Aging in Place Statistics: Preferences, Confidence & Safety Net (2026)
Older adults overwhelmingly want to age in place, and most already do: 93% of US adults aged 65+ live in their own home or apartment (Pew Research Center, 2026). The gap is not desire but the safety net behind it: only 37% are confident they'll actually get the in-home care they'd want, and just 21% hold long-term-care insurance.
Last updated: June 2026
Overview: do older adults want to age in place?
Yes, overwhelmingly, and most already do. 93% of US adults aged 65 and older live in their own home or apartment (Pew Research Center, 2026), and 75% of older adults say they want to stay in their current home as they age, with 73% wanting to stay in their community (AARP, 2024). Aging in place is the strong, settled preference of the great majority of older people, and it is a normal and independent choice worth protecting. The complication is not the preference itself but the confidence and funding behind it. Among older Americans not currently receiving in-home care, 60% say they would want to stay home with a caregiver if they needed help, yet only 37% think that outcome is very or extremely likely (Pew, 2026). At the same time, only 21% of US adults aged 65+ hold long-term-care insurance (Pew, 2026), so the financial cushion most would rely on to make aging in place work is thin. The picture is therefore strong preference resting on a thin safety net, a gap that matters most for the roughly 28% of older Americans who live alone (US Census Bureau, 2022).
Key statistics
These verified figures come from three primary sources: the Pew Research Center's 2026 analysis of aging in place, AARP's 2024 Home and Community Preferences survey, and the US Census Bureau. Together they show a strong and consistent preference to age in place set against limited confidence and limited financial protection.
US aging in place: strong preference, thin safety net
This flagship table pulls together the verified US figures on aging in place from Pew Research Center and AARP. Read top to bottom, it tells one story: the desire to stay home is near-universal and most older adults already live in their own homes, but confidence in getting the care they'd want, and the insurance that would help pay for it, lag well behind. The preference rows and the safety-net rows measure different things and should be read as complementary, not as a single metric.
US aging in place: strong preference, thin safety net
| Measure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults 65+ living in their own home or apartment | 93% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| Older adults who want to stay in their current home | 75% | 2024 | AARP |
| Older adults who want to stay in their community | 73% | 2024 | AARP |
| Would want to stay home with a caregiver if help needed (65+, not currently receiving care) | 60% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| Think staying home with a caregiver is very/extremely likely | 37% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| Feel a move is inevitable despite wanting to age in place | 44% | 2024 | AARP |
| Say they'll need to make their home more accessible to stay | 43% | 2024 | AARP |
| Adults 65+ who hold long-term-care insurance | 21% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
Pew figures are for US adults aged 65+ (the want-care and confidence rows are among those not currently receiving in-home care). AARP figures are from its 2024 Home and Community Preferences survey of older adults. The two sources measure related but distinct questions and are presented as complementary.
The confidence gap: wanting to stay home versus expecting to
The single most revealing number is the distance between desire and expectation. Among older Americans not currently receiving in-home care, 60% say they would want to stay home with a caregiver if they needed help, but only 37% believe that is very or extremely likely (Pew Research Center, 2026), a gap of 23 percentage points. In other words, roughly two in five older adults who would want to age in place with support are not confident they will actually get to. AARP's data points the same way from a different angle: 44% feel a move out of their home is inevitable despite wanting to age in place (AARP, 2024). This confidence gap is not about whether people want to stay home, which they clearly do, but about whether the practical pieces, available care, an accessible home, and a way to pay for it, will be in place when they are needed.
The funding gap: who pays for staying home?
Aging in place is rarely free. Most older adults who need help eventually rely on some combination of family caregiving, paid in-home care, and out-of-pocket spending, but the dedicated insurance product designed to cover it is held by very few. Only 21% of US adults aged 65+ have long-term-care insurance (Pew Research Center, 2026), which means about four in five have no specific coverage for the in-home or personal care that aging in place often requires. This is a major reason the confidence gap exists: people want to stay home, but the financial bridge to do so safely is missing for most. AARP's finding that 43% expect to need home accessibility modifications (AARP, 2024) adds another out-of-pocket cost on top of care itself. The thin funding net does not change the preference; it raises the stakes on making the lower-cost parts of staying home, like a reliable way to be checked on, as simple and inexpensive as possible.
