15 Assisted Living Communities in La Mesa, California

The average cost of assisted living in the city is $4,500 a month. This guide is a starting point covering the cost of assisted living care in the city, as well as financing options to pay for it. You’ll find in-depth information on 15 Assisted Living Communities in La Mesa and several in surrounding areas.

Assisted living: $4,500
Nursing home semiprivate room: $8,517
In-home care: $4,767
Adult day health services: $1,733

Assisted Living Facilities near La Mesa, California

Compare Costs, Photos, & Reviews of All Your Options Near La Mesa

By clicking "Get Costs" I am providing express written consent to receive calls including automated/pre-recorded calls and automated texts for which I may incur a cost, as well as emails from Caring and its partners. I understand I am not obligated to provide this consent to utilize Caring’s service(s). I acknowledge I was able to review the Agreement to be Contacted, Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.

Our Family Advisors can help your family make a confident decision about senior living.

Call 1 (844) 759-0108

Reviews of Assisted Living Facilities in La Mesa

Kelly

January 25, 2021

I visited this facilityReview of The Montera

The Montera was beautiful and beautifully maintained. The landscaping and the architecture of the place were just gorgeous. I want to live there. The staff was wonderful, and the lady during the tour was really good. The room was really nice, roomy, and spacious. The residents seem happy, 'cause there were residents hanging out in the front area. They have a whole level of care for memory care, which is a different area separate from the other residents that don't need that much care. They have a beauty salon, a pool, daily activities, exercise, and game nights. They have like 2 or 3 activities every day. It is expensive, but for the second person, the price really drops. It's almost $3000 for one person, for the room, food, and everything, but the second person was only $800. You get a discount for a couple. The food is like done by a top chef. It's like gourmet. They have these cookies that the chef made, and they were just to die for, they're so good, and they melt in your mouth.

Roxanne

November 13, 2019

I am a friend or relative of a current/past residentReview of Waterford Terrace Retirement Community

Waterford Terrace Retirement Community is a happy place. The people are generally clean and happy. It's a pleasant place to be. Everybody is very engaged and the people are doing a lot. They ask about my father when they don't see him come down for dinner. He's enjoying it. The food is great. We love it. We looked at the one-bedroom and the studio. We liked the studio because it was very spacious and there was enough room for Dad. They have a breakfast bar every Thursday, they did Oktoberfest, there's a theater, a library, a van that will take you to your doctor, and laundry rooms. Everything's convenient. He gets three meals a day and they put out cookies in the afternoon daily.

Patrick

December 10, 2018

I visited this facilityReview of Waterford Terrace Retirement Community

The general appearance of Waterford Terrace Retirement Community was great, and the tour, facilities, and all the amenities were great. A one-bedroom apartment was $4,000, which was way out of my price range, and that was the cheapest one, plus I had to put down a deposit, so I would have to pay about $10,000 to $12,000 just to move in. The person who accommodated me, Ashley, was fine and showed me and my brother-in-law everything that was down there. We saw the home theater, recreation room, game room, and where to eat. She said if we have special diets, it needs to be written and given to the chef. Everything was perfect, but out of my price range. I talked to one lady who's living there, and she said it's a great place to live. Everything's immaculate, the grounds was great, everything was clean, and nothing was out of place. If I had a question, Ashley answered right away, and answered pretty straightforward.

Marianne

November 13, 2018

I am a friend or relative of a current/past residentReview of Arbor Hills Nursing Center

