Sunrise Senior Living Near Me

Key Takeaways: Quick Answers to Your Burning Questions 💡

Is Sunrise Senior Living expensive? Yes. Monthly costs range from roughly $3,100 to $5,300 for independent living, $5,100 to $6,700 for assisted living, and $5,900 to $7,500 for memory care. Premium locations like Beverly Hills can reach $13,340 per month.

Are there hidden rate increases? Families have reported rate hikes as high as 9.26% within months of move-in, despite being told during sales presentations that average annual increases would be 3 to 6 percent.

Has Sunrise faced lawsuits? Multiple. In December 2024, a court granted final approval to an $18.2 million class action settlement over allegations that Sunrise misled families about staffing levels.

Is staffing a concern? On Glassdoor, 242 employee reviews specifically cited poor management, and recurring themes include low pay and dangerously thin staffing ratios.

Has the company faced government action? The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action against Sunrise for financial reporting fraud covering the period from 2003 through 2005.

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🏠 Yes, You Could Pay Over $13,000 a Month — and the Price May Jump Without Warning

Let’s be blunt about the money. Sunrise positions itself as a premium provider, and the pricing reflects that. Seniors who require independent living pay $3,100 to $5,300, while assisted living ranges from $5,100 to $6,700, and memory care runs $5,900 to $7,500. But those are just the baseline numbers.

At Sunrise of Beverly Hills, one family paid $13,340 per month for high-acuity assisted living as recently as September 2025. And here’s where things get truly alarming for families on tight budgets.

One Better Business Bureau complaint described a family that was told during sales presentations the average annual room rate increase was 3 to 6 percent. But just two months after moving in, they received a notification of a 9.26% rate increase. When the family escalated to the Regional Director of Operations, they were told there was nothing the company could do.

Another BBB complaint described a family that moved out of their Sunrise facility in December 2024, only to have Sunrise continue withdrawing over $7,000 from their bank account. The family confirmed a refund was “approved” but could not get a straight answer about when it would actually be sent, despite making over 10 calls and multiple emails.

💰 Cost Factor	📋 What Sunrise Says	⚠️ What Families Report
Rate increases	“Average 3-6% annually”	Up to 9.26% within months of move-in
Monthly range	$3,100 – $7,500	Premium locations exceed $13,000/month
Move-out refunds	Processed upon departure	Weeks of unanswered calls and emails
Community fees	Disclosed at signing	Additional one-time charges may surprise you

💡 Insider Tip: Before signing anything, demand written documentation of the maximum annual rate increase cap. If they won’t put it in writing, that’s your first red flag. Also ask specifically about the community fee, level-of-care adjustments, and what triggers a rate reassessment.

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⚖️ An $18.2 Million Settlement Proved Sunrise Misled Families About Staffing — and This Is the Part That Should Terrify You

This is arguably the most consequential piece of information in this entire article. In December 2024, a federal court granted final approval to a landmark settlement in the case of Heredia vs. Sunrise Senior Living. Sunrise agreed to put $18.2 million into a settlement fund.

The allegations were devastating. The lawsuit alleged that Sunrise engaged in a scheme to defraud seniors, persons with disabilities, and their family members at its assisted living facilities by falsely representing in admission contracts that each resident would be provided the care services that the resident needs as determined by a resident assessment. The complaint alleged this was false and misleading because Sunrise does not use the results generated by its resident assessment system to determine or provide staffing at its facilities.

In other words, the lawsuit claimed that Sunrise was telling families “we’ll assess your loved one’s needs and staff accordingly” — while actually setting staffing levels based on a corporate budget.

This was believed to be the first class action ever certified against a senior living operator on these grounds.

The settlement includes an injunction requiring 16 Sunrise assisted living communities to refrain from making certain statements about staffing levels, adhere to a specific formula for calculating required staffing hours, and monitor and train staff members on call light requests and responses.

Perhaps the most revealing part? The settlement now requires Sunrise to disclose in residency agreements and on community websites that the company does not guarantee a specific number of minutes or amount of care on any given day, and that there is no guarantee staffing levels will increase to meet any increase in the number of residents or in the degree of residents’ care needs.

⚖️ Settlement Detail	📌 What It Means for You
$18.2 million fund	Covers approximately 3,500 residents across 45 communities
Staffing formula required	Sunrise must now consider resident care needs when calculating staffing
Disclosure mandate	Sunrise must admit in writing it cannot guarantee specific care minutes
Call light monitoring	Staff must be trained and monitored on response times

💡 Insider Tip: When touring any Sunrise facility, ask point-blank: “How many care managers are on shift at 2 a.m. for how many residents?” Write down their answer. Then visit unannounced at that hour to see if reality matches the promise.

