By Miami Senior Advisor Care Team · October 17, 2026
Ask most families where assisted living in Broward County is, and they say Fort Lauderdale. But a large share of the county’s senior living sits inland, in the suburban cities that grew up west and south of the coast: Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Coral Springs, Davie and Sunrise. These are the places where many older adults raised families, and where adult children still live. For a lot of South Florida families, the right community is not on the beach at all. It is ten minutes from a daughter’s house, close to a trusted cardiologist, and far enough from the coast to make hurricane season less stressful.
This guide compares those six cities in practical terms. We are not ranking neighborhoods or recommending specific buildings; every family’s situation differs, and we are not a substitute for visiting. Instead, we walk through the questions that actually separate one suburb from another: distance and traffic, hospital access, cost patterns, hurricane considerations, and the licensing checks that apply everywhere in Florida. For the coastal side of the county, read our Fort Lauderdale neighborhood guide.
Why look at Broward’s suburbs at all
Three reasons come up again and again. The first is family proximity. An assisted living resident does best when visits are frequent, and frequent visits depend on a short, predictable drive. A community that is fifteen minutes from a Pembroke Pines home may get visited three times a week; one that is fifty minutes away in weekend I-95 traffic may get visited once. The second is continuity of care. Many seniors already have a primary care doctor, a pharmacist and a specialist in the area, and keeping those relationships can matter as much as the apartment itself. The third is price and choice. Suburban areas often offer a wider range of mid-priced communities, adult family care homes and smaller licensed residences than a few waterfront blocks do.
None of that makes the suburbs better in every case. Some people want the energy of a downtown, a view of the Intracoastal or a place close to a spouse who is still at home. The aim is to choose on purpose. Start by writing down who will visit, where the doctors are, what level of care your parent needs today and in two years, and what the monthly budget looks like. Our overview of assisted living costs in South Florida will help you set a realistic number before you compare cities.
Hollywood and Pembroke Pines: south Broward
Hollywood sits between the ocean and the Turnpike and mixes older neighborhoods, newer condo towers and a long-established retiree population. Many families with ties to northern Miami-Dade, including Aventura and Hallandale, find Hollywood the natural middle ground between counties, which matters when siblings live on both sides of the line. Memorial Regional Hospital is the large medical anchor in the area, and a number of specialists cluster around it. If your parent has chronic heart or lung conditions, access to a full-service hospital in a short drive is worth weighing as seriously as the floor plan. Browse assisted living in Hollywood and memory care in Hollywood to see the types of communities in the area.
Pembroke Pines is a large, family-oriented city with many multi-generation households, and it is a common choice for families who want a parent nearby without sharing a home. Hospitals such as Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Hospital Pembroke serve the surrounding area. Pembroke Pines is also home to a large Spanish-speaking community, so ask whether staff members speak your parent’s language at all hours, not only at the front desk during business hours. See assisted living in Pembroke Pines and our guide to Spanish-speaking senior care for questions to ask about language and culture.
Both cities are close to the Miami-Dade line, so families who also consider Miami communities can compare options in one afternoon of touring. If your parent is leaving a hospital stay, a south Broward location may let the same family manage hospital visits and the move together; our post on discharge planning in South Florida explains the questions to ask the case manager.
Plantation, Sunrise and Davie: central Broward
Plantation is centrally located, with quick access to I-595 and the Turnpike, which makes it convenient for families who live in several parts of the county. Westside Regional Medical Center and Plantation General Hospital are among the hospitals people in the area use, and Broward Health Medical Center is a short drive east. Plantation tends to be leafy and residential, and many communities there are smaller and house-like, which some seniors prefer to a large building. See assisted living in Plantation.
Sunrise is anchored by large shopping and entertainment districts and by easy highway access, which can be a plus for visitors and a minus for quiet. Families sometimes choose Sunrise because it is equidistant between Fort Lauderdale, Plantation and the western communities. Look at assisted living in Sunrise and compare the commute at the hour your family would actually visit.
Davie has a more spread-out, semi-rural feel in places, with equestrian properties alongside apartment complexes, and it is close to Nova Southeastern University and to the large medical campuses in the area. For some seniors who grew up in less urban places, Davie’s greener setting is a real draw. Others find the distances inconvenient if they rely on public transit or family for rides. See assisted living in Davie, and ask any community how it handles resident transportation to medical appointments, because it varies a great deal.
