Fort Myers Senior Advisor
What does Fort Myers Senior Advisor do?
Fort Myers Senior Advisor is a free senior care referral and guidance service for families in Lee County, Florida, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area, covering Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Estero, Bonita Springs, North Fort Myers and the islands.
We publish Florida's rules, the published cost and benefit figures, and every licensed facility exactly as the state records it. Then a local advisor helps your family turn that into a short list and arranges tours. Communities pay us a referral fee when a family we helped moves in; families never pay, and we would rather say so on the first page than in the fine print.
How much licensed senior care is there in Lee County?
Lee County had about 255,635 residents aged 65 and older in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates, and Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration licenses 84 assisted living facilities with 4,769 beds and 18 nursing homes there, while the Office of Insurance Regulation lists 4 life plan communities.
| Community | Licensed ALFs | ALF beds | Nursing homes | Life plan communities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Myers | 22 | 2512 | 11 | 2 |
| Cape Coral | 40 | 1252 | 3 | 1 |
| Lehigh Acres | 13 | 134 | 1 | 0 |
| Bonita Springs | 5 | 640 | 1 | 1 |
| Estero | 1 | 56 | 1 | 0 |
| North Fort Myers | 2 | 159 | 1 | 0 |
| Alva | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 county population estimates by age (July 1, 2025). Licenses: AHCA, retrieved November 6, 2026. CCRCs: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, CCRC facility map (Life and Health Financial Oversight, October 2025).
How fast is Lee County's older population growing?
Quickly: Census estimates show Lee County's 65-and-older population rising from 220,600 in April 2020 to 255,635 in July 2025, and residents 85 and older numbered about 29,755, the age group most likely to need daily help.
Older residents made up 29.2% of the county's 875,607 people in 2025, against 22.8% statewide, and the county's median age was 48.0. Winter visitors are not counted in those figures, which is why January and February are the hardest months to find an open apartment.
How is assisted living licensed in Lee County?
Every Lee County ALF holds an AHCA license under Part I of Chapter 429, Florida Statutes, and may add extended congregate care, limited nursing services or limited mental health; a separate memory care services license created in 2026 takes effect once AHCA's rules are adopted, due by June 1, 2027.
See Florida ALF license types and the new memory care license.
What does senior care cost in Fort Myers and Cape Coral?
No local median is published; CareScout's 2025 Florida medians are about $5,500 a month for assisted living, $10,342 for a semi-private nursing home room and about $32 an hour for home care.
Florida Medicaid can pay for care services in assisted living but not rent and meals; Hope PACE serves eligible Lee County residents at home. Start with costs and paying for care.
What should a Lee County family do first?
Start from what just happened rather than from a type of facility: a hospital discharge, a dementia diagnosis, a caregiver at the end of the rope, savings running low, or hurricane season approaching each lead to different first steps.
What we are, and what we are not
| Fort Myers Senior Advisor is | Fort Myers Senior Advisor is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to families | Free; licensed communities pay a referral fee | Billed to you now or later |
| Data | AHCA, CMS and OIR public records | Aggregator listings or paid placement |
| Ratings | CMS stars for nursing homes, labelled as CMS's | Our own scores or rankings |
| Affiliation | An independent referral service | A government agency or the Area Agency on Aging |
