Montgomery County has 27,274 age-restricted housing units and beds for older adults, and 418 of them are in market-rate independent-living rental buildings, according to a July 2026 Urban Institute report going to the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday, Oct. 29. The Urban Institute report, Aging Well in Place in Montgomery County, Maryland, says the 418 units are “fewer than 2 percent of total supply” (page 41).
Market-rate independent-living rentals are the option for older adults “who no longer wish to own but are not income eligible for subsidized housing,” according to the Urban Institute report, which calls the shortage “a structural hole in the county’s housing continuum” (pages 41-42).
The Urban Institute wrote the report with advice from Montgomery Planning and three other county agencies, according to the Montgomery Planning staff report (page 4).
The kinds of senior housing in Montgomery County, and how many there are
The Urban Institute report counts seven types of age-restricted housing in Montgomery County (Table 5.1, page 42; definitions on pages 40-41):
- Subsidized independent-living apartments: 6,548 units. Subsidized senior apartments are income-restricted rentals for people 55 or 62 and older, with no medical care included.
- Active-adult homeownership communities: 6,310 units. Active-adult communities sell homes or condos to buyers 55 and older and provide no supportive services.
- Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs): 5,161 units and beds. CCRCs combine 3,243 independent-living units, 921 assisted-living units and 997 skilled nursing beds.
- Assisted living facilities: 3,795 units. Assisted living serves people who need help with daily tasks but not daily nursing care.
- Nursing homes outside CCRCs: 3,561 beds.
- Group homes: 1,481 units. Group homes are small assisted-living homes with 16 or fewer units or beds, licensed by the Maryland Department of Health.
- Market-rate independent-living rentals: 418 units.
What senior housing costs, according to the report
The Urban Institute report uses monthly costs of $5,306 for independent living in Montgomery County (from A Place for Mom), and $8,725 for assisted living and $12,805 for a nursing home in the greater Washington area (from CareScout) (Table 3.1, page 25).
A middle-income Montgomery County homeowner who sells a $475,000 home would have enough to pay for 6.6 years of independent living, 4.0 years of assisted living or 2.8 years of nursing-home care, the Urban Institute report calculates, assuming 11% selling costs and no capital gains taxes (Table 3.1, page 25)…