Senior Living Cost per Move-In: How to Calculate It

What is cost per move-in?

Cost per move-in is what a senior living community spends on sales and marketing for each new resident: the spend in a period divided by the move-ins in that period. A community that spends $30,000 in a quarter and moves in 10 residents has a cost per move-in of $3,000.

It is the number that ties marketing to occupancy. Cost per lead says how cheaply you can get a family to call. Cost per move-in says what it took to fill an apartment, which is the only result that pays the bills.

How do you calculate cost per move-in?

Cost per move-in = sales and marketing spend in the period ÷ move-ins in the period

Work it out for each channel as well as overall, because the channels cost very different amounts:

• Referral agencies: the fee per move-in, from the agency's invoice.
• Paid directories and lead aggregators: what you paid that period, divided by the move-ins those leads produced.
• Your website, search and ads: spend divided by the move-ins from web inquiries.
• Events, professional referrals and walk-ins: the cost of the events and outreach, divided by their move-ins.

Then decide whether to include the sales team. A marketing cost per move-in counts only what you pay to get families in the door. A fully loaded cost per move-in adds counselor pay, commissions and sales software. Both are useful; compare like with like.

Because families take weeks or months to decide, match spend and move-ins over a quarter or longer rather than a single month.

What referral agencies cost per move-in

Referral agencies are the easiest channel to price, because they bill per move-in. The Georgia Senior Living Association reported in February 2026 that referral fees typically range from 75% to more than 115% of one month's rent, care level and services.

At assisted living's national median of $6,200 a month (CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey), that is about $4,650 to $7,100 or more for a single move-in. Some states regulate how these fees are set and disclosed, so check your state's rules and your contracts.

There is no independent public benchmark for cost per move-in across all channels. Agencies and vendors publish their own numbers, usually for the channel they sell. Your own figure, tracked the same way each quarter, is the one to manage.

The funnel behind the number

Cost per move-in is the cost of an inquiry multiplied by how many inquiries it takes to fill an apartment. Aline's Sales and Marketing Benchmark Snapshot for Q2 2026 gives the averages per 100 assisted living units each month: 36 inquiries, 10 tours and 4 move-ins. That is about 9 inquiries and 2.5 tours for each move-in.

The source of the inquiry changes the math. In the same snapshot, 57% of web inquiries to assisted living became tours, against 34% from paid directories and lead aggregators.

Here is an example, with numbers to replace with your own. If a paid inquiry costs $150 and it takes 9 inquiries to produce a move-in, the inquiries alone cost $1,350 per move-in. If the same inquiries convert to tours at a lower rate, it takes more of them, and the cost climbs.

How to lower cost per move-in

There are two ways: spend less per inquiry, or turn more of the inquiries you already pay for into move-ins. The second is usually cheaper, because the money is already spent.

• Raise the tour to move-in rate. Aline's Q2 2026 average for assisted living was 46%. A community at that rate that reaches 50% gets about 9% more move-ins from the same tours, so its cost per move-in falls by about 8% with no new spend. See tour to move-in rate for benchmarks.
• Close the gap between counselors. In a study by ProMatura of Sherpa CRM data (American Seniors Housing Association, June 2019), the best counselors closed 41% of their tours and the average counselor 22%. Coaching the middle of the team toward the top lowers cost per move-in for every channel at once.
• Follow up before the family cools. Prospects whose counselor planned the next step moved in 32% of the time, against 22% with no planning, in the same study.
• Put your budget where the move-ins come from. Compare cost per move-in by channel each quarter and move spend toward the cheapest channels that still produce volume.

The payoff from one more move-in is large. At the $6,200 national median, a resident who stays six months brings about $37,200 in revenue (revenue, not profit), five times the top of the referral fee range.

That is the case for working the tours you already have. Senior living tour software like Roonly turns every tour into a personalized plan the family gets by text within minutes and coaches each counselor from their own tours, at one flat price per community.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good cost per move-in for assisted living?

There is no independent public benchmark across all channels. Referral agencies, the most common single channel to price, charge 75% to more than 115% of a month's rent and care, about $4,650 to $7,100 at the national assisted living median of $6,200 a month. Compare each of your own channels against that figure every quarter.

Should cost per move-in include the sales team's pay?

Track both versions. Marketing cost per move-in counts only what you pay to bring families in. Fully loaded cost per move-in adds counselor pay, commissions and sales software. Use the same version every quarter.

How long should you measure cost per move-in over?

A quarter or longer. Families often take weeks or months between the first inquiry and the move-in, so a single month's spend rarely matches that month's move-ins.

Is cost per lead or cost per move-in more important in senior living?

Cost per move-in. A cheap lead that never tours costs more in the end than an expensive one that moves in. Cost per lead is useful only alongside each channel's conversion rates.

What is the cheapest way to lower cost per move-in?

Turn more of the tours you already give into move-ins. Raising assisted living's tour to move-in rate from 46% to 50% cuts cost per move-in by about 8% without spending more on leads.

Sources

• CareScout, 2025 Cost of Care Survey (Genworth, March 2026): assisted living national median $6,200 a month
• Georgia Senior Living Association, New Levels of Transparency in the Senior Living Referral System in Georgia (Feb 17, 2026)
• Aline, Sales and Marketing Benchmark Snapshot Q2 2026
• American Seniors Housing Association, June 2019 Mid-Year Meeting report: ProMatura's study of Sherpa CRM data