The short answer: Miami (194 licensed facilities), Tampa (69), Palm Bay (28), Hialeah (27) and Orlando (23) have the largest supply of licensed assisted living facilities in Florida, according to AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data — and those cities therefore hold the largest pool of licensed facilities from which memory care programs are drawn. Here's the part no other site will tell you: Florida does not yet have an operational memory care license, so nobody — including us — can publish a state-verified count of "memory care facilities." That changes only after AHCA writes the rules for the new memory care specialty designation created by CS/CS/SB 1404, which Holland & Knight reports must be adopted by July 1, 2027.
Which Florida counties have the most assisted living facilities?
Miami-Dade County has 268 licensed, active assisted living facilities — more than the next two counties combined. AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data covers 1,000 licensed, active assisted living facilities across 46 Florida counties, with a combined licensed capacity of 36,545 beds (an average of roughly 37 beds per facility).
| County | Licensed ALFs | Share of statewide total | Directory pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 268 | 26.8% | Miami-Dade County |
| Hillsborough | 98 | 9.8% | Tampa |
| Broward | 86 | 8.6% | — |
| Palm Beach | 60 | 6.0% | — |
| Brevard | 54 | 5.4% | — |
| Top 5 combined | 566 | 56.6% | — |
Source: AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data, 2026.
More than half of Florida's licensed assisted living supply sits in just five counties. If your parent has dementia and you have flexibility on location, searching a whole county instead of a single ZIP code roughly multiplies your options.
Which Florida cities have the most options?
Miami leads every Florida city with 194 licensed assisted living facilities, according to AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data. The top five cities together account for 341 facilities — 34.1% of all licensed assisted living facilities in the state.
| City | County | Licensed ALFs | Share of statewide total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami | Miami-Dade | 194 | 19.4% |
| Tampa | Hillsborough | 69 | 6.9% |
| Palm Bay | Brevard | 28 | 2.8% |
| Hialeah | Miami-Dade | 27 | 2.7% |
| Orlando | Orange | 23 | 2.3% |
Source: AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data, 2026. Counts reflect licensed, active assisted living facilities — not a state memory care designation, which is not yet operational.
One pattern worth knowing: across our 1,000 licensed Florida facilities, licensed capacity averages roughly 37 beds, so a large share of the supply is small communities. Small facilities can be excellent for a resident with dementia who does poorly in large, noisy buildings — but they may not market themselves as "memory care," so families searching that phrase can miss them.
Why can't anyone give you a verified memory care count in Florida?
Because "memory care" is currently a marketing term in Florida, not an operational license category. In our own database, 0 of 1,000 Florida facilities (0%) carry a memory-care-specific state designation — not because no one provides dementia care, but because AHCA has no such designation to issue yet.
Today, assisted living facilities may hold only three specialty license types — Extended Congregate Care (ECC), Limited Nursing Services (LNS) and Limited Mental Health (LMH) — and no specialty designation exists for memory care, with regulations largely leaving each facility to decide how to run its own memory care program, according to law firm Holland & Knight.
That is the honest answer to the target question: a facility advertising memory care in Florida today may hold nothing more than a standard assisted living license. Two buildings on the same street can both advertise "memory care" and deliver completely different levels of staffing, training and supervision.
Is there a separate memory care license in Florida now?
Not yet an operational one. Legislation (CS/CS/SB 1404) creates a fourth assisted living specialty designation for memory care services, and certain facilities will be required to obtain it in order to provide those services — but Holland & Knight notes that AHCA begins rulemaking only if the bill is approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis, per Holland & Knight. The legislation amends Chapter 429, Florida Statutes — including s. 429.02 (definitions) and s. 429.07 (licenses) — to add the fourth specialty category, according to law firm Arnall Golden Gregory.
To hold the memory care services designation, a facility must already have a standard assisted living license and meet additional minimum standards AHCA must adopt by July 1, 2027, per Holland & Knight.
| License type | What it covers | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Standard ALF | Housing, meals, personal care, help with medications | Long-standing |
| Extended Congregate Care (ECC) | Nursing and support services for residents who would otherwise be disqualified from continued residence | Long-standing |
| Limited Nursing Services (LNS) | A limited, defined set of nursing services on site | Long-standing |
| Limited Mental Health (LMH) | Serving residents who receive Social Security disability income or SSI due to a mental disorder, along with Optional State Supplementation | Long-standing |
| Memory care services | Specialized dementia care, staffing, training, physical plant, marketing disclosures | New — AHCA minimum standards due by July 1, 2027 |
Specialty license standards are surveyed under AHCA's ASPEN Regulation Set, which covers the Assisted Living Standard plus ECC, LMH, LNS and core licensure deficiencies, per AHCA's Assisted Living Unit.
The definition matters to families. The legislation defines a "memory care resident" as someone with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia living in a facility that claims or advertises specialized care, services or activities for that condition — regardless of whether those offerings appear in the resident's contract, per Holland & Knight. In plain terms: if a Florida community markets memory care, it will have to hold the designation and back up the marketing.
What does a "secured" or "locked" memory care wing actually mean?
A secured wing is a building design choice, not a license — and it is generally permitted in Florida, subject to fire, life-safety and physical plant requirements. Delayed-egress doors, keypad exits, enclosed courtyards and alarmed perimeters are used to keep residents who wander from leaving the building unsupervised.
What a locked door does not tell you is how many staff are awake at 3 a.m. Under CS/CS/SB 1404, AHCA's rules must address safety requirements for memory care residents — including requiring at least one awake staff member on duty at all hours — plus physical plant requirements, per Holland & Knight. Until those rules take effect, ask the question directly and get the answer in writing.
Also ask about hurricane readiness. Florida assisted living facilities must maintain emergency power plans for resident cooling — keeping ambient temperatures at or below 81°F for at least 96 hours after a loss of primary power (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-36.025) — a bigger deal in a locked dementia unit, where you cannot simply walk residents out to a neighbor's house.
ECC or LNS — which license does a parent with dementia need?
Neither license is a dementia license; they govern how much hands-on care a facility may legally provide before a resident must move. ECC generally allows a facility to keep residents who would otherwise be disqualified from continued residence, with added nursing and support services, while LNS permits a narrower list of nursing services on site.
For a resident with mid-stage dementia, the practical question is: what happens when she stops walking safely, needs two-person transfers, or develops a wound? A standard-license community may have to discharge her. An ECC community often can keep her. Ask each community which specialty licenses it holds, then verify — don't take the tour guide's word for it.
How do you verify a Florida facility that advertises memory care?
Look the facility up on the state's own locator at healthfinder.fl.gov, which lists homes licensed by AHCA. You can confirm the license type, licensed capacity and whether ECC or LNS specialty licenses are held.
One gap to know about: community residential homes licensed by the Department of Children and Families are listed separately through DCF, meaning some "memory care" style group homes are not in the AHCA assisted living file at all, per AHCA.
Methodology and limits. Counts above come from AssistedLivingFacility.com's directory of 1,000 licensed, active Florida assisted living facilities across 46 counties (36,545 total licensed beds), built from state licensure data. Because Florida has no operational memory care designation until AHCA adopts rules — due by July 1, 2027 under CS/CS/SB 1404 — we do not publish a "memory care facility" count: 0% of our records carry such a designation, and any site claiming a verified number is describing marketing, not licensure. City totals also understate options where dementia-focused group homes are DCF-licensed. Start with the Florida statewide directory, then verify every shortlist entry at healthfinder.fl.gov.