Built from Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) public records and the Florida Division of Corporations. All figures can be verified against the free facility-level dataset. Published July 2026.
Assisted living in Florida is a market of extremes. A small number of large communities hold a large share of beds, while 48.2% of licensed facilities are homes with 6 or fewer residents. 94.3% of facilities are for-profit. 2,872 facilities have enough inspection history to receive a CareQED Score.
The CareQED Score rates every facility 0 to 100 from its full AHCA inspection record: severity of findings, how recent they are, whether they were corrected, repeat patterns, and state enforcement. The statewide average is 71.3 and the median is 82. 29.1% of rated facilities hold a Strong record (92 or above); 16.2% fall in the Serious concerns band (41 or below). Methodology.
| Score range | Facilities |
|---|---|
| Strong record (92-100) | 837 |
| Solid record (75-91) | 893 |
| Mixed record (58-74) | 466 |
| Notable concerns (42-57) | 210 |
| Serious concerns (0-41) | 466 |
| Not yet rated | 131 |
Counties with at least 20 licensed facilities, by size. Average score, share of facilities with a serious violation, total fines, and Medicaid waiver participation vary widely between counties.
| County | Facilities | Beds | Avg Score | % with serious violation | Total fines | % Medicaid waiver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 808 | 10,612 | 65.3 | 29.5% | $2,766,363 | 10.5% |
| Hillsborough | 263 | 7,906 | 79.4 | 8.7% | $364,125 | 11.8% |
| Broward | 249 | 9,631 | 77.0 | 10.4% | $400,050 | 13.3% |
| Palm Beach | 198 | 9,725 | 75.3 | 12.1% | $396,169 | 14.6% |
| Pinellas | 136 | 8,411 | 69.4 | 23.5% | $524,550 | 25.7% |
| Brevard | 127 | 4,118 | 62.6 | 28.3% | $705,025 | 22.8% |
| Orange | 120 | 4,249 | 50.3 | 35.8% | $854,750 | 10.8% |
| St. Lucie | 112 | 1,588 | 80.4 | 1.8% | $29,125 | 10.7% |
| Volusia | 87 | 4,150 | 80.6 | 6.9% | $105,650 | 20.7% |
| Sarasota | 86 | 6,197 | 68.2 | 25.6% | $306,151 | 12.8% |
| Lee | 79 | 4,727 | 69.5 | 19.0% | $341,773 | 13.9% |
| Duval | 69 | 4,423 | 84.6 | 11.6% | $101,850 | 14.5% |
| Lake | 50 | 2,480 | 89.4 | 2.0% | $40,000 | 18% |
| Seminole | 49 | 2,977 | 41.8 | 57.1% | $697,805 | 18.4% |
| Pasco | 48 | 3,544 | 64.1 | 27.1% | $181,150 | 22.9% |
| Polk | 42 | 2,930 | 73.0 | 16.7% | $62,377 | 16.7% |
| Manatee | 41 | 2,512 | 75.3 | 9.8% | $65,550 | 14.6% |
| Collier | 39 | 3,460 | 71.4 | 15.4% | $98,025 | 5.1% |
| Osceola | 38 | 1,109 | 60.9 | 31.6% | $183,150 | 10.5% |
| Marion | 31 | 2,083 | 79.1 | 22.6% | $83,000 | 19.4% |
| Escambia | 24 | 1,562 | 75.3 | 16.7% | $119,450 | 8.3% |
| Indian River | 23 | 1,367 | 73.4 | 4.3% | $35,950 | 4.3% |
| Hernando | 23 | 1,299 | 79.0 | 13.0% | $55,584 | 8.7% |
| Citrus | 22 | 1,120 | 84.8 | 9.1% | $35,650 | 13.6% |
| St. Johns | 21 | 1,455 | 89.7 | 9.5% | $28,877 | 14.3% |
| Charlotte | 21 | 1,541 | 60.3 | 28.6% | $216,250 | 14.3% |
Across all facilities, AHCA's current records show 24,310 deficiencies: 297 Class 1 (imminent danger), 1,076 Class 2 (direct threat), 20,465 Class 3, and 447 Class 4, plus 2,025 unclassified. 1,289 facilities have at least one substantiated complaint. 1,445 facilities (counted once each) have at least one sanction on record, with fines totaling $9,181,275. These figures are the cumulative totals on each facility's current AHCA published record, not the results of a single year.
