Florida dementia & Alzheimer’s statistics (2026)

Key Florida dementia statistics at a glance

These are the headline numbers. Each one is explained, with its year and source, further down the page.

Unless noted, the Florida figures come from the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2026 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Florida state sheet.

The prevalence numbers are 2020 estimates from a peer-reviewed study (Dhana et al., 2023) that the Association uses for its state and county tables; they are the most recent official state-level estimates available as of October 2026.

People living with Alzheimer’s in Florida

About 579,900 Floridians age 65 and older were living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2020, out of roughly 4.6 million older residents, about one in eight. That is a higher share than the national figure of about one in nine (11%). Florida’s age profile is a big reason: the Census Bureau estimates that 22.8% of Floridians are 65 or older, compared with 18.9% nationally.

These counts cover Alzheimer’s dementia specifically, in people 65 and older. They do not include younger-onset cases or most other dementias, such as vascular, Lewy body or frontotemporal dementia, so the total number of Floridians living with some form of dementia is higher. Our page on early-onset dementia covers people diagnosed before 65.

Is the number growing?

The 2026 report does not publish an updated Florida projection. Nationally, it projects that the number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer’s could grow from about 7.4 million today to 13.8 million by 2060, barring medical breakthroughs. Given that Florida’s older population is growing, families and planners should expect the state’s numbers to rise as well; we will add a Florida projection here if the Association publishes one.

Alzheimer’s prevalence by Florida county

County estimates come from the same 2020 study. The table shows the counties where Dementia Companions works, plus Pinellas County, which is part of the Tampa Bay area.

Counts are rounded to the nearest 100; state totals were modeled separately and are not the sum of the counties. Miami-Dade’s 16.6% tied with Baltimore City and the Bronx for the highest estimated prevalence among large U.S. counties (those with at least 10,000 residents 65+). The researchers noted that regions with higher shares of older, Black and Hispanic residents tended to have higher prevalence. Counties with large retirement populations do not automatically rank highest: Sumter County, home to The Villages, was estimated at 10.0%.

Florida’s family caregivers

Most dementia care in Florida is still provided at home by spouses, adult children and other relatives. According to the 2026 report:

Divide 1.4 billion hours by 877,000 caregivers and the average works out to roughly 1,600 hours a year, or about 30 hours a week. That is close to a part-time job on top of everything else. If you are one of these caregivers, our caregiver burnout check and respite care page may help.

Health care, deaths and workforce

Death certificate counts understate the true toll, because dementia often contributes to deaths that are recorded under another cause, such as pneumonia. The workforce figures help explain why families sometimes wait for specialist appointments and struggle to find consistent in-home help.

National context (United States)

• About 7.4 million Americans 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2026, roughly 1 in 9 people in that age group. Almost two-thirds are women.

• Unpaid caregivers provided over 19 billion hours of care in 2025, valued at more than $446 billion.

• Health care, long-term care and hospice for people 65+ with dementia is projected to cost $409 billion in 2026.

• There were 116,022 recorded deaths from Alzheimer’s in 2024, when it was the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans 65 and older.

• The 65+ population with Alzheimer’s could reach 13.8 million by 2060.

National figures help put Florida dementia statistics in perspective: the state’s older population is larger and older than average, so its share of people living with Alzheimer’s is higher too.

For what these numbers mean in dollars for a single family, see our cost of dementia care in Florida guide, and for local help, our Florida dementia resources page.