My husband stayed at Arbor Hills Nursing Center. It was a little better than the previous place my husband stayed, but there were a few incidents that shouldn't be happening in a nursing home. It was nicer, brighter, and cleaner, but one time when my husband and I were sitting in the lobby, some woman in a wheelchair was flat on her back and she was wheeling around and couldn't see what she was doing. Nobody was with her and there was nobody at the front desk. I went back to where the nurses were and I told one of the guys there about the woman and they said, "Yeah, she does that a lot." I told them she's out there by herself and there's nobody there. When I came back, the woman was banging against the glass of the aviary with live birds inside, and nobody said or did anything. It was not a good impression. My husband was getting physical therapy there, which is the one thing I liked about the place. They had a really good physical therapist, but there was one time they were showing my husband how to make rice crispy treats and there were people there that were old and senile making a mess, and it wasnt anything my husband wanted to do. I just think they need to find out what these people are interested in. They did have music and people were singing along, so that was good. I just thought that it's not a place for my husband. He hated the food, quit eating, and lost about 50 pounds. The lobby was beautiful, but the rooms were tiny.

Shirley

November 1, 2018

I am/was a resident of this facilityReview of Waterford Terrace Retirement Community

My brother and I live in Waterford Terrace Retirement Community. It is a very good place to live with good meals, attractive walls with art prints, spacious apartments, and very nice employees. I tell my friends it's like living on a cruise ship that never leaves port. They serve three meals a day. We have an activity director on-staff. We have bingo, Wii games, poker, an activity room where people gather and do several activities, a few art classes, exercise classes every day, and bus trips to local places to visit, museums and other places of interest as well as meal out at the participant's cost. I've lived here two years and I really love it. It is independent living though healthcare caregivers are available for hire to take care of personal needs for those who are no longer quite independent. We're well fed and there are enough activities to keep us busy.

Don

August 31, 2018

I visited this facilityReview of The Montera

I like The Montera and they're really good. The rooms were really nice. It's all modernized, renovated, and it has several buildings and nice outside walkways. They have great food selection and the people in charge are just super nice.

Lynn

August 21, 2018

I am a friend or relative of a current/past residentReview of The Montera

My stepdad stayed at the Montera and it's wonderful. They have a lot of things that they do there, they have a great staff, I wouldn't move him, but they didn't want to take care of patients with diabetes. We were very satisfied. The staff was wonderful, they just went out of their way, and they were really good to my mom. They were in the middle of renovation, but it's always been clean, and the food has been just superb. They always have something going on.

J.R.

March 26, 2018

I visited this facilityReview of The Montera

We visited the Montera. The staff member was really accommodating, and we liked her a lot. However, the place was huge and older.

Ralph

January 30, 2018

I visited this facilityReview of The Montera

The Montera is a really nice place. They have everything you could ask for, everything you need, and I like it a lot. It's like a vacation resort. If you go in at a level where you can basically take care of yourself, there's a certain rate, and if somebody needs to come give you aspirin because you forgot to take it, the rate jumps up. The room that my dad would have been staying in was really small and didn't have its own restroom or shower.

Map of La Mesa, California

Assisted Living Costs in La Mesa

According to Genworth’s 2018 Cost of Care study, the cost of assisted living in La Mesa is the same as the state average of $4,500 and moderately higher than the national average of $4,000.

Assisted living costs here are similar to costs in other areas in Southern California, including Los Angeles ($4,500) and Oxnard ($4,575), while prices for assisted living are notably higher further north along the Pacific Coast in cities that include San Francisco ($5,500) and Santa Cruz ($5,595).

Note: Senior care cost data wasn’t available for La Mesa, so data for the closest city, San Diego, was used.

Cost of Assisted Living Comparison Chart

La Mesa

$4,500

National average

$4,000

State average

$4,500

Los Angeles

$4,500

Oxnard

$4,575

Riverside

$3,500

El Centro

$3,650

San Francisco

$5,500

Santa Cruz

$5,595

Care Cost Comparison

There is a wide range in senior care services in La Mesa, where adult day health care costs are about one-third the cost of assisted living and in-home care options. The differences in costs are due to the skill and training of the staff, the senior-to-staff ratios and the number of hours of direct service provided every month. The most expensive senior care option is nursing home care, which costs nearly double that of assisted living and in-home care, because nursing home care includes skilled nursing and a higher staff-to-senior ratio than assisted living. Cost of Homemaker/Home Health Aide Comparison Chart