CareQED grouped facilities using AHCA's own controlling-interest declarations (the sworn ownership filings every licensee must make), corroborated and extended with Florida corporate registry records: shared federal tax IDs, owning members, and verified parent headquarters. 1,384 facilities belong to 434 multi-facility groups; the rest are independently owned, most of them single small homes. The largest groups include national operators and real estate investment trusts.
These groupings are CareQED's analysis of public corporate filings and are published with the linking basis for each group. The table below includes only groups verified against corporate records and public sources. Operators who believe a grouping is incorrect can write to support@careqed.com and we will review and correct promptly.
| Ownership group | Facilities | Beds | Avg Score | Serious violations | Sanctions | Fines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookdale Senior Living | 59 | 5,316 | 63.2 | 48 | 134 | $344,900 |
| Welltower (REIT) | 41 | 4,810 | 71.1 | 39 | 71 | $466,128 |
| American House Senior Living (Wood & Cummings portfolio) | 18 | 1,792 | 67.3 | 6 | 13 | $18,500 |
| Mainstay Senior Living / Grace Manor | 17 | 1,369 | 57.2 | 25 | 35 | $137,900 |
| Diversified Healthcare Trust (REIT) | 17 | 1,680 | 83.5 | 1 | 7 | $3,125 |
| Grand Villa Senior Living | 15 | 2,263 | 66.7 | 9 | 20 | $50,400 |
| Best Care Senior Living | 15 | 1,141 | 59.5 | 18 | 44 | $138,250 |
| Westminster Communities of Florida | 12 | 948 | 80.7 | 1 | 13 | $16,000 |
| Frank Russo & Patrick Cheng | 12 | 1,206 | 79.7 | 2 | 9 | $15,500 |
| NeuroInternational Healthcare | 11 | 78 | 84.7 | 4 | 5 | $18,900 |
| Arden Courts (ProMedica) | 11 | 580 | 69.3 | 4 | 19 | $26,800 |
| National Healthcare Properties (REIT, fka ARHC) | 10 | 1,009 | 68.7 | 8 | 8 | $40,050 |
| Sonata Senior Living (operator brand) | 10 | 894 | 58.9 | 12 | 16 | $133,000 |
| Angela Perez & Ledeidy Perez | 9 | 60 | 72.4 | 3 | 9 | $19,900 |
| TJM Properties | 8 | 1,203 | 61.4 | 3 | 10 | $35,127 |
On average, chain-owned facilities and independents have nearly identical inspection records (8.1 vs 8.1 deficiencies per facility). The differences that matter are between specific operators. Ownership groups are identified from AHCA controlling-interest declarations and corporate registry filings; the full methodology is at /methodology. Sonata Senior Living is an operator brand whose buildings are held by different owners. The full group list is available to journalists and researchers on request.
13.6% of facilities participate in Florida's Medicaid long-term care waiver, the main public path to paying for assisted living. 53.4% accept VA benefits. 27% offer memory care, 5.7% hold an Extended Congregate Care license, and 26.9% report 24-hour nursing.
Sources: AHCA facility roster, inspection deficiency records, substantiated complaints, sanctions and fines (as of June 21, 2026); AHCA controlling-interest disclosures; Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) filings for ownership matching. AHCA's published enforcement totals cover roughly the past five years of inspections. CareQED is independent and not affiliated with AHCA. Scores are editorial analysis of official records; the full method is public at /methodology. The facility dataset is free to reuse with credit and a link to CareQED (CC BY 4.0). Journalists and researchers can email support@careqed.com for the full ownership dataset or county and city-level cuts of any figure. CareQED Score of NR in any dataset means not yet rated.
Browse the underlying records: Florida assisted living by county.
Downloads: facility dataset (CSV, free). In the dataset, a CareQED Score of NR means not yet rated. The ownership dataset is available to journalists and researchers on request.
Cite this report: CareQED, The State of Florida Assisted Living 2026, https://careqed.com/data/florida-assisted-living-2026