Sarasota Senior AdvisorWhat does senior care cost in Sarasota and Manatee counties?
CareScout's 2025 Florida medians are about $5,500 a month for assisted living, $10,342 for a semi-private nursing home room, $6,101 for 44 hours a week of home care and $1,625 for five days a week of adult day care; no Sarasota-specific or memory care median is published.
Last verified: October 2026| Care type (Florida, 2025) | Annual median | About per month | Change from 2024 | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living community | $66,000 | $5,500 | +3% | $74,400 |
| Nursing home, semi-private room | $124,100 | $10,342 | 0% | $114,975 |
| Nursing home, private room | $146,000 | $12,167 | +5% | $129,575 |
| Home care, non-medical (44 hrs/week) | $73,216 | $6,101 | +7% | $80,080 |
| Adult day health care (5 days/week) | $19,500 | $1,625 | n/a | $24,700 |
CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Florida results (Business Wire, March 2, 2026). Monthly, hourly and daily figures are our arithmetic on CareScout's annual medians (annual / 12; home care annual / 2,288 hours; nursing home annual / 365; adult day annual / 260 days).
Who pays for senior care in Florida?
Most families pay privately at first; Medicare covers short skilled nursing stays, home health and hospice; Florida Medicaid's long-term care program pays nursing home care and home and community-based services including assisted living services; OSS helps low-income ALF residents with room and board; PACE serves eligible Manatee and Sarasota residents; and VA pension with Aid and Attendance helps eligible veterans and survivors.
The gap families meet most often is room and board: Medicaid can pay for care in an ALF but not the rent and meals.
Where can Sarasota and Manatee families get free help with benefits?
Manatee residents call Senior Connection Center at 1-800-336-2226 and Sarasota residents the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida at 1-866-413-5337 for Medicaid screening and local services, and SHINE gives free Medicare counseling at 1-800-963-5337.
Florida Medicaid choice counseling, for picking a long-term care plan, is at 1-877-711-3662.
Costs & Paying guides
What senior care costs in Sarasota and Manatee counties
CareScout's 2025 Florida medians for assisted living, nursing homes, home care and adult day care, what they mean per month, and why no Sarasota or memory care figure exists.
Read →Florida Medicaid long-term care, explained
How Florida's Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care program works, the 2026 income and asset limits, the ADRC wait list, and what it pays in assisted living and nursing homes.
Read →Optional State Supplementation for assisted living in Florida
How Florida's OSS cash supplement helps low-income residents pay assisted living or adult family care room and board, how the payment is calculated, and which Sarasota and Manatee ALFs set aside OSS beds.
Read →What Medicare will and will not pay for
Medicare's skilled nursing, home health and hospice benefits, why it does not pay for assisted living or long-term custodial care, and free counseling through SHINE.
Read →VA Aid and Attendance for veterans and surviving spouses
How the VA pension with Aid and Attendance works, the December 2025 maximum rates, the $163,699 net worth limit, and how care costs reduce countable income.
Read →PACE in Sarasota and Manatee counties
AHCA's August 2026 PACE report shows Stratum PACE approved for Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties with 150 slots and 31 enrollees, all in Manatee. What PACE covers and how to enroll.
Read →Medicaid when one spouse needs care: Florida's 2026 rules
What the spouse at home may keep under Florida's 2026 spousal impoverishment standards, how a qualified income trust works for income over $2,982, and the transfer penalty divisor.
Read →Paying privately for senior care in Sarasota and Manatee
How Sarasota and Manatee families pay for care privately: long-term care insurance, selling or renting the house, life plan community contracts, and a two-to-three-year budget test.
Read →At a glance
| This section gives you | This section does not give you | |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Florida's published 2025 medians | A Sarasota or memory care figure that does not exist |
| Programs | How SMMC LTC, OSS, PACE, Medicare and VA work | An eligibility decision |
| Limits | DCF's April 2026 income, asset and spousal figures | Legal or tax advice |