Assisted living: $4,500

Homemaker services: $4,767

Home health aide: $4,799

Adult day health: $1,517

Nursing home care (semiprivate room): $8,517

Cost of Homemaker/Home Health Aide Comparison Chart

Assisted living

$4,500

Homemaker services

$4,767

Home health aide

$4,799

Adult day health

$1,517

Nursing home care (semiprivate room)

$8,517

Financial Assistance for Assisted Living in La Mesa

Medicaid in California

Approximately 14 million children, families and adults are covered under Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. Established by the federal government on July 30, 1965 to improve health care for low-income Americans, Medicaid is funded by both the federal and state governments and every state has participated in Medicaid since 1982.

No-cost Medi-Cal coverage is automatically provided for all California seniors who receive Supplemental Security Income, while low-income seniors who own few assets may also be eligible for free or low-cost Medi-Cal health coverage.

Adults who are 65 and older need to meet the following requirements to qualify for free Medi-Cal coverage:

Earn a maximum of $1,242 a month as an individual applicant or $1,682 a month when applying as a couple
Own less than $2,000 (individual) worth of countable assets or $3,000 for a couple

All types of income are considered under Medi-Cal rules and countable assets include cash, investments and all real estate except for the applicants’ principal residence. Household furnishings, clothing, personal effects and one vehicle are exempt from the Medi-Cal asset limits.

There is a Medicaid look-back period in California that audits any assets an applicant has sold, gifted or otherwise disposed of during the 30-month period prior to seeking Medi-Cal coverage. This audit is designed to ensure that seniors use all their own resources to pay for their care before seeking government assistance. If assets are discovered during the audit, Medi-Cal applicants may be ineligible for a period of time that is determined based on both the value of the assets and the current monthly price of private nursing home care.

Seniors who have income or assets that exceed the limits for Medi-Cal coverage can opt to enroll in Medi-Cal on a Share of Cost basis that requires them to pay their own medical bills up to an agreed limit before Medi-Cal will become effective. In many cases, this option is more costly than purchasing a private insurance plan.

California Assisted Living Waiver

The ALW is available to Medi-Cal eligible seniors who need the level of care provided in a nursing home. This program reduces the rates of nursing home placement among Medi-Cal covered seniors by providing additional care and medical services in an assisted living setting. Medi-Cal reimburses the cost of services provided in an assisted living setting except for the expense of room and board.

To enroll in the ALW seniors need to request an assessment through the San Diego Care Coordinator Agency. If accepted into the ALW program, seniors may be placed on a waiting list, as the demand for ALW services currently exceeds the number of statewide waivers offered.

Note: ALW is not available to seniors who are enrolled in Medi-Cal on a Share of Cost basis.

For more information about Medi-Cal coverage, contact the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency at (866) 262-9881.

To request as assessment for the ALW program, contact the San Diego County Care Coordinator Agency at (888) 681-1559.

Other Financial Assistance Programs for Assisted Living

Optional State Supplementation

Seniors who receive Social Security Income benefits and are 65 or older may qualify for the California Optional State Supplementation program. The state-funded program increases SSI payments to help seniors pay for the room and board portion of assisted living costs.

Under the OSS program, eligible seniors may have their total SSI monthly income increased to $1,194.37 for a single applicant, and a maximum of $2,388.74 for a couple applying together.

For more information about the OSS program, contact the San Diego Social Security office at (800) 772-1213.

Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance

Veterans and their survivors who qualify for the regular VA pension and either need assistance with activities of daily living, are visually impaired, bedridden or housebound or live in a nursing home, may be eligible for funding through the VA Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance.

This program tops up the regular VA pension, and qualifying disabilities or illnesses do not need to be service-related.

For more information about the VA Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance, contact the San Diego Vet Center at (858) 642-1500.

