Memory Care in Cary, NC: Costs and How to Choose

In Cary, NC, seven communities on this list hold North Carolina's special care unit license, its license for a secured memory care unit in an adult care home. They range from 16 beds at HeartFields at Cary to 80 at The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary. Memory care studio suites at Sunrise of Cary start at $11,900 a month before care charges. How a unit's doors and fences are secured depends on whether the state licensed it before or after April 1, 2025.

Memory care in Cary, NC. AI interpretation of Cary, NC, with approximate buildings and layout
Last Updated: October 2026
10-minute read| Author: Seth Burney
Published: October 2026
10-minute read | Author: Seth Burney | Date Published: October 2026 | Last Updated: October 2026

Key Takeaways

A bookshelf, for North Carolina's memory care rules, part of our guide for Cary, NC
A North Carolina special care unit licensed on or after April 1, 2025, must lock its exit doors and fence its outdoor area at least six feet high.
Armchairs around a table, for memory care communities in Cary, NC
Brookdale Cary and The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary are devoted to memory care, with every licensed bed in a special care unit.
A market stand, for memory care prices in Cary, NC
Sunrise of Cary posts memory care studio suites from $11,900 a month, with care charges added (as published, checked Oct. 20, 2026).
Hands holding a heart, for dementia support near Cary, NC, part of our memory care guide
Duke Dementia Family Support Program offers its programs for families free of charge.

One Posted Price and a State Rate Cap: Memory Care Costs in Cary, NC

A market stand, for memory care costs in Cary, NC

Sunrise of Cary posts its memory care suite prices, and CareScout's 2025 survey has no memory care figure. Two other dated figures that apply in Cary, NC, sit beside Sunrise's in the table.

  • Sunrise of Cary memory care, studio suite: From $11,900. Source: Sunrise of Cary.
  • Sunrise of Cary memory care, one-bedroom suite: From $12,500. Source: Sunrise of Cary.
  • Assisted living median, Raleigh-Cary area (CareScout has no memory care figure): $9,000. Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025.
  • Most a special care unit may charge a Special Assistance resident for room and board, 2026: $1,792. Source: NCDHHS.

Community prices as published by the community, checked Oct. 20, 2026.

At Sunrise of Cary, the suite price is only part of the bill. A price for your family member's care level is added to it. Medication management, or help with medicines, is priced on its own, apart from both.

The Templeton of Cary and six of the seven communities on this list with special care units don't post a memory care price. The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary gives a personal quote after a short conversation.

The Special Assistance figure isn't a market price. It's a cap on what a unit may charge someone whose room and board North Carolina's program helps pay.

Cary, NC, Memory Care Communities and Their Special Care Units

Profile card for The Templeton of Cary memory support: a secure neighborhood in Swift Creek at The Templeton with dementia-trained caregivers and the 384-square-foot Waddell plan, part of our guide to memory care in Cary, NC

The Templeton of Cary offers memory support in Swift Creek at The Templeton. It's on the same campus as the community's independent living and assisted living. The Templeton describes it as a secure neighborhood designed for people with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other cognitive conditions, which affect memory and thinking. The conditions it lists include Parkinson's disease dementia and vascular dementia. Its team is trained in dementia caregiving. They build daily routines that keep things familiar. Apartments, such as the 384-square-foot Waddell plan, come with personal laundry service, housekeeping and utilities. The Templeton doesn't list its memory support rates.

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Memory Care in Cary, NC

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Special Care Units in Cary, NC

Help at Home Before Memory Care

North Carolina's Special Assistance In-Home program can pay a higher rate for someone with an Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis on the state's FL-2 medical form. It's for a person who'd qualify for an adult care home but wants to stay home. In 2026, that enhanced rate can go up to $1,792 a month.

If your family member stays home, the non-medical agencies in the assisted living guide for Cary, NC can help. Dementia or Alzheimer's care shows up on every one's service list, next to its state license number.

Staff Ratios, Training Hours and Locked Doors in North Carolina Special Care Units

North Carolina's rules for special care units: staffing ratios, a care coordinator, training hours, and locked exit doors and six-foot fences for units licensed since April 1, 2025, part of our guide to memory care in Cary, NC

Doors, windows and fences. The rules depend on when a unit was licensed, so it's worth asking each of the seven units on this list in Cary, NC, which standard it follows. A unit licensed on or after April 1, 2025, must lock its exit doors with locks that meet the state building code, and those doors sound an alarm. Its windows open only 4 to 6 inches, and fences around its outdoor area stand at least six feet high. In an older unit, exit doors may be locked only with code-approved locks, and unlocked doors need a security monitoring system. Either way, residents get direct access to a secured outdoor area.

Staffing. A special care unit needs at least one staff member for every eight residents on the day and evening shifts. Overnight, it needs one for every 10. A care coordinator has to be on duty in the unit at least eight hours a day, five days a week. At Brookdale Cary and The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary, every licensed bed is in the unit, so these ratios cover the whole community.