Aging in place when you live alone
The aging-in-place picture is not the same for everyone, and household size matters most. About 28% of US adults aged 65+ live alone, roughly 13.8 million people (US Census Bureau, 2022). For an older couple aging in place, a partner provides built-in, immediate awareness if something goes wrong at home. For the millions aging in place alone, that built-in awareness is absent. This is the practical difference that turns a thin safety net from an abstract policy concern into a daily one: with no insurance for most, limited confidence in formal care, and no one else in the home, the question of how quickly anyone would notice a fall or sudden illness becomes the most concrete safety variable. It is also the most modifiable one, because closing that discovery gap does not require insurance, hardware, or moving.
Australia: home-care use has more than tripled
Australia shows the same strong aging-in-place preference translated into rapidly growing formal support at home. More than 272,000 Australians aged 65+ were using home care at 30 June 2024 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024), and the rate of home-care use more than tripled, from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 older people between 2017 and 2024. To meet that demand, Australia launched the new Support at Home program, backed by A$4.3 billion, on 1 November 2025 (AIHW, 2024). Australia's experience is a useful counterpoint to the US confidence gap: where formal in-home support is funded and scaled up, more older adults can act on their preference to age in place rather than simply hold it.
Australia home care for older adults (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data)
| Measure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australians 65+ using home care | 272,000+ | 30 Jun 2024 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
| Home-care use rate (start of period) | 18.3 per 1,000 | 2017 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
| Home-care use rate (end of period) | 58.5 per 1,000 | 2024 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
| Support at Home program funding | A$4.3 billion | Launched 1 Nov 2025 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
The home-care use rate more than tripled (18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000) between 2017 and 2024, reflecting both growing demand and expanded provision. Figures from AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024.
Country comparison: United States and Australia
The US and Australia tell one consistent story from two angles. In the US, the preference to age in place is near-universal but the formal safety net is thin: only 37% are confident they'll get the home care they want and only 21% have long-term-care insurance (Pew, 2026). In Australia, that same preference is increasingly met by scaled-up formal support, with home-care use more than tripling to 58.5 per 1,000 older people and 272,000+ people using home care in 2024 (AIHW, 2024). The two countries measure different things, US confidence and insurance versus Australian home-care uptake, so the table below should be read as two complementary lenses on the same underlying preference rather than directly comparable percentages.
Aging in place: US confidence vs Australia home-care growth
| Country | What it measures | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | Adults 65+ living in their own home | 93% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| US | Confident of getting home care they want | 37% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| US | Adults 65+ with long-term-care insurance | 21% | 2026 | Pew Research Center |
| Australia | Adults 65+ using home care | 272,000+ | 2024 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
| Australia | Home-care use rate | 58.5 per 1,000 | 2024 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data |
US rows show preference, confidence and insurance among adults 65+; Australia rows show formal home-care uptake. The two countries are presented as complementary lenses on the same aging-in-place preference, not as directly comparable percentages.
The trend: demand is rising and shifting toward home
Across both countries the direction is the same: more older adults aging in place, and more formal support being delivered to the home rather than to institutions. Australia provides the clearest trend line, with home-care use more than tripling from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 older people in just seven years (2017 to 2024) and a new A$4.3 billion Support at Home program launched in November 2025 (AIHW, 2024). In the US, the preference base is already near its ceiling, with 93% of older adults living in their own home (Pew, 2026) and 75% wanting to stay there (AARP, 2024), so the live question is not whether demand to age in place will grow but whether confidence and funding will catch up to it. With about 28% of older Americans living alone (US Census Bureau, 2022), a growing share of that aging-in-place population will be doing it without anyone else in the home.
Why a daily check-in helps
Aging in place is what most older adults want and most already do, and it is a normal, independent choice worth protecting rather than a problem to be fixed. The hard parts, paid care and insurance, are largely out of any one person's hands: only 21% have long-term-care insurance and only 37% are confident of getting the care they'd want (Pew, 2026). But one safety factor is fully modifiable, and it is the one that matters most for the millions aging in place alone: whether someone would actually notice if something went wrong at home. A simple daily check-in closes that discovery gap with no hardware, no insurance, and no loss of independence. One tap confirms you are OK; a missed check-in quietly alerts a chosen family member or friend, so a potential days-long gap becomes same-day notice. It does not track location or replace medical care, and it does not need to. It does the one narrow thing the thin safety net leaves out: it makes sure someone notices if something is wrong.
