The short answer: Florida has 3,080 licensed assisted living facilities holding approximately 106,103 licensed beds, according to the Florida Health Care Association's summary of Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) data. That is more assisted living beds than nursing home beds statewide. In our own directory snapshot (October 2026), Miami-Dade County has the largest concentration of facilities by a wide margin, followed by Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach and Pinellas.
If you have searched this question before, you have probably seen four different numbers on four different sites. Below is what the licensing data actually says, what our own directory snapshot shows county by county, and exactly how to verify any figure yourself.
How many assisted living facilities are there in Florida in 2026?
Florida has 3,080 licensed assisted living facilities and about 106,103 licensed beds, per AHCA figures compiled by the Florida Health Care Association. Researchers at the University of South Florida School of Aging Studies put it the same way: over 3,000 assisted living communities with over 106,000 beds, compared with 691 nursing homes holding roughly 84,000 beds. The most recent official count is slightly lower: a Florida House of Representatives staff analysis put the number at 2,984 ALFs as of February 10, 2026 (Florida House bill analysis, CS/HB 1057). Our own directory lists 3,006, so every current source puts Florida at roughly 3,000 licensed ALFs.
That comparison matters more than most families realize. Florida's assisted living bed capacity now exceeds its nursing home bed capacity by roughly 21,700 beds — 106,103 ALF beds against 84,448 nursing home beds, per FHCA's compilation of AHCA data. Assisted living is no longer the small alternative to a nursing home in this state — it is the larger system.
For historical context, a 2012 Florida Senate interim report documented 2,956 AHCA-licensed ALFs. Net growth since then has been roughly 120 facilities.
| Florida assisted living at a glance | Figure |
|---|---|
| Licensed assisted living facilities | 3,080 |
| Licensed ALF beds | ~106,103 |
| Average beds per facility | ~34 |
| Nursing homes (for comparison) | 691 |
| Nursing home beds | ~84,448 |
| Residents age 65+ statewide (2020 Census) | ~4.6 million (21.3% of the state) |
| ALF beds per 1,000 residents age 65+ | ~23 |
Facility and bed counts from FHCA/AHCA and USF FPECA; 65+ population from U.S. Census Bureau data as reported here. Averages calculated by our editorial team.
Which Florida county has the most assisted living facilities?
Miami-Dade County has the most assisted living facilities in Florida by a wide margin. As of October 2026, Miami-Dade accounts for 805 of the 3,006 licensed, active facilities we track statewide — more than one in four, and more than the next two counties combined, according to AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data.
A note on methodology, because the inconsistency between websites on this topic is the whole problem. AHCA is the licensing authority, and the statewide count compiled from its data is 3,080. Our directory, built from state licensing data, lists 3,006 licensed, active facilities across 54 of Florida's 67 counties, with a combined licensed capacity of 118,442 beds. Counts differ between sources because they are compiled at different times, and facilities open, close and change capacity every month — so treat the county figures below as an October 2026 snapshot and verify any single facility against AHCA.
| County | Facilities in our directory | Share of statewide total | Licensed beds | Average beds per facility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 805 | 26.8% | 10,590 | 13 |
| Hillsborough | 263 | 8.7% | 7,881 | 30 |
| Broward | 249 | 8.3% | 9,631 | 39 |
| Palm Beach | 199 | 6.6% | 9,731 | 49 |
| Pinellas | 138 | 4.6% | 8,778 | 64 |
| Brevard | 127 | 4.2% | 4,118 | 32 |
| Orange | 120 | 4.0% | 4,344 | 36 |
| St. Lucie | 112 | 3.7% | 1,588 | 14 |
| Sarasota | 87 | 2.9% | 6,203 | 71 |
| Volusia | 87 | 2.9% | 4,150 | 48 |
| Top five combined | 1,654 | 55.0% | 46,611 | 28 |
Source: AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data, October 2026 snapshot of 3,006 licensed, active Florida ALFs.
The city-level pattern is even more concentrated. Miami alone has 576 facilities, followed by Tampa (172), Port Saint Lucie (102), Hialeah (95) and Orlando (72), per AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data. You can browse those markets on our Miami-Dade County page, Hillsborough County page, or the full Florida directory.
