Johnson County holds two very different kinds of houses. Cleburne, the county seat since 1867, and older towns like Alvarado and Grandview still have homes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Burleson, the largest city, grew from 241 residents in 1920 to nearly 42,000 by 2014, and most of its streets are lined with newer suburban single-family builds.
Both kinds of homes often have interior stairs, and that is where a stair lift comes in. Below we walk through how the homes in Joshua, Keene, Venus, Godley and the rest of the county's 13 towns shape the choice of lift, and which programs may help with the cost.
Historic-era houses often have staircases built before anyone planned for a lift. Steps can be steep, turns can come at a landing, and the wall side may not be square. None of that rules out a stair lift, but it does mean we measure carefully before recommending a straight or curved rail.
A straight flight with no turn usually takes a straight rail. If the stairs bend at a landing or wrap around, a curved rail is built to follow that exact path. We look at the whole run, top to bottom, during the home visit.
Standard two-story suburban builds in Burleson subdivisions tend to have one straight flight between floors. That is often the simplest install there is, with a straight rail mounted to the stair treads rather than the wall.
Split-level homes are different. They have short flights between several levels, so the question becomes which levels the person actually needs to reach. Sometimes one lift on the main flight does the job, and sometimes the answer is a curved rail or more than one lift.
Townhouses and low-rise buildings also appear across the county. Narrow stairwells in these homes are worth measuring first, since rail placement and how the seat folds up affect who else can still use the stairs.
Roughly 46.5% of county residents live in rural areas, outside town centers. For homes out near the Nolan River or between towns like Rio Vista and Godley, the entry steps can matter as much as the inside stairs. Outdoor stair lifts are built for weather, and a platform lift is an option when someone uses a wheelchair and cannot transfer to a seat.
Distance also matters. Many installers and home-modification contractors are based in the Fort Worth metro, so rural households should ask up front about scheduling and service visits.
As of the 2020 census, 14.9% of county residents were 65 or older, and 74.2% of homes were owner-occupied. For a family that owns the house and plans to stay, a stair lift is often a smaller change than moving.
That makes the VA programs below worth checking, though their rules on stair lifts differ.
No program in our list names stair lifts as a covered item, and one VA grant rules them out. Several Medicaid waivers and local nonprofits do list home modifications or accessibility work, so the honest answer is to call and ask about your specific case.
A good first call is the North Central Texas Area Agency on Aging, which serves Johnson County as part of a 14-county region. Veterans can start with the Veterans Services Office in Cleburne at (817) 556-6351. The statewide list for Texas also includes the Amy Young Barrier Removal Program (AYBR), which you can ask about when you call.
A Texas HHSC Medicaid waiver for adults 21 and older who meet nursing-facility level of care and Medicaid financial rules; minor home modifications are a listed service, but stair lifts are not named and depend on service coordinator approval. Call (877) 782-6440.
A statewide Medicaid waiver for people of any age with a related condition that began before age 22; minor home modifications are covered, but stair lifts are not named, so confirm your case. Call (877) 438-5658.
The aging-services intake and referral point for adults 60 and older and their caregivers in Johnson County; its programs do not mention stair lifts or home-modification funding. Call (800) 272-3921.
Federal loans up to $20,000 at 1% and grants up to $7,500 for very-low-income homeowners 62 and older in USDA-eligible rural areas, for repairs or removing health and safety hazards. Stair lifts are not named, and eligibility depends on whether the property qualifies as rural.
A VA lifetime grant of up to $6,800 or $2,000 for medically necessary structural changes to a veteran's home. It explicitly excludes stair glides and porch lifts, so it does not cover a stair lift.
VA grants for veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities, up to $126,526 for SAH and $25,350 for SHA in FY2026, with TRA for a family member's home. The source describes ramps and widened doorways but does not name stair lifts.
A Cleburne-based volunteer nonprofit doing home repair for elderly, disabled, veteran and low-income homeowners in Johnson County, with emergency repairs capped around $500 that include accessibility issues; stair lifts are not named. Call (817) 774-2022.
Free critical home repair and aging-in-place work for elderly or disabled homeowners in Tarrant, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties; stair lifts are not named. Call (817) 926-9219.
A Center for Independent Living offering peer support, skills training, referral and advocacy to Johnson County residents with a disability of any age; stair lift help is not listed. Call (512) 832-6349.
Older adults
616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, 76011
Veterans
2 N. Main St., Room B9, Cleburne, 76033
The HISA grant does not, since it explicitly excludes stair glides. The SAH and SHA grants fund larger home adaptations for certain severe service-connected disabilities, but the source does not say whether a stair lift qualifies. Call the Veterans Services Office in Cleburne at (817) 556-6351 to ask about your situation.
Yes, possibly. STAR+PLUS starts at age 21, while CLASS and ARCIL serve people of any age who meet their disability rules. The Area Agency on Aging focuses on adults 60 and older.
Applications are accepted September 1 through November 30 for Work Days the following April. Emergency repairs, capped at about $500, are a separate category. Call (817) 774-2022.
Not always. It depends on which levels the person needs to reach every day. Sometimes one lift on the main flight is enough, and sometimes a curved rail or a second lift makes more sense.
It might. The Section 504 program only covers USDA-designated rural areas, and Johnson County has both rural land and cities near Fort Worth, so eligibility depends on your specific property. Grants are for very-low-income homeowners 62 and older.
The North Central Texas AAA is a good starting point for older adults, at (817) 695-9240 or (800) 272-3921. Its office is at 616 Six Flags Drive in Arlington.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
