Cost of Long Term Care in Florida: Nursing Home Costs

Long-term care in Florida costs less at home and more in a facility. The state Agency for Health Care Administration estimated Florida’s average nursing home private pay rate at $349.96 per day as of January 1, 2025 — about $10,600 a month, or roughly $127,700 a year. Assisted living, home care, and adult day care cost less.

That figure is the firmest Florida-specific number in the public record, because it comes from cost reports nursing homes file with the state rather than a private survey. Other care settings are measured less precisely, and this page is clear about where the official data stops.

The average cost of long-term care in Florida by type of care

Long-term care is not one product. It is a range of care settings and care options, and the cost of care rises with the amount of hands-on help and clinical supervision involved. Here is the picture across the main senior care options, with the source and year for each figure.

Nursing home costs in Florida

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) publishes an annual estimate of what Florida nursing homes charge private-pay residents. The most recent report puts the statewide average at $349.96 per day as of January 1, 2025. Over a full year that is about $127,700, and the monthly cost works out to roughly $10,600. AHCA builds the estimate by dividing total private pay revenue by total private pay days on cost reports filed by Medicaid-participating nursing homes, then trending it forward using health care cost indices. The report is published on the AHCA website.

Two limits matter. AHCA can estimate the rate for Florida as a whole only, and only for nursing home providers that participate in Medicaid, so there is no official county-by-county breakdown. And the figure is a blended daily revenue average: AHCA does not split it into a semi-private room rate and a private room rate, though a private room in a nursing home typically costs more.

For a national reference point on room type, the federal Administration for Community Living’s LongTermCare.gov published average nursing home costs of $225 per day for a semi-private room and $253 per day for a private room in 2016 (about $6,844 and $7,698 a month). Those figures are nearly a decade old and sit well below Florida’s current rate, which shows how far nursing home costs have moved.

Assisted living costs in Florida

Florida licenses thousands of assisted living facilities, but the state does not publish an average private-pay price for them the way it does for nursing homes. No state agency reports a median cost for assisted living facilities in Florida, and published official data on assisted living rates is limited. The assisted living numbers circulated elsewhere come from a commercial cost of care survey, not a government source.

The closest federal reference is LongTermCare.gov, which listed a national average of $119 per day, or $3,628 a month, for a one-bedroom assisted living unit in 2016. Assisted living generally costs substantially less than nursing home care because residents need help with daily activities rather than round-the-clock skilled nursing.

The state’s consumer database at FloridaHealthFinder.gov lists licensed assisted living facilities in each county, and AHCA’s Assisted Living Unit holds the licensure records.

Home care and home health costs in Florida

In-home care is priced by the hour, so the annual cost of care depends entirely on how many hours are needed. Florida does not publish an official statewide hourly rate for private-duty home care or homemaker services.

What is documented is what the work pays. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a national median wage of $17.21 an hour, or $35,800 a year, for home health and personal care aides as of May 2025, and projects 18 percent growth in the occupation from 2025 to 2035. Agency billing rates run above the wage, since they include supervision, payroll taxes, insurance, and scheduling. LongTermCare.gov listed a national average of $20.50 an hour for a home health aide and $20.00 an hour for homemaker services in 2016.

Home care in Florida gets expensive as hours accumulate. Part-time help is a fraction of a nursing home bill; around-the-clock in-home care can exceed it. That crossover point drives most home-versus-facility comparisons.

Adult day care and adult day health costs

Adult day health centers provide supervised daytime care, meals, activities, and sometimes health monitoring while a family caregiver works or rests. Per day it generally costs less than any residential care setting. LongTermCare.gov listed a national average of $68 per day for an adult day health care center in 2016. Florida publishes no current statewide private-pay rate for adult day care; the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Aging and Disability Resource Centers are the official channels for finding programs.

Memory care costs in Florida

Memory care in Florida is usually delivered inside an assisted living facility with a secured unit and trained staff, priced as a premium above the facility’s base rate. No Florida agency publishes an average memory care price, so any dollar figure you find comes from commercial sources rather than official data.

Oversight is changing. In 2026 the Florida Legislature passed CS/CS/SB 1404, creating a memory care specialty license for assisted living facilities that provide or advertise memory care services, with AHCA directed to adopt minimum standards by June 1, 2027.

What drives the cost of long-term care in Florida

Cost differences across care facilities and care providers are not random. A few documented factors explain most of the spread.