Training. Each staff member in the unit starts with six hours of orientation on residents' needs. Within six months, they finish 20 more hours of training about the people the unit serves. Every year after that, caregivers in the seven units on this list take 12 hours of continuing education, and six of those hours have to be about dementia.

Before move-in. A home that tells the public it has a special care unit must be licensed for one. A doctor has to write your family member's diagnosis on the FL-2, and the community has to do its own screening before admission and keep a written record of it. Before you sign, it must give you a written statement that covers, among other things, its staffing and its dementia-specific training.

Comparing Special Care Units in Cary, NC

Brookdale Cary and The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary are devoted entirely to memory care, with every licensed bed in the special care unit. At Brookdale MacArthur Park, HeartFields at Cary, Sunrise of Cary, Waltonwood Cary Parkway and Woodland Terrace, the unit sits inside a larger assisted living community. Those units run from 16 beds at HeartFields to 44 at Woodland Terrace.

The written statement each unit gives you before you sign is the place to set staffing and dementia training side by side.

What to ask on a memory care tour in Cary, NC:

  • How many staff are in the unit on each shift, and how many residents?
  • When is the care coordinator on duty?
  • How many training hours has each caregiver finished, and how much was about dementia?
  • Was this unit licensed before or after April 1, 2025, and how are its doors secured?
  • How does the care level price change as dementia moves forward?
  • How will staff keep our family updated?

A Higher Special Assistance Rate for Special Care Units, and Other Ways to Pay

North Carolina's Special Assistance program allows a higher rate in a special care unit than in a regular adult care home. In 2026, the cap is $1,792 a month, against $1,397, and the resident keeps a $70 personal needs allowance. The assisted living guide for Cary, NC explains who qualifies and how to apply.

A separate NC Medicaid proposal would extend personal care help to special care unit residents who have Medicare, up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. It's still a proposal, not approved, and it took public comment in October 2026.

For a veteran whose dementia means needing help to bathe, eat or dress, VA Aid and Attendance may add to a VA pension. PACE is offered through Senior CommUnity Care of North Carolina. It helps someone 55 or older who needs nursing home level care keep living at home in Cary, NC, when that's safe.

Duke, The Glade and Other Dementia Support Near Cary, NC

  • Duke Dementia Family Support Program. Its programs are free, and it's the Project C.A.R.E. site for this region. Project C.A.R.E. is the state's support program for family caregivers of people with dementia. It offers counseling, care consultation and some respite. Duke runs a support group for families whose person lives in a care community.
  • The Glade Adult Day Center. It's at 6150 Glenview Garden Place on Glenaire's campus. The state certifies it as an adult day care and day health program for up to 50 people, who spend the day there and go home at night. Glenaire describes it as a day program for people 62 and older in the early stages of dementia or with other age-related challenges.
  • The Center for Volunteer Caregiving. Central Pines Area Agency on Aging lists it as the family caregiver support contact for Wake County.
  • Dementia Alliance of North Carolina. It gives personal support to families across the state.
  • Alzheimer's Association Eastern North Carolina Chapter. It's one of two chapters in the state, and the one Central Pines points Wake County families to for support groups. It offers education, advocacy and support to everyone touched by Alzheimer's and other dementia.

Frequently Asked Questions

At Sunrise of Cary, memory care studio suites start at $11,900 a month and one-bedrooms at $12,500, with care charges added (as published, checked Oct. 20, 2026). The other special care units on this list don't post a memory care price. Sunrise's assisted living studio suites start at $6,400 a month, also before care.

None of a special care unit's monthly bill, because Medicare doesn't pay for long-term care. North Carolina's Special Assistance helps pay room and board instead, and in 2026 a special care unit can charge someone on the program no more than $1,792 a month. The assisted living guide for Cary, NC explains who qualifies.

In North Carolina, an adult care home that offers memory care in a special care unit has to be licensed for it. The unit has its own staffing ratios, dementia training and secured doors. In Cary, NC, seven communities on this list hold that license, from 16 beds at HeartFields at Cary to 80 at The Blair.

Long-term care insurance can help, along with income, savings and a home sale, and some veterans qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, which adds to a pension. For people with low income, North Carolina's Special Assistance helps pay room and board. In 2026, a special care unit can charge someone on the program no more than $1,792 a month. PACE helps some people 55 and older in Cary, NC, ZIP codes stay at home instead.

At least one staff member for every eight residents on day and evening shifts, and one for every 10 overnight. A care coordinator also has to be on duty in the unit at least eight hours a day, five days a week. These ratios apply to every special care unit in North Carolina, including the seven in Cary, NC, on this list.

Yes. A special care unit licensed on or after April 1, 2025, must lock its exit doors with locks that meet the state building code. The doors also sound an alarm. Older units may lock them with code-approved locks or use a security monitoring system. Either way, residents get direct access to a secured outdoor area.

Yes. Two on this list are devoted to memory care. Brookdale Cary, on Chapel Hill Road, is devoted to memory care. All 50 of its licensed beds are in a special care unit. The Blair Memory Care Center of Cary, on West Chatham Street, focuses on memory care and respite stays. All 80 of its beds are in its special care unit.

Sources

Checked Oct. 20, 2026.

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