Fairfax County, Virginia vs Wake County, North Carolina

Your local Area Agency on Aging runs wellness programmes for older Virginians. They can include exercise classes, fall prevention, and help preventing or managing a disease. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging to find out what is running near you.

State-funded, consumer-directed attendant care for Virginians with a serious physical or sensory disability or a brain injury. PAS pays for a personal assistant you recruit, hire, schedule and manage yourself to help with transferring, bathing, grooming, toileting, meals and eating, and dressing — so you can stay out of a nursing home and stay active in your community. You must be at least 18, be able to direct your own care and act as the assistant's employer, and not be eligible for the same help through Medicaid or another program. State PAS has a resource limit of $75,000; income is judged on a sliding scale. Apply by mail to the DARS PAS Program, 5620 Cox Rd, Glen Allen, VA 23060 (PASprogram@dars.virginia.gov); if you have not applied for Medicaid in the past two years, DARS requires a Medicaid determination first.

Local Departments of Social Services offer homemaker, companion, and chore services that help adults stay in their own homes — light housekeeping, meal preparation, shopping, laundry, transportation, and help with daily activities. Services target adults who need home-based help to avoid moving into a facility. Spots can be limited by funding, and some localities apply income-based fees. Apply through the local Department of Social Services.

Estimated service value: about $0 a year

Area Agencies on Aging offer one-to-one nutrition counselling from a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, under the federally funded Older Americans Act programmes. It is for older adults at nutritional risk — because of a long-term illness, the medicines they take, or not eating well — and produces a tailored plan to improve your nutrition. It can be done in person, by telehealth, or at a congregate meal site, and sits alongside home-delivered and congregate meals.

Virginia funds nine community-based brain injury programs that serve people living with a brain injury and their families. Services include resource coordination (connecting you and your family to brain injury resources), clubhouse and day programs, and case management to help you navigate services. Services are often low- or no-cost, but what is offered varies by locality. Find the program that serves your city or county on the DARS Brain Injury Services page, or call the Brain Injury Association of Virginia helpline at 800-444-6443 for information and referrals.

Virginia exempts one car or truck from local personal property tax when it is owned and used mainly by or for a veteran rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as 100% service-connected, permanently and totally disabled. A vehicle owned by a married couple can qualify if either spouse is the veteran. The exemption covers only one vehicle and ends when the veteran dies; it does not pass to a surviving spouse. Apply to your local commissioner of the revenue with your VA benefits letter. The vehicle license fee is a fee, not a tax, so it may still be due.

Virginians born on or before January 1, 1960 may claim an age deduction of up to $12,000 each on the state income tax return. Taxpayers born on or before January 1, 1939 get the full $12,000 regardless of income. For those born between January 2, 1939 and January 1, 1960, the deduction shrinks $1 for every $1 of adjusted federal AGI over $50,000 (single) or $75,000 (married). The deduction is claimed on Form 760 — no separate application.

Estimated bill savings: $100–$690 a year

Virginia lets taxpayers subtract up to $40,000 of eligible military benefits from state taxable income (tax year 2025 and later) — military retirement pay, Survivor Benefit Plan payments to a surviving spouse, and other military benefits paid to a veteran's surviving spouse. There is no age requirement. Both spouses may each claim the subtraction if each receives eligible benefits. Claimed on the Virginia income tax return — no separate application.

Estimated bill savings: $100–$2,300 a year

The Crisis Intervention Program helps North Carolina households that are in a heating or cooling emergency — for example, a disconnect notice or no working heat or air conditioning. It pays toward the bill to keep service on. It is available year-round while funds last, for households with income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level who are facing a life-threatening or health-related energy crisis. Apply at your county DSS or ePASS.

Estimated bill savings: $0–$600 a year

ESFR pays for major repairs to your home if you are older or have a disability and your income is at or below 80% of the median for your area. It covers the health-and-safety work a home needs to stay liveable. The help comes as a loan, but it charges no interest, you make no payments, and it is forgiven over time — currently at a rate between $8,000 and $14,000 a year depending on which funding cycle you are approved in. A local government or nonprofit in your county runs the program, decides whether you qualify, and hires and supervises the contractors.

Estimated service value: $8,000–$14,000 a year

The Targeting Program sets aside affordable apartments ("Targeted Units") in tax-credit housing across North Carolina for adults with disabilities who head their household. Key Rental Assistance can lower the rent so it is affordable on a very low income. You must be referred by a participating service agency — for example your county Department of Social Services or a behavioral health provider — which helps you pick a unit and join its waitlist. Tenants have the same lease and rights as their neighbors.

Resources For Seniors, Inc. makes minor repairs and safety improvements to the homes of Wake County residents age 60 and older who have no one able and willing to do the work for them. Depending on what the local provider offers, help can include security improvements, minor home repairs, ramps, grab bars and other accessibility changes, and repair or replacement of basic furnishings and appliances. Renters can qualify with written permission from the landlord. Help is limited to $7,000 per person each program year. Call Resources For Seniors, Inc. at 919-872-7933 to apply.

Estimated service value: $0–$7,000 a year

North Carolina residents who are 50% or more disabled veterans, as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, can buy a lifetime combination hunting and inland fishing license for a one-time $10 fee. The license covers statewide hunting and inland fishing privileges and stays valid for life. Apply by mail or in person — not online — with certification of the disability rating from the VA. Residents who are totally and permanently disabled under Social Security rules have a separate $10 lifetime license, even without military service.

North Carolina funds free civil legal help for residents age 60 and older through the Older Americans Act, with the money going to the Area Agencies on Aging. Lawyers help with income matters such as Social Security, pensions and unemployment; health care matters such as Medicaid, Medicare and veterans' benefits; housing matters such as evictions, unsafe conditions, foreclosures and predatory lending; and defense against guardianship and powers of attorney. There is no income limit, but the program is aimed at older adults with the greatest economic and social need — including people in rural areas, people with severe disabilities, people with limited English, people with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, and people at risk of being placed in an institution. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging to be connected to a legal services provider, or call the NCDHHS Customer Service Center at 1-800-662-7030.

The Circuit Breaker program caps the property tax on your permanent residence at a percentage of your income, deferring the rest. You must be age 65 or older, or totally and permanently disabled, and have owned and occupied the home for at least five years. For the 2026 tax year, if your prior-year income is $38,800 or less, tax is limited to 4% of income; if income is between $38,800 and $58,200, tax is limited to 5%. Apply on Form AV-9 every year by June 1. Send it to your county tax assessor, not the N.C. Department of Revenue; county assessor addresses and phone numbers are on the NCDOR county assessors list (ncdor.gov/documents/north-carolina-county-assessors-list).

Estimated bill savings: $200–$3,000 a year