CCRC entrance fees typically range from about $100,000 for a modest apartment to well over $1 million for a premium residence, with the national average landing near $300,000 to $350,000 based on 2025 data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. That upfront payment buys the right to live in the community and, depending on the contract you sign, locks in access to assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing as you age. What you actually pay depends on four things: the contract type, the size of your unit, where the community is located, and how much of the fee you want back later.
Typical Price Tiers
Entry-level fees generally start between $100,000 and $250,000. At this tier, expect a smaller unit, a fee-for-service or modified contract, and a refund policy that returns little or nothing after a few years of residency. The full continuum of care is still there, but you carry more financial risk if your health declines.
Mid-range fees fall between $300,000 and $600,000. Units tend to be larger, and partially refundable contracts that protect a portion of the investment for your heirs are more common. Life-care contracts show up more often at this price point.
Luxury communities and those in high-cost metro areas regularly charge over $1 million for premium residences with expansive floor plans and resort-style amenities. These properties often include guaranteed life care, meaning healthcare comes at no additional cost regardless of how long or intensive the need becomes.
What Drives the Price Up or Down
Unit size is the most obvious factor. A studio apartment and a three-bedroom cottage on the same campus can have entrance fees separated by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Larger units require more maintenance and occupy more valuable real estate on the property, both of which get priced in.
Geography matters just as much. A CCRC outside a major coastal city will reflect the local real estate market, while a similar community in a lower-cost region might charge half as much for a comparable unit and contract. Construction costs, land values, and local labor markets all feed into the fee.
Couples moving into the same unit typically pay a second-person surcharge on top of the base entrance fee. Some communities set this as a flat dollar amount; others calculate it as a percentage of the base fee. The surcharge accounts for the second resident’s use of dining, amenities, and future healthcare access.
Refundability is another major lever. A contract that guarantees a 90% refund whenever you leave will carry a noticeably higher entrance fee than one where the balance declines to zero over a few years. You are effectively paying more upfront in exchange for the security of getting most of it back.
The Three Contract Types
The contract type is the single biggest factor shaping both the entrance fee and your long-term financial exposure. Every CCRC contract falls into one of three categories.
Type A (life care) carries the highest entrance fee, but your monthly costs stay essentially flat even if you move from independent living into assisted living or skilled nursing. You are prepaying for unlimited future care, which is why the upfront price tag is steeper.
Type B (modified) asks a lower entrance fee than Type A. You get healthcare services at a discounted rate for a set window, often 30 to 60 days. After that, you pay closer to market rates for assisted living or nursing care. It sits between full prepayment and full exposure.
Type C (fee-for-service) has the lowest entrance fee. You pay the going market rate for any healthcare services whenever you need them. If you never need much care, this saves money. If you develop significant health needs, costs can climb quickly.
Type A costs the most now but caps your risk. Type C costs the least now but leaves you exposed. Most financial advisors working with CCRC clients spend the bulk of their time on this decision, because it is nearly impossible to change contract types after you have moved in.
How Refund Structures Work
CCRC entrance fees come with one of several refund arrangements, and the differences here can move six figures.
A declining balance plan shrinks the refundable portion over time, typically reaching zero within two to four years. A common structure takes an initial percentage upfront, then amortizes roughly 2% per month until nothing remains. Once the balance hits zero, no refund is owed if you leave or pass away.
A partially refundable plan keeps a fixed percentage of the entrance fee, commonly 50%, 75%, or 90%, refundable regardless of how long you live there. The trade-off is a higher entrance fee compared to a declining-balance plan.
A fully refundable plan returns the entire entrance fee to you or your estate when you leave, minus any applicable administrative deductions. These plans carry the highest entrance fees of all, sometimes 15% to 30% more than equivalent declining-balance contracts.
One detail catches people off guard: most communities do not write the refund check until a new resident moves into your unit. If the housing market slows or the community has low demand, that wait can stretch for months. Read the residency agreement carefully for language about refund timing and whether any deadline exists for the community to pay.
What the Entrance Fee Actually Covers
The fee funds two broad categories: your future care and the community’s physical and financial infrastructure.
On the care side, the fee acts as a prepayment that secures your access to assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing on the same campus. In a Type A contract, that prepayment is comprehensive. In Type B and Type C contracts it covers less, but you still get priority access to on-site care over someone coming in from outside the community. That guaranteed bed is one of the core reasons people choose a CCRC over aging in place.
