Families making care decisions deserve real numbers, not marketing claims. This page collects the key statistics behind in-home senior care — each with its source — and we keep it updated as new data is published. Last reviewed: July 2026.
Aging at home in America — and in Florida
- 77% of adults age 50 and older want to remain in their own homes as they age (AARP). Aging in place is not a niche preference — it is the overwhelming default wish.
- More than 1 in 5 Floridians is 65 or older (U.S. Census Bureau) — one of the highest shares of any state, and coastal counties like Volusia and Flagler skew older still.
- The national median cost of an assisted living community is about $5,900 per month (CareScout Cost of Care Survey, 2024). In-home care lets families buy only the hours they need — see how the math works for Volusia County.
Falls — the risk that changes everything
- 1 in 4 adults age 65+ falls each year, and falls are the leading cause of injury and injury death in this age group (CDC).
- Older adults make roughly 3 million emergency department visits for falls every year (CDC).
- Most senior falls happen at home, in predictable places, from fixable causes — see our room-by-room fall prevention checklist.
- A steady caregiver presence — help with transfers, bathing, and nighttime trips — directly targets the moments when most falls happen. That's a core purpose of personal care at home.
The hospital-to-home window
- About 1 in 5 Medicare patients is readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge (New England Journal of Medicine; CMS data). Most of those readmissions happen in the first weeks home.
- Research on care transitions consistently finds that support in the first days after discharge — medication pickup, meals, transportation to follow-ups, a second set of eyes — is when help matters most. That window is exactly what post-hospital recovery care covers.
Dementia and Parkinson's
- Nearly 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease (Alzheimer's Association).
- About 6 in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once, and many do so repeatedly (Alzheimer's Association) — a key reason families choose predictable, one-on-one dementia companionship and overnight or 24-hour coverage.
- About 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease, with roughly 90,000 new diagnoses each year (Parkinson's Foundation). Parkinson's care at home is about pacing — support that adjusts to the day.
The family caregivers carrying it all
- 63 million Americans — nearly 1 in 4 adults — now provide unpaid care to a family member (AARP, Caregiving in the U.S. 2025).
- About 3 in 5 family caregivers are women, and many are "sandwich generation" — caring for a parent and children at once (AARP 2025).
- 39% of family caregivers report high emotional stress, and roughly a quarter say they feel alone in their role (AARP 2025).
- The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that chronic loneliness carries a health risk comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day (U.S. Surgeon General Advisory, 2023) — for the person receiving care and the person giving it. Scheduled relief exists: respite care.
The end-of-life wish
- Roughly 7 in 10 Americans say they would prefer to spend their final days at home (Kaiser Family Foundation polling) — yet historically most deaths occurred in facilities. Non-medical hospice companion support alongside a hospice team helps families honor that wish.
What these numbers mean together
The pattern is consistent: people want to stay home, the risks of staying home are real but concentrated in predictable moments — falls, the weeks after a hospital stay, the hours nobody is watching — and the family members holding it together are carrying measurable strain. Professional in-home care exists precisely for those concentrated moments.
If you're weighing options for someone you love, start with the numbers for our area: what home care actually costs in Volusia County, and the questions to ask before hiring any caregiver.
Sources: CDC (falls data); AARP (aging-in-place preference; Caregiving in the U.S. 2025); U.S. Census Bureau; CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2024; New England Journal of Medicine / CMS (readmissions); Alzheimer's Association; Parkinson's Foundation; U.S. Surgeon General Advisory on Loneliness and Isolation (2023); Kaiser Family Foundation. Statistics are national unless noted; figures are approximate and change as new data is released.