Why does the county with the most facilities not always have the most beds?
Because facility counts and bed counts measure different things. AHCA notes that licensed ALFs in Florida can range in size from a single resident to several hundred residents, per the Agency's Assisted Living Unit.
That single sentence explains most of the confusion in this topic:
- Small-home counties look bigger than they are. A county with 40 six-bed adult family–style homes has 40 facilities but only 240 beds. A county with 15 large rental communities can have triple the capacity with a third of the facility count.
- A facility count is not a capacity count. Because AHCA licenses everything from one-resident homes to several-hundred-resident communities, two counties with identical facility totals can differ enormously in beds. Our own data shows it: Miami-Dade has nearly six times as many facilities as Pinellas (805 vs. 138) but only about a fifth more licensed beds (10,590 vs. 8,778), because the average Miami-Dade facility has 13 beds and the average Pinellas facility has 64, per AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data.
- Average size is the tell. FHCA's statewide figures work out to about 34 beds per facility. In our directory the average is 39.4 beds (118,442 beds across 3,006 facilities), but the median is just 8 beds — 48% of Florida facilities are licensed for six or fewer residents, per AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data.
The fairest availability measure is beds per 1,000 residents age 65 and older. Statewide, Florida has roughly 23 ALF beds for every 1,000 residents 65+ — using 106,103 beds against the ~4.6 million Floridians age 65+ recorded in the 2020 Census.
What are the four types of Florida assisted living licenses?
Florida has four assisted living license types, and every facility must hold the Standard license to operate; the other three are add-ons, per AHCA's FloridaHealthFinder consumer guide. AHCA licenses routine personal care under the Standard license and authorizes additional services only under a Specialty license, according to the Agency.
| License | What it signals for your parent |
|---|---|
| Standard | Baseline license required of every ALF; covers routine personal care and supervision |
| Extended Congregate Care (ECC) | Specialty add-on allowing a higher level of nursing and personal services so residents can age in place longer |
| Limited Nursing Services (LNS) | Specialty add-on allowing specified nursing services beyond the Standard scope |
| Limited Mental Health (LMH) | Specialty add-on for serving residents receiving mental health services and support |
Ask for the license type in writing before you tour. A parent with escalating care needs in a Standard-only building may face a move later; an ECC or LNS license can prevent that.
How many Florida assisted living facilities offer memory care?
Secured memory care is a service category, not a license category — which is why no clean statewide count exists. Our directory is built from state licensing data, which does not record memory care, so we will not publish a memory-care share we cannot stand behind.
The reliable tool is AHCA's Assisted Living Facility Comparison Tool, which lets you filter facilities by programs and services including Memory Care, and also compare complaints, sanctions, deficiency data, bed size, bed hold policy, languages spoken, occupancy data and payment forms accepted, per FloridaHealthFinder. AHCA states its consumer guide information is current as of November 2024 and asks users to credit the Agency for its creation.
Veteran families should also know about one facility that never shows up in county rankings: Florida's State Veterans' Homes Program operates a State Veterans' Domiciliary Home — an assisted living facility with 150 beds — alongside eight state nursing homes, according to OPPAGA.
How do I verify a county figure or check a facility's record?
Start with AHCA, then work locally. Three steps:
- Verify licensure and inspection history on AHCA's Assisted Living Facility Comparison Tool, where complaints, sanctions and deficiency data are published.
- Call your regional Area Agency on Aging, which provides information and assistance on state and federal benefits, per the same AHCA guide.
- Ask about CARES, Florida's federally mandated pre-admission screening program for long-term care services — the gateway for Medicaid-funded placement.
On cost, benchmark upward: the median annual cost of a private room in a Florida nursing center is $100,375, and $89,297 semi-private, while the median annual cost of a private room in a Florida assisted living facility is $48,000, per the Genworth Cost of Care Survey as cited by FHCA.
Browse licensed communities by market on our Florida directory, or start with a large metro like Tampa.