Assisted Living Resources in La Mesa

Senior Centers in La Mesa

The City of La Mesa’s Community Service Department operates the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center where area seniors can join social clubs, participate in weekly exercise classes and take part in escorted outings to area attractions.

City of La Mesa – Adult Enrichment Center
8450 La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa, CA 91942
(619) 464-0533

Veteran Centers and Clinics

Veterans can contact either the San Diego Vet Center or the VA San Diego Regional Office for information about VA pensions and benefits.

La Mesa is also home to an active Veterans of Foreign Wars Post where veterans can socialize, learn about local services and participate in special events.

San Diego Vet Center
2790 Truxtun Road, Suite 130, San Diego, CA 92106
(858) 642-1500

San Diego Regional Office – Veterans Benefits Administration
8810 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, CA 92108
(800) 827-1000

Community Aid Agencies

Area seniors who need assistance with accessing health care, completing a legal will or finding information on Medicaid, can contact Elder Law and Advocacy, a non-profit organization that provides free and low-cost legal services to seniors. Seniors who need preventative health care can call the Sharp Grossmont Hospital Senior Resource Center, which offers free health education classes, seniors’ health screenings and information on area health services for older adults. Elder Law and Advocacy
5151 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 110, San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-1392 Sharp Grossmont Hospital Senior Resource Center
9000 Wakarusa Street, La Mesa, CA 91942
(619) 740-4214

Nearby Assisted Living Communities

Go a bit further out to explore pricing and amenities.

Find Communities

Senior Homes has an extensive directory of senior living options, with care and living providers across the United States.

15 Assisted Living Communities in La Mesa, California

Assisted Living Facilities near La Mesa, California

The Montera

Westmont of La Mesa

MesaView Senior Assisted Living

Reina's Residential Care

Renaissance Living

Little Flower Haven

Compare Costs, Photos, & Reviews of All Your Options Near La Mesa

Lake Murray Terrace Guest Home

Right Choice Senior Living

Anshin Home Care

Casa De Vida Senior Living

Comunita Di Monze

Family Residential Care III

Le Jardin Guest Home

Tranquility House, Inc.

Villa Alegre - La Mesa

White Sands La Jolla

Paradise Village

Monte Vista Village

Belmont Village Sabre Springs

Fredericka Manor

Atria Collwood

Lantern Crest Senior Living

Felicita Vida

Redwood Terrace

Oakmont of Escondido Hills

Westmont Town Court

Vi at La Jolla Village

Westmont at San Miguel Ranch

Belmont Village Cardiff by the Sea

Ivy Park at Bonita

Sungarden Terrace Assisted Living and Memory Care

Coronado Retirement Village

Pacifica Senior Living Rancho Peñasquitos

Ivy Park at Otay Ranch

Pacifica Senior Living Encinitas

Plaza Village Senior Living

Crest View Manor

Oakmont of Pacific Beach

Pacifica Senior Living Poway

Jacob Health Care Center

Ivy Park at Sabre Springs

Gold Canyon Care Home

Pacifica Senior Living Bonita

Ivy Park at La Jolla

Point Loma Elder Care

Sunview Gardens

North County Cottage

Splendor Valley

Acorn Oaks Manor II

Vibrant Living

Vibrant Living II

Vintage Home and Residential Care

Monarch Cottages La Jolla

Westmont of Encinitas

Belmont Village La Jolla

Senior Comfort Care

La Vida Real

Merrill Gardens at Bankers Hill

Wesley Palms

St. Paul's Manor

Casa de Manana

St. Paul's Plaza

Paradise Valley Manor

The Remington Club

St. Paul's Villa

Nazareth House

Lakeside Manor Elderly Care

BayView Senior Assisted Living

Lantern Crest Senior Living

Mount Miguel Covenant Village

Cloisters of the Valley

Deer Hill Estates

Aviara Healthcare Center

Good Samaritan Retirement Center

Mission Villa East

Parkway Gardens Retirement Care Home

Canyon Villas