Home care · Haakon County, SD
Home care in Haakon County
Haakon County is the seventh-oldest county in South Dakota: 26.7% of the 1,800 people who live here are 65 or older, about 468 residents. That shapes everything about care here — the demand for it, the wait for it, and how far families drive to find it.
Below is what we'd tell a friend in Haakon County: what care costs here, who provides it, what the facility alternative actually looks like, and which programs pay.
Haakon County, in numbers
Full South Dakota guide →Residents 65+
468
26.7% of the county — the seventh-highest share of South Dakota's 66 counties.
Live with a disability
15.6%
About 267 people — the population most likely to need help at home.
Median household income
$58,799
20 hrs/week of care would run about 78% of it.
Certified agencies
1
Medicare-certified home health agencies serving local ZIPs; 1 rated, averaging 1.5★.
Sources: CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index 2022 (ACS 2018–2022), County Health Rankings 2024, and CMS Care Compare provider files.
What home care costs in Haakon County
South Dakota's going rate for agency home care is around $44/hr. Twenty hours a week — four hours a day, five days a week, the most common schedule families start with — comes to roughly $3,800 a month, or $45,800 a year.
Median household income in Haakon County is $58,799, so that schedule would consume about 78% of a typical household's entire income. This is the number that sends most families looking for help paying, and it is why the programs below matter more than any brochure.
Who provides care in Haakon County
1 Medicare-certified home health agency serves ZIP codes in Haakon County. One carries a CMS quality star rating, averaging 1.5 out of 5. One reports offering home health aide services.
One distinction worth getting straight before you call anyone: those are Medicare-certified home health agencies — skilled, doctor-ordered, intermittent care, usually a nurse or therapist visiting for a few weeks after a hospital stay. That is not the same as the hourly, non-medical help most families are actually looking for: bathing, dressing, meals, driving, company. Medicare pays for the first. It does not pay for the second.
The alternative, locally
Haakon County has 1 certified nursing home holding 42 certified beds, averaging 3 out of 5 on CMS's overall rating. About 32 people live in them on an average day.
The South Dakota programs that pay for care at home
- HOPE Waiver
- State Plan Personal Care
South Dakota runs 2 Medicaid pathways that pay for care at home instead of a nursing home. Each has its own income, asset, and care-need rules, and approval takes weeks to months — so the application is worth starting before the need becomes urgent.
How each South Dakota program works →Caregiver training in SD
75 hrs
Minimum for certified aides (the federal minimum). SD does not license non-medical agencies, so vet carefully.
Choosing an agency in Haakon County
- Vet twice as hard. South Dakota does not license non-medical home care agencies, which means anyone can hang a shingle. Ask who runs background checks, whether caregivers are W-2 employees or contractors, whether the agency carries liability and workers' comp, and who supervises the caregiver you'd get.
- Ask what the rate covers. Around $44/hr is typical in South Dakota. A real agency's rate covers a trained, background-checked, insured caregiver plus supervision and backup staffing when your regular person is sick. A rate well under the local range usually means one of those is missing.
- Start the clock early. Haakon County is served by 1 certified agency, so the honest answer to "when can you start?" is often two to three weeks. If you're planning around a discharge date, call before the discharge, not after.
- Ask about Medicaid now, not later. If money is going to be the constraint, ask about HOPE Waiver at the first call. Approval takes weeks to months, and private pay is what bridges the gap — so the sooner the application starts, the smaller that bridge is.
Want to talk it through?
We provide care in the Milwaukee, WI area — but we’re glad to help any family think through the options in Haakon County.
Haakon County home care questions, answered
How much does home care cost in Haakon County, SD?
Agency home care in South Dakota runs around $44/hr for private pay. At 20 hours a week that is about $3,800 a month. For context, median household income in Haakon County is $58,799. Rates move with the level of care and the schedule — short daily visits cost more per hour than long shifts.
Does Medicare pay for home care in Haakon County?
Medicare pays for skilled home health — a nurse or therapist, doctor-ordered, for a limited stretch, usually after a hospital stay. 1 Medicare-certified agency serves Haakon County. Medicare does not pay for the hourly, non-medical help most families want — bathing, dressing, meals, driving, company. For that, the money comes from private pay, long-term care insurance, VA benefits, or South Dakota Medicaid.
Does Medicaid pay for home care in Haakon County?
Yes — for people who qualify. South Dakota runs Medicaid programs that pay for care at home instead of a nursing home: HOPE Waiver, State Plan Personal Care. Income, asset, and care-need rules apply, and approval usually takes weeks to months, so apply before you need it.
How are caregivers trained and vetted in South Dakota?
Certified home health aides in South Dakota complete at least 75 hours of training, the federal minimum. South Dakota does not license non-medical home care agencies, so the vetting falls to you: ask about background checks, insurance and bonding, and who supervises the caregivers.
Is home care better than a nursing home in Haakon County?
It depends on the level of care needed, not on which one sounds nicer. Haakon County's 1 certified facility averages 3 out of 5 stars on CMS ratings, against a South Dakota average of 2.88. Round-the-clock skilled nursing is something a facility does that home care cannot. But for help with bathing, meals, medication reminders, and company, care at home usually costs less and keeps someone in their own bed — and most people, asked plainly, say that is what they want.
Does Juniper at Home provide caregivers in Haakon County?
Not directly — our own caregivers serve the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin. This page is a free guide for Haakon County families: what care really costs here, who provides it, and which programs can help pay.
Bordering counties in South Dakota