The arithmetic
A decision measured in six figures deserves more than a tour and a star rating.
Assisted living is among the largest purchases most families will ever make on behalf of someone they love. It is also usually made quickly, after a fall, a hospital stay or a hard conversation. Here is what that decision typically costs, set against the cost of the record.
| Entry | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted living, one month | U.S. national median, 2025 ¹ | $6,200 |
| Assisted living, one year | 12 months at the median | $74,400 |
| A typical stay | About two years ² | $148,800 |
| A three-year stay | 36 months at the median | $223,200 |
| One community report | Single report | $29 |
| Five community reports | Value Pass | $99 |
Comparing five communities side by side costs less than $100, roughly seven hundredths of one percent of a typical two-year stay at the national median. Memory care, higher levels of care and many Washington markets often run higher, which makes the share smaller still.
Figures are illustrative and based on published national medians; your community's rates will differ. The point stands at any price: the record costs a tiny fraction of the decision it informs.
What a report records
Every entry comes from a public source, and every source is cited.
The same public sources and the same rules apply to every community. Nobody can buy a better record. Here is what each report brings together and why it matters to your family.
State inspections
What trained inspectors actually found
Washington's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) conducts unannounced inspections of every licensed community and publishes the results as PDF reports. They describe specific deficiencies, how serious they were, and whether the community corrected them. Very few families ever read them.
- ✓Each finding and its severity, in plain language
- ✓How the community responded and whether it fixed the problem
- ✓A link to the original state document so you can read it yourself
Investigations and enforcement
What happened when someone filed a complaint
Routine inspections are scheduled. Complaint investigations happen because a resident, family member, staff member or medical provider reported a concern to the state. When the state confirms a problem, it can impose enforcement such as civil fines, conditions on the license, or a stop on new admissions.
- ✓Complaint investigations and their outcomes
- ✓Enforcement actions and when they occurred
- ✓Patterns over time, so a single old finding is seen in context
Reviews
What families and residents say, across every platform
The same community can show 4.5 stars on one site and 3.0 on another. Each platform draws different reviewers, and some are run by referral businesses that are paid by communities when a family moves in. Five stars from three reviews also looks the same in search results as five stars from two hundred.
- ✓Ratings gathered from several independent review platforms, not just one
- ✓Review counts and dates, so you can tell a strong signal from a thin one
- ✓The individual reviews, side by side
Owner and manager
Who owns the building, and who runs the care
Secretary of State filings show who holds the license, what kind of organization it is, where it is headquartered and how long it has existed. We match the manager to every other community it runs, so you can see its track record beyond the one building you toured. More on why this matters below.
Location and property
The practical details that shape daily life
Distance to the nearest hospital, urgent care, pharmacy, grocery store and park, along with county assessor records on the building itself.
Ownership
Who owns the community shapes decisions you will never see on a tour.
Staffing levels, what gets repaired and when, how quickly a manager can approve a change, and whether the community will be sold during your parent's stay are all decided by owners and managers. The marketing materials rarely say who those people are. The public record usually does.
Where decisions are made: local, regional or national
We classify each owner and manager by how far its headquarters sits from the community.
Headquartered in the same city or county, or within about a 45-minute drive. Leadership is close enough to visit regularly, often knows staff by name, and has a reputation to protect in the same community where residents' families live.
Based in Washington or a neighboring state, beyond a short drive. Often large enough to share training, purchasing and clinical expertise across several communities while staying familiar with Washington's rules and labor market.
Headquartered more than 300 miles away. National organizations can bring deep resources and standardized systems. Decisions about budgets and staffing, however, may be made by people who have never visited the building.
None of these is automatically better. Distance is one signal among many, and the manager's record across all of its communities is often the clearest evidence of how it will run this one.
What kind of organization it is
An owner's structure tells you what it answers to and what it is built to deliver over time.
Family-owned
Owned by an individual or family, often operating one or a few communities. Owners tend to be personally involved and decisions can be fast. Quality depends heavily on the people involved, and a retirement, sale or succession change can shift things quickly.
Nonprofit
Governed by a board and organized around a charitable mission, with no shareholders to pay. Surplus revenue is reinvested in the organization. Many Washington nonprofits have served their communities for decades, and their annual IRS Form 990 filings are public.
REIT
A real estate investment trust is typically publicly traded and is required by law to pay out most of its taxable income to shareholders. REITs usually own the building and contract with a separate company to run it. Ask who that manager is, because they are the ones delivering care.
Private equity
Owned by an investment fund that raises money from investors and typically plans to sell its holdings within a set number of years to return a profit. That can bring capital for renovations. It can also mean a change of ownership, and sometimes of management, while your loved one lives there.
There are excellent and poor communities under every kind of ownership. Knowing the structure helps you ask the right questions and read the rest of the record with clear eyes.
Before you tour
Use the record to make every tour count.
What a tour shows you
- The lobby, a model apartment and the dining room
- A friendly marketing director
- The activity calendar
- One afternoon, usually scheduled in advance
What the record shows you
- Years of state inspection findings and corrections
- Complaint investigations and enforcement actions
- Reviews from every major platform, with counts and dates
- Who owns the building, who runs it, and how they perform elsewhere
Read the report first, then walk in with specific questions. A community with a strong record can answer them easily. A community that has worked through problems can explain what changed. Either way, you will be making a better-informed decision.
Reports
Compare five communities for less than $100.
Many families narrow their search to a handful of communities. Search every licensed community in Washington, then unlock the full record when you are ready to compare.
- ✓ 5 Community reports
- ✓ Full report + downloadable PDF
- ✓ Use on any community, anytime
- ✓ Unused unlocks never expire
- ✓ 3 months of access per unlock
Sources
- CareScout (Genworth), Cost of Care Survey, conducted July to November 2025: national median for assisted living of $6,200 per month, or $74,400 per year. carescout.com/cost-of-care
- Industry figures commonly place the average assisted living stay at about two years; the National Center for Assisted Living reports a median stay of about 22 months for residents who later move to skilled nursing.
The Senior Housing Ledger records publicly available information. A report is a starting point for your own research and conversations with each community, not a recommendation against or for any provider.