Lakeland Senior AdvisorWhat does assisted living cost in Lakeland or Winter Haven?
There is no published Lakeland, Winter Haven or Polk County median; the closest published benchmark is CareScout's 2025 statewide Florida median of $66,000 a year, roughly $5,500 a month, which rose 3 percent from 2024 and sits below the $74,400 national median.
| Florida care type (2025) | Median per year | Roughly per month | Change vs. 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).
CareScout collects prices by metro area but released only state and national results for 2025, so a website that cites a precise “Lakeland average” is not quoting this survey. Polk County is younger and less expensive to live in than Florida's coastal retirement counties, and many local quotes may land near or below the state median, but the only reliable number for a particular building is its own written rate sheet.
How much is a Florida nursing home per day?
Florida's 2025 medians are $124,100 a year for a semi-private room and $146,000 for a private room, about $340 and $400 a day, both higher than the national medians of $114,975 and $129,575.
Those are private-pay prices. Medicare covers a short skilled stay after a qualifying hospital admission, and Florida Medicaid covers long stays for residents who qualify; see Medicaid long-term care in Polk County.
What is the hourly rate for home care in Florida?
CareScout's 2025 Florida median for a non-medical home care worker is $73,216 a year at 44 hours a week, about $32 an hour, or a little over $6,100 a month on that schedule.
| Paid hours a week | Monthly cost at $32 an hour | Compared with the $5,500 assisted living median |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $1,387 | below it |
| 20 | $2,773 | below it |
| 30 | $4,160 | below it |
| 40 | $5,547 | above it |
| 44 | $6,101 | above it |
| 56 | $7,765 | above it |
| 84 | $11,648 | above it |
| 168 | $23,296 | above it |
The table shows the arithmetic families run into: around-the-clock help at home is 168 paid hours a week, several times the cost of assisted living. Most Polk County families who keep a parent at home combine a few paid hours with family time and adult day care.
Is any memory care price published for Florida?
No: CareScout does not survey memory care, so neither Florida nor Polk County has a memory care median; facilities typically quote an assisted living rate plus a dementia care charge, so get each total monthly figure in writing.
The new memory care services license (s. 429.076) will require licensees to set out memory care services in the resident contract, which should make quotes easier to compare once AHCA's rules are in effect.
What does adult day care cost in Florida?
Florida's 2025 median for adult day health care is $19,500 a year for five days a week, roughly $75 a day, compared with a national median of $24,700.
Polk County has 2 AHCA-licensed adult day care centers: Beautiful Minds Social Center, LLC in Lakeland, Sunrise for A Happy Life Adult Day Care I, Inc in Lakeland. Some assisted living facilities also take day participants.
Side by side
| These numbers are | These numbers are not | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | Statewide Florida medians for 2025 | Lakeland, Winter Haven or Polk County prices |
| Scope | Assisted living, nursing homes, home care and adult day | Memory care, which is not surveyed |
| Purpose | A budgeting benchmark | A quote from a facility |
Built from Chapters 408, 429 and 651, Florida Statutes; Florida Administrative Code chapters 59A-36 and 65A-2; AHCA, DCF, OIR and Department of Elder Affairs publications; and the CareScout and VA rate tables cited on this page. Our editorial standards explain how each figure is checked.
