Assisted Living in Wisconsin

Assisted living communities offer seniors assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing and grooming, in a residential setting with social activities. In Wisconsin, assisted living is primarily offered in either a licensed community-based residential facility (CBRF) or a residential care apartment complex (RCAC). Assisted living is also available through an adult family home setting. The average monthly cost of assisted living in Wisconsin is $5,400 per month or $64,800 per year.^[01] This is higher than the cost of independent living, which does not provide ADL support, but less than the cost of memory care.

A Place for Mom has gathered proprietary pricing data from our partnered communities in Wisconsin. The seniors we’ve helped have paid between $3,250 and $7,450 per month for assisted living in Wisconsin. The national average monthly cost of assisted living is roughly $5,100, while Wisconsin’s average cost is just under $300 more per month.^[01] The range of prices in the state may be due to several factors.

As you tour assisted living communities, consider how these factors may affect the cost:

• Your loved one’s room size and layout
• Pet rent or fees
• The level of care your loved one needs
• Whether you plan to add optional expenses, such as an errand service
• The community’s location

Many seniors and their families use a variety of payment options to cover the cost of assisted living.

Since assisted living can be expensive, it’s typical for seniors to use a mixture of private pay and public assistance. It’s helpful to keep in mind that the earlier you and your loved one plan for care, the more payment options you’ll have. Some benefits that can help pay for care, such as veterans benefits or long-term care insurance, may have a waiting period before they take effect. For more information about the many options you may want to consider, you can also consult our complete guide to paying for long-term care.

Assisted living communities are licensed through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Division of Quality Assurance: Bureau of Assisted Living. Wisconsin recognizes three types of community settings for assisted living:^[02]

• Community-based residential facilities (CBRF) provide care and services to five or more seniors who do not need more than an intermediate level of nursing care.
• Residential care apartment complexes (RCAC) offer an apartment to each resident and can provide up to 28 hours of assistance per week per resident.
• Adult family homes (AFH) refer to a private residence where three or four seniors live together. They receive some care services, but not any nursing care. This type of care typically serves seniors with a physical or intellectual disability.

Wisconsin requires that assisted living facilities conduct a care assessment for all new residents. While the state doesn’t mandate a staff to resident ratio, they do say that communities should have enough staff available to meet the needs of its residents, with an awake caregiver available to any resident needing round-the-clock care.^[02]

It’s also helpful to know that licensing and inspection reports of assisted living facilities in Wisconsin can be easily accessed by prospective residents and their families. We’ve outlined how to access such records in the section below.

Evaluating Wisconsin’s licensing and inspections process

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 Wisconsin assisted living records: Exceptional

Public access to assisted living records and reports for the state of Wisconsin is exceptional. Wisconsin is one of two states to include information about the pricing of assisted living communities online. Assisted living records in Wisconsin are highly transparent, having met all but one of the transparency criteria.

How to look up Wisconsin assisted living licenses and records

Use Wisconsin’s Division of Quality Assurance Provider Search to find information about assisted living licensing and backgrounds. We provide some steps below to help navigate the search.

• Narrow your search by selecting “assisted living facilities” as the provider type.
• Click the name of a provider from the results page for very detailed information.
• Profiles of assisted living communities with pricing details are available as PDF documents on the state’s Assisted Living Directories and Facility Profiles webpage.

How we arrived at our Wisconsin 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? Yes
7. If Yes to #4 and No to #6, are violations / inspections searchable at all? Yes or N/A
8. Is information about special licensing for care shown? Yes
9. Capacity shown? Yes
10. Payment types shown, [e.g. Medicaid, private pay]? Yes
11. Administrator / Contact name shown? Yes
12. State may fine facility? Yes
13. Frequency of inspections? Every 6 months
14. Website includes pricing of facility? Yes