareScout Cost of Care Survey, conducted in late 2025, the median cost of a non-medical caregiver in New Jersey works out to about $38 an hour, based on a median annual cost of $86,944 at 44 hours of care per week. The national median is $35. Bergen County agencies typically price at or above the state median, so for planning purposes, the high thirties to low forties per hour is a realistic starting point.
That state median rose 6 percent in a single year. Prices in this market do not stand still, which is why this page cites the survey and the year rather than pretending otherwise.
The level of care matters most. Companionship and help around the house sits at the lower end. Hands-on personal care, the bathing, dressing, and mobility support that takes training and strength, sits higher. Memory care sits higher still because the caregiver needs specific skills and steadier nerves.
The schedule matters almost as much. Overnights, weekends, and holidays carry a premium. Very short shifts price higher per hour than longer ones, which is part of why our minimum shift is four hours. And if care has to start tomorrow rather than next month, expect less room to optimize.
Finally, consistency costs something and is worth it. Keeping the same caregiver on every visit takes real scheduling discipline behind the scenes. Agencies that promise whoever is available can sometimes quote lower. You will feel the difference within a month.
A privately hired caregiver usually quotes less per hour than an agency, and on paper that looks like savings. The quote leaves out what you take on as the employer: payroll taxes, liability if they are hurt in your parent’s home, the background check you now have to run yourself, and no backup at all when they get sick, go on vacation, or quit.
An agency rate carries those costs inside it. Our caregivers are W-2 employees, background checked and reference verified, covered by our insurance, supervised by an RN, and replaceable within hours rather than weeks when life happens. Families who have done it both ways tend to describe the difference as paying for the hour versus paying for the system behind the hour.
Using the 2025 New Jersey median of $38 an hour, here is what common schedules cost per month. Four hours a day on weekdays, about 20 hours a week, runs about $3,300 a month. A full 40-hour week runs about $6,600. Around-the-clock coverage billed hour by hour would be about $27,700, but in practice continuous care is structured differently than simple multiplication, and the right schedule often costs meaningfully less than the worst-case math.
For comparison, the same survey puts New Jersey’s median nursing home cost at about $12,800 a month for a semi-private room, and assisted living at about $8,460 a month. Home care at moderate hours is the least expensive of the three. At very high hours, the comparison gets honest and personal: what a facility cannot offer is one-to-one attention in your parent’s own house.
A care consultation is free and includes the RN assessment. You leave it with a real schedule and a real number for your situation, not a range from a survey.
New Jersey ranks 17th among states for non-medical caregiver cost and 6th for assisted living in the 2025 survey. The state runs about three dollars an hour above the national median for in-home care, and Bergen County sits in one of the more expensive corners of an expensive state. Higher wages here are also why the county has caregivers worth hiring. The labor market that raises the rate is the same one that raises the quality bar.
Most of our families pay from income and savings, sometimes shared across siblings with a simple written agreement so nobody is guessing later. If your parent holds a long-term care insurance policy, pull it out of the drawer now: most policies reimburse non-medical home care once their conditions are met, and we provide the documentation a claim needs. Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses may qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, a monthly benefit that can offset care costs; applying is free through accredited representatives, and no one should ever pay a fee to be qualified for it. Our guide to paying for home care covers each of these in detail.
Medicare is the one source families count on that does not come through: it covers short-term skilled home health under specific conditions, not ongoing caregiver hours. Our FAQ covers how we work with long-term care insurance in more detail.
Every Lumara care plan starts with an RN Clinical Supervisor’s assessment in your parent’s home. Caregivers are our W-2 employees, not contractors, and the owner answers the phone when something needs attention. Our minimum shift is four hours, where longer minimums are common in this market, so you are not forced to buy more care than the situation calls for.
If you want the real number for your family’s situation, the consultation is free, takes about an hour, and carries no obligation.
The 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey puts New Jersey’s median at about $38 an hour for a non-medical caregiver. Bergen County agencies typically price at or above the state median. The exact rate depends on the level of care, the schedule, and how quickly care needs to begin.
At full hourly rates, usually yes. New Jersey’s median nursing home cost is about $12,800 a month for a semi-private room, while around-the-clock hourly home care can run well past that. Families choosing 24-hour care at home are paying for something a facility cannot offer: one-to-one attention in a familiar place. Around-the-clock care is also structured differently than simple hourly math, so talk the schedule through before assuming the worst-case number. Our home care vs assisted living guide has the full decision framework.
Medicare covers short-term skilled home health, such as intermittent nursing visits or therapy ordered by a doctor, under specific conditions. It does not cover ongoing non-medical caregiver hours, and it does not cover personal care when that is the only care needed.
The consultation is free, takes about an hour, and ends with a real number for your family’s situation. Every inquiry is read personally.
Or call us directly at (551) 500-2054.