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👩‍⚕️ State Inspections Reveal a Pattern Most Families Never See

Here’s something most families don’t know: while CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) tracks inspection data for skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities are regulated at the state level, and transparency varies wildly from state to state.

For Sunrise’s skilled nursing facilities that are tracked federally, the numbers are concerning. The Quadrangle in Haverford, Pennsylvania — owned by Sunrise — was flagged as particularly troubled based on its most recent 2024 inspection. Nearly 29.9% of short-stay residents were rehospitalized after being admitted, compared to a national average of just 23.2%.

Another Sunrise-managed skilled nursing facility in Arlington, Virginia, received 16 health citations during its most recent health inspection, compared to a national average of 9.6. The number of hours per patient for licensed practical and vocational nurses was only 44 minutes, compared to 53 minutes nationally.

That same Arlington location carried a consumer alert for abuse-related issues based on its most recent inspection.

And here’s a systemic problem that goes beyond Sunrise: A Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General audit found that CMS did not accurately report on its Care Compare website one or more deficiencies for an estimated two-thirds of nursing homes nationwide. Translation: the government’s own quality-checking tool is unreliable.

🔍 Inspection Finding	📊 Sunrise Facility	🇺🇸 National Average
Short-stay rehospitalization rate	29.9% (Quadrangle, PA)	23.2%
Emergency department visits	16.2%	12.2%
Health citations (Arlington, VA)	16 citations	9.6 citations
LPN hours per patient	44 minutes	53 minutes

💡 Insider Tip: Don’t rely solely on the CMS Care Compare website. Contact your state’s long-term care ombudsman program directly and ask for the complaint history on any specific Sunrise location. Ombudsman programs are free, federally mandated, and exist in every state.

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😰 Employee Reviews Expose What Happens Behind Closed Doors

The people who actually deliver care every single day are sounding alarms that families need to hear. On major employment review platforms, a clear and troubling picture emerges.

One employee wrote: “Too much middle management all focused on what corporate sales wants. We aren’t dumb, this is a for-profit company, but we unilaterally overpromise and underdeliver so it is embarrassing and distressing getting too many residents moving in whose needs and expectations can’t be met because we don’t staff well.”

Another employee at a New York location warned: “The executive directors and the general manager are incompetent. They make working there very difficult because they don’t understand healthcare. Sometimes it’s only one med tech for the whole building.”

A caregiver review from early 2025 described the environment as “understaffed and stressful,” stating that “almost everyone I worked with was extremely rude to residents and openly mocked families who visited and ignored any family or residents concerns.”

Another staffer revealed: “I loved working here but only because I managed to make it my own. We had no nurses at night and no one to contact if anything was going on.”

Not every review is negative — Sunrise holds a 3.8 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor with 71% of employees saying they would recommend working there. But the pattern of complaints about staffing and management is consistent and widespread enough to warrant serious attention.

👥 Employee Feedback Theme	✅ Positive Signals	🚩 Red Flags
Staffing levels	Some locations report adequate teams	“Only one med tech for the whole building”
Management quality	Some directors praised as supportive	“Executive directors are incompetent”
Pay and benefits	Benefits described as good	“Overworked and underpaid” is a common refrain
Resident treatment	Many staff genuinely love residents	Reports of mocking families, ignoring concerns
Night coverage	Some facilities have adequate coverage	“No nurses at night and no one to contact”

💡 Insider Tip: Check Indeed and Glassdoor reviews filtered by the specific city where your loved one’s facility is located. The variation between Sunrise locations is enormous. A five-star experience at one community tells you nothing about the one across town.

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📜 The Lawsuit History Runs Deep — and Includes Fraud Charges From the Sec

Beyond the staffing class action, Sunrise has a layered legal history that most families never discover during their initial research.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action against Sunrise Senior Living and former officers, alleging the company engaged in financial reporting fraud from 2003 through 2005 by making improper adjustments to its reserve for self-insured health and dental benefits and its accrual for corporate bonuses to meet public earnings forecasts.

In one wrongful death case, a 104-year-old woman living in a Sunrise community suffered multiple fall injuries and developed stage four pressure ulcers on her heels. The pressure ulcers became infected, the resident experienced sepsis, and she passed away. Her estate sued for $2 million and was awarded $1.25 million by the jury.

In another case, a couple signed a continuing care agreement with a Sunrise facility but found the “atmosphere” did not represent the quality of living that Sunrise had claimed upon move-in. A jury awarded them $279,000.

At Sunrise of Jacksonville, one resident was pushed to the ground by another resident who had a documented history of violent behavior, raising serious questions about how the facility managed known safety risks.

📂 Legal Action	💥 Core Allegation	💵 Outcome
Sec fