Based on type of care and geographic location, long-term care costs greatly differ nationwide, according to Northwestern Mutual's 2010 Cost of Long-Term Care study, which studies the costs for home health care providers, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes.

Some of the findings include:

• Assisted-living costs are highest in the East. In fact, six states and Washington D.C. average costs more than $4,000 a month. However, North Dakota, which is the least expensive assisted-living state, averages $1,901 a month.
• Nursing home costs in Alaska nursing home costs reach the highest rate at $538 a day on average. That is $186 more a day than Connecticut, the second most expensive state, at $352 a day. Louisiana, the least expensive, is $127 a day.
• On average, Missouri and Montana residents spend $19 a hour for home health care while West Virginians face average costs of $60 an hour.

Additionally, in a separate survey conducted by Financial Matters, Northwestern Mutual found only 17 percent of Americans can provide an estimate of long-term care costs within 20 percent of their state's average.

"People are living longer and health care costs continue to rise, making long-term care an increasingly important risk to address," says Steve Sperka, Northwestern Mutual vice president of long-term care. "It will take greater financial resources for residents of some states to protect their assets and lifestyle through retirement than others.