On the infrastructure side, entrance fees help the community service its construction debt, whether that is mortgage payments or bond obligations. They also fund capital improvements like building renovations, equipment upgrades, and common-area maintenance. Dining rooms, fitness centers, pools, and landscaping all draw from these funds.
Monthly Fees Sit on Top
The entrance fee is not the only cost. Every CCRC charges an ongoing monthly service fee covering dining, housekeeping, utilities, maintenance, activities, and baseline services. Based on 2025 industry data, the average monthly fee for entrance-fee communities runs about $4,285. Rental-model communities without a large upfront fee averaged around $3,873 per month.
Monthly fees can and do increase. Most communities adjust them annually to keep pace with operating costs, and annual increases of 3% to 5% are common. Your residency agreement should spell out how increases are determined and whether residents have any input through a resident council or advisory board. Over a decade or more of residency, those increases compound, so budgeting only for the initial monthly fee is a mistake.
Under a Type A contract, the monthly fee generally stays the same even if you transfer to assisted living or skilled nursing. Under Type B and Type C contracts, the monthly cost can jump significantly when you move to a higher level of care, because you are paying market or near-market rates for those services.
Tax Deductibility
A portion of your CCRC entrance fee may qualify as a deductible medical expense on your federal tax return. The IRS allows you to include the part of a life-care fee or founder’s fee that is “properly allocable to medical care,” whether you pay it as a lump sum or monthly. This applies even if you are currently healthy and living independently, because the fee prepays for future medical services.1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 502 (2025), Medical and Dental Expenses
Your community should provide an annual statement showing what percentage of the entrance fee and monthly fees is allocable to medical care. That percentage varies widely by contract type and cost structure. Type A contracts, which prepay for extensive healthcare, tend to have a larger deductible portion than Type C contracts where you pay for care as needed.
The deduction only helps if you itemize and your total medical expenses for the year exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. In the year you pay a large entrance fee, that threshold is much easier to clear. Pairing the entrance fee with other medical expenses in the same tax year can maximize the benefit.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses
Costs Before You Sign the Main Contract
Before you ever pay the entrance fee, you will likely encounter a waitlist deposit. These deposits typically range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, and refund policies vary. Some communities refund the deposit in full if you change your mind; others treat part or all of it as nonrefundable. Ask for the waitlist refund policy in writing before handing over any money.
CCRCs also screen applicants on both health and finances before approving admission. On the health side, you generally need to be capable of independent living when you enter, and communities require a medical exam, physician’s statement, and cognitive testing. Financial screening asks whether you can sustain both the entrance fee and decades of monthly payments, so expect to provide detailed financial statements covering assets, income sources, and liabilities.
Cancellation Rights After You Sign
Most states that regulate CCRCs give new residents a window to cancel the contract and get their entrance fee back. The length varies significantly. Some states provide as little as 72 hours from the date you sign, while others allow up to 90 days from the date you move in. During this period, you can walk away for any reason and receive a full refund of your entrance fee, minus a reasonable charge for the time you actually occupied the unit.
Find out your state’s specific cancellation window before signing. Losing track of a deadline on a $300,000-plus commitment is not a mistake you want to make. After the cooling-off period expires, the refund terms in your contract take over, and what you get back depends entirely on whether you chose a declining-balance, partially refundable, or fully refundable plan.
What Happens if the Community Fails
States regulate CCRCs to protect residents’ financial interests, though the depth of regulation varies. Common requirements include mandatory disclosure statements provided to prospective residents before signing, audited financial statements filed with state agencies, and actuarial studies proving the community can meet its long-term obligations. Some states also require entrance fee deposits to be held in escrow until certain occupancy or construction thresholds are met.
Despite these safeguards, CCRCs can and occasionally do fail financially. When a community files for bankruptcy, current residents are generally not treated as creditors because their refund has not been triggered yet. Their primary concern is preserving their life-care contracts and the right to keep living there. Former residents or their heirs who are owed refunds typically become unsecured creditors, meaning they stand behind bondholders and other secured lenders. In the worst cases, former residents have recovered as little as 10% to 15% of their expected refund.
Before committing, request the community’s most recent disclosure statement and audited financial statements. These are public documents in most regulated states and will show occupancy rates, debt levels, reserve balances, and operating margins. A community that resists sharing this information, or one whose financials show thin reserves and high debt relative to its size, deserves extra scrutiny. Some nonprofit communities also maintain benevolent care funds to help residents who outlive their financial resources, but not every CCRC has one, so ask. The entrance fee is a long-term bet on the community’s solvency, and the due diligence you do before signing is your best protection.