Sources
- Pew Research Center — Most Older Adults Who Live at Home Want to Age in Place, but Aren't Entirely Confident They'll Get To (2026)
- AARP — 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey
- AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data — Older Australians: Aged Care (2024)
- US Census Bureau — The Living Arrangements of Older Americans (2022)
Frequently Asked Questions
Do most older adults want to age in place?
Yes. 75% of older adults say they want to stay in their current home as they age and 73% want to stay in their community (AARP, 2024), and 93% of US adults aged 65+ already live in their own home or apartment (Pew Research Center, 2026).
What percentage of older Americans live in their own home?
93% of US adults aged 65 and older live in their own home or apartment (Pew Research Center, 2026). Aging in place is already the norm, not the exception.
How confident are older adults that they'll be able to age in place?
Far less confident than they are willing. Among US adults 65+ not currently receiving in-home care, 60% would want to stay home with a caregiver if they needed help, but only 37% think that is very or extremely likely (Pew Research Center, 2026), a 23-point confidence gap.
What share of older adults have long-term-care insurance?
Only 21% of US adults aged 65+ hold long-term-care insurance (Pew Research Center, 2026), meaning roughly four in five have no dedicated coverage for the in-home or personal care that aging in place often requires.
Do older adults think they'll have to move out of their home eventually?
Many do, despite wanting to stay. 44% of older adults feel a move is inevitable even though they want to age in place (AARP, 2024), and 43% say they'll need to make their home more accessible to stay (AARP, 2024).
How many older Americans live alone?
About 28% of US adults aged 65+ live alone, roughly 13.8 million people (US Census Bureau, 2022). For them, there is no partner in the home to notice immediately if something goes wrong.
Why is there a gap between wanting to age in place and expecting to?
The gap is about practical support, not desire. 60% of older Americans would want to stay home with a caregiver but only 37% expect to actually get that (Pew Research Center, 2026), largely because formal care can be hard to arrange and only 21% have long-term-care insurance to help pay for it (Pew, 2026).
How much has home care grown in Australia?
Sharply. The home-care use rate for older Australians more than tripled from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 between 2017 and 2024, with more than 272,000 Australians aged 65+ using home care at 30 June 2024 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024).
What is Australia's Support at Home program?
It is Australia's new home-care program, backed by A$4.3 billion, which launched on 1 November 2025 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024). It reflects the country scaling up funded in-home support so more older adults can age in place.
Is aging in place cheaper than moving to a care facility?
Aging in place avoids facility fees but is rarely free: most older adults rely on family care, paid in-home help, or out-of-pocket spending, and only 21% have long-term-care insurance to defray it (Pew Research Center, 2026). On top of care, 43% expect to need home accessibility modifications (AARP, 2024).
Is the demand for aging in place growing?
Yes. In the US the preference is already near its ceiling, with 93% of older adults in their own home (Pew, 2026) and 75% wanting to stay (AARP, 2024). In Australia, home-care use more than tripled to 58.5 per 1,000 by 2024 (AIHW, 2024), and a new A$4.3 billion program launched in late 2025.
What is the biggest risk of aging in place alone?
The main modifiable risk is the discovery gap: how long before anyone would notice if you had a fall or sudden illness. With about 28% of older Americans living alone (US Census Bureau, 2022) and no partner in the home, that gap can stretch from hours to days unless someone checks in reliably.
What is the single most modifiable safety factor when aging in place alone?
Whether someone would actually notice if something went wrong at home. Insurance and paid care are largely outside an individual's control, but a reliable daily check-in that alerts a chosen contact if it's missed closes the discovery gap with no hardware and no loss of independence.
Does a check-in app track your location or replace medical care?
No. A daily check-in app like ImAlive does one narrow thing: one tap confirms you're OK, and a missed check-in quietly notifies a chosen family member or friend. It does not track location, monitor health, or replace medical care, it simply makes sure someone notices if something is wrong.
How does a daily check-in help someone aging in place?
It closes the one gap the thin safety net leaves open. With only 37% confident of getting the home care they want and 21% holding long-term-care insurance (Pew, 2026), a free daily check-in turns a potential days-long discovery gap into same-day notice, giving older adults aging in place, and their families, quiet reassurance without giving up independence.
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