Level of care needed. Skilled nursing care requires licensed nurses on site around the clock; assisted living requires trained aides; adult day care requires staff only during program hours. Staffing intensity drives every long term care price.
Labor costs. Wages for nursing assistants and home health aides move the whole cost structure, and BLS projects 18 percent growth in demand for home health and personal care aides from 2025 to 2035.
Room type. A private room in a nursing home costs more than a semi-private room; in assisted living, a studio costs less than a one-bedroom unit.
Hours of care. For home care, the number of hours matters far more than the hourly rate. Twelve hours a day outruns a facility’s monthly cost.
Add-on services. Assisted living facilities commonly price medication management, incontinence care, transfers, and memory support as tiered add-ons above a base rent, so two residents in identical apartments can pay very different totals.
Geography. Metro-area long term care providers face higher wage and real estate costs than rural ones.

How costs vary around the state

Florida does not publish nursing home or assisted living costs by county, so there is no official Florida cost map. AHCA’s private pay report is explicitly a statewide estimate.

A government-documented proxy for regional variation is labor cost. BLS occupational wage data for May 2023 shows the hourly mean wage for nursing assistants at $17.67 statewide in Florida, $17.93 in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach metro area, and $15.85 in the Homosassa Springs area, against a national mean of $19.04. That spread of roughly 13 percent between a large South Florida metro and a small rural one is the kind of variation that shows up in facility pricing.

In practice, South Florida and the coastal metros tend to sit above the statewide average and inland and rural counties below it. FloridaHealthFinder.gov and the federal Medicare Care Compare tool are the official databases for comparing individual care facilities.

How long-term care costs have trended

Florida’s own nursing home data shows movement rather than a straight climb. AHCA’s estimated statewide average private pay rate per day was $355.35 as of January 1, 2022, $343.17 in 2023, $343.82 in 2024, and $349.96 in 2025. It comes from filed cost reports and reflects the mix of facilities in those reports, so year-to-year changes are not a clean inflation index.

The national spending picture is clearer. CMS National Health Expenditure data shows spending on nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities reached $219.9 billion in 2024, up 7.3 percent from 2023, following 8.7 percent growth the year before. Home health care spending reached $169.4 billion in 2024, up 10.2 percent, after 11.1 percent growth in 2023. Home health spending grew faster than nursing facility spending in both years.

Demand in Florida points the same way. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 21.8 percent of Florida residents were 65 or older in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey period. The Florida Department of Elder Affairs State Plan on Aging 2025–2029 counts 6.3 million Floridians aged 60 and older, including 638,000 aged 85 and older, and projects one-third of Floridians will be 60 or older by 2030.

How people pay for long-term care in Florida

There is no single payer for long-term care. Most families combine several sources, and the mix changes as care needs change.

Medicare

Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care. It covers short-term skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay. For 2026, Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care up to 100 days per benefit period: days 1–20 cost $0 after the $1,736 deductible, days 21–100 carry a $217 per day coinsurance, and after day 100 you pay all costs, per Medicare.gov. Medicare also covers intermittent skilled home health care for homebound beneficiaries, but not ongoing help with bathing, dressing, or meals.

Medicaid

Medicaid is the primary payer of long-term care in the United States. KFF reports that more than 60 percent of the 1.2 million U.S. nursing facility residents as of July 2024 had Medicaid as their primary payer, and that Medicaid covered 44 percent of the $147 billion spent on institutional long-term care in 2023.

Florida delivers its long-term care services largely through the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care program, covering nursing facility care plus home and community-based services, adult day health care, and assistive care services in assisted living facilities and adult family care homes. KFF State Health Facts shows 71 percent of Florida’s fee-for-service Medicaid long term care spending going to home health and personal care in FY 2024, with 29 percent institutional.

Eligibility is income- and asset-tested. Florida’s Department of Children and Families published these standards effective January 2025 for the Institutional Care Program and home and community-based services: an individual income limit of $2,901 a month, an asset limit of $2,000, a personal needs allowance of $160 a month for nursing facility residents, a community spouse resource allowance of up to $157,920, and a home equity limit of $730,000. These standards change annually; the current chart is published by Florida DCF.

Personal funds and other sources

Before Medicaid eligibility is reached, most people pay from savings, retirement income, home equity, and family contributions. Some households hold long term care insurance bought years earlier, and veterans or surviving spouses may qualify for VA benefits. PACE programs, jointly funded by Medicare and Medicaid, serve some Florida counties for people who meet nursing home level of care but live in the community. Unpaid family caregiving carries real costs in lost wages even though it never appears on a bill.

What happens if an elderly person can’t afford a nursing home

Nursing homes in Florida generally do not discharge a resident simply because private funds run out. The usual path is applying for Florida Medicaid’s Institutional Care Program while in the facility. If eligibility is approved, Medicaid pays the nursing home, the resident’s income is applied to the cost of care as patient responsibility, and the resident keeps the personal needs allowance. Nursing homes that participate in Medicaid are subject to federal rules limiting when a resident can be transferred or discharged.

People not yet in a facility typically start with the Aging and Disability Resource Centers run through the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, which screen for programs including Community Care for the Elderly, Home Care for the Elderly, and the Medicaid long term care waitlist. Eligibility and priority are set by the state.

Where the official Florida numbers stop

Most articles on long term care costs rely on a private cost of care survey published by the insurance industry. Those figures are not government data. This page uses government and nonprofit research only, so some numbers you might expect are missing:

No official Florida average for assisted living, memory care, or adult day care rates.
No official Florida hourly rate for private-duty home care or homemaker services.
No official county-level or regional breakdown of nursing home costs in Florida.
No official split between semi-private room and private room rates in Florida.

For those measures, check AHCA and FloridaHealthFinder.gov, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, KFF, and LongTermCare.gov directly.

Frequently asked questions

Does Medicare pay for long-term care in Florida?

No. Medicare pays for short-term skilled nursing and rehabilitation after a qualifying hospital stay, up to 100 days per benefit period, and for intermittent skilled home health care. It does not pay for ongoing custodial long-term care in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or at home. In 2026, days 21–100 of a Medicare-covered skilled nursing facility stay carry a $217 daily coinsurance, and Medicare pays nothing after day 100 in a benefit period.

Does Medicaid cover long-term care costs in Florida?

Yes, for people who meet Florida’s medical and financial eligibility rules. Florida Medicaid covers nursing facility care and, through the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care program, home and community-based services, adult day health care, and assistive care services in assisted living facilities. As of January 2025, the Florida income limit for institutional care and home and community-based services was $2,901 a month for an individual with a $2,000 asset limit.

How do most Americans pay for nursing homes and long-term care?

Most nursing home residents end up on Medicaid. KFF reports more than 60 percent of U.S. nursing facility residents had Medicaid as their primary payer as of July 2024. Before that point, people generally pay from savings, retirement income, and home equity, sometimes with long term care insurance or VA benefits. Medicare covers only short skilled stays, and unpaid family caregiving fills much of the need that never reaches a paid provider.

How much does a nursing home cost per month in Florida?

Using AHCA’s estimated statewide average private pay rate of $349.96 per day as of January 1, 2025, the monthly cost of a nursing home in Florida averages roughly $10,600, or about $127,700 a year. Individual facilities charge more or less than the average depending on location, room type, and level of care.

Why are Florida nursing homes expensive?

Staffing is the main reason. Skilled nursing facilities must maintain licensed nursing coverage around the clock plus certified nursing assistants on every shift, and those wages are rising. Florida also has a large older population — 21.8 percent of residents were 65 or older in the 2020–2024 Census estimates — which keeps demand for care facilities high. Nationally, spending on nursing care facilities rose 7.3 percent in 2024, according to CMS.

How long will I need long-term care?

The Administration for Community Living estimates someone turning 65 today has about a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long-term care, and that the typical person who needs it uses services for about three years. Women average 3.7 years and men 2.2 years. About one in five 65-year-olds will need care longer than five years, and roughly one-third will never need it. Duration drives the total cost of long-term care more than any daily rate does.

Is home care cheaper than a nursing home in Florida?

It depends on hours. Home care is billed hourly, so a few hours a day costs far less than a nursing home, while around-the-clock in-home care generally costs more, because you pay for one-to-one rather than shared staffing. Florida’s Medicaid program leans toward home-based care: 71 percent of the state’s fee-for-service Medicaid long term care spending went to home health and personal care in FY 2024, according to KFF.

What is nursing home level of care?

Nursing home level of care is a clinical determination that a person needs the supervision and hands-on assistance a nursing facility provides. In Florida it is assessed through the state’s screening process and is a prerequisite for Medicaid long term care benefits, including home and community-based services delivered outside a facility.

Disclosures

This article is general information about the cost of long term care in Florida and is not financial, tax, legal, or medical advice. Cost figures come from the sources and years named in the text: the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, CMS, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, KFF, and the federal Administration for Community Living. Costs change and vary by facility, county, room type, and level of care needed, so verify current figures with the source agency and with individual care providers. Medicare and Medicaid eligibility determinations are made by the responsible government agencies. Lifeworth Insurance Agency is a trade name of Lifeworth Financial Group LLC, National Producer Number 21228343, licensed in Florida.

This article is part of long-term care planning in Florida.