Mississippi has some of the cheapest home care in the country. Its other estimated senior-care rates are below average too.

Approximate number of facilities:

• Nursing homes: 203
• Assisted living residences: 185*

Types of care available:

• Adult day care
• Home care
• Home health-care
• Continuing-care retirement communities
• Personal-care homes – assisted living
• Personal-care homes – residential living
• Adult foster care
• Nursing homes

Estimated average prices:**

• Adult day care: $61 per day
• Home care: $17 per hour
• Home health-care: $18 per hour
• Assisted living: $ 2,885 per month
• Nursing home, semi-private room: $190 per day
• Nursing home, private room: $195 per day

State websites for seniors:

• Jackson Senior Services Division
• Health facilities licensure
• Minimum Standards for Personal Care Homes Assisted Living(PDF download)

Where to report elder abuse:

• In domestic/community care: 1-800-222-8000
• In nursing homes: 1-800-227-7308

Financial assistance (partial list):

• Medicaid
• Other services for elderly people

Top-10 largest cities:

•  Jackson
•  Gulfport
•  Biloxi
•  Hattiesburg
•  Greenville
•  Meridian
•  Tupelo
•  Southaven
•  Vicksburg
• Pascagoula

Top nursing homes, based on Medicare ratings:***

Bay Springs
Jasper County Nursing Home

Bruce
Bruce Communtiy Living Center

Clinton
Clinton Healthcare – Skilled Nursing Facility

Columbus
Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle
Trinity Healthcare Center

De Kalb
Mississippi Care Center of Dekalb

Diamondhead
Woodland Village Nursing Center

Hattiesburg
Bedford Alzheimer's Care Center

Jackson
Community Place
Hinds County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
Magnolia Senior Care

Leakesville
Greene Rural Health Center

Lexington
Lexington Manor Senior Care

Liberty
Liberty Community Living Center

Marks
Quitman County Nursing Home

Meadville
Meadville Convalescent Home

Meridian
Reginald P. White Nursing Facility

Morton
Mississippi Care Center of Morton

Natchez
Crown Health & Rehab of Natchez

Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs Nursing Center

Petal
Bedford Care Center of Petal

Quitman
Lakeside Living Center

Shelby
Shelby Nursing and Rehab Center

Waynesboro
Pineview Health Care Center

Whitfield
JNH – Jefferson Inn

Wiggins
Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

*Assisted-living residence numbers are from the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2007 Residential Care and Assisted Living Compendium. According to the National Center for Assisted Living, this is the industry’s only resource for such data. Depending on the state, the number may or may not include small residential-care homes, such as adult foster care.

**Senior-care price estimates are based on the 2011 MetLife Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs, which reports average rates,and the Genworth 2011 Cost of Care Survey, which reports median rates.

***Medicare rates nursing homes in four categories using a five-star system. These are the nursing homes with five stars in the “Overall” category. The ratings were accessed on Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare site in November or December 2011 and are subject to change. The Medicare ratings system isn’t perfect, so use additional criteria to evaluate nursing homes as well.