Coral Springs: northwest Broward
Coral Springs is a planned, well-kept city in the northwest part of the county, with a strong reputation for parks and quiet neighborhoods. It sits closer to Palm Beach County than most of the other cities here, which makes it a practical option for families who split their time between Broward and Boca Raton. Broward Health Coral Springs is the local hospital many residents use. If a sibling lives in Boca Raton, a Coral Springs community can be a fair compromise on distance; compare it against our Boca Raton assisted living guide. See assisted living in Coral Springs and memory care in Coral Springs.
The trade-off in the northwest is that some specialists, including certain neurology and oncology practices, may be a longer drive than they would be from central Broward. If your parent has frequent specialty appointments, map those first. Ask each community whether it coordinates with home health, outpatient therapy or mobile providers who come to residents, which can reduce the number of trips.
How to compare communities across these cities
Once you have a short list of two or three cities, the real work begins. Use the same method in each place so you are comparing like with like. Start with the license. Every assisted living facility in Florida must be licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), and the license can come with specialty designations. Our guide to Florida ALF license types explains what the extended congregate care and limited nursing designations mean, and our walkthrough on how to check a Florida ALF license and inspection history shows where to look before you tour.
Next, get the price in writing, with every fee. Ask about the base rate, the care-level assessment, medication management, incontinence supplies, two-person assists, transportation and any community or second-person fees. Ask what triggers a rate increase and how much notice you will receive. Read the residency agreement before a deposit changes hands, using our residency agreement checklist.
Then tour at the times when the community is least polished. A weekend meal, an early evening or a Sunday afternoon will tell you much more than a scheduled midday visit. Our tour checklist and the guide to an unannounced weekend visit give specific things to watch for, such as how long call buttons take to answer and whether residents seem engaged. Finally, ask about staffing without asking for a single magic ratio; our post on staffing ratio questions explains which questions are more revealing.
Hurricane season and the suburbs
Broward’s suburbs are farther from the water than coastal neighborhoods, but that does not make hurricane planning optional. Wind, flooding in low spots and extended power outages affect inland areas too. Ask every community you tour about its generator and how long it can run, where residents would go if an evacuation order came, how medications and records travel with residents, and how families are notified. Florida has specific requirements for assisted living emergency plans and generators, which we cover in our posts on the generator rule and evacuation planning. A community that answers quickly and in detail has probably practiced.
It also helps to know whether your parent’s potential address falls in an evacuation zone and where Broward County’s emergency management office directs people. For a broader view, read hurricane preparedness for senior living in South Florida.
When the right answer is not a big community
Large assisted living communities are not the only choice in these suburbs. Smaller licensed residences, including adult family care homes, may give a parent more individual attention in a house setting at a different price point, though they come with their own trade-offs. We compare the models in adult family care homes versus assisted living. For people who are not yet ready to move, adult day care programs and in-home care can extend independence, and respite stays let a family try a community for a short period before committing. If your parent has dementia, read about memory care versus assisted living before choosing, because the secured-unit question changes which communities are even eligible.
A simple way to shortlist this week
Try this sequence. On day one, write down the three addresses that matter most: your parent’s current home, the home of the family member who will visit most, and the doctor or hospital your parent relies on. On day two, mark the cities from this guide that sit within a comfortable drive of all three. On day three, pull AHCA license and inspection information for the communities in those cities and drop any with unresolved concerns. On days four and five, request written price sheets and residency agreements from your top three. Over the weekend, tour two communities, once at a mealtime, and bring your parent if possible. If you want a second set of eyes, our advisors can narrow the list for free; tell us about your situation and we will match communities to your needs and budget, with no fee to families. You can also browse Florida senior care resources or look at our Fort Lauderdale page for the coastal comparison.
Remember that a good suburb on paper is only a good choice if your parent is comfortable there. Pay attention to how residents are treated, how the staff speak to each other, and how your parent feels when you walk in. Those impressions, combined with the license check and the written price, will tell you more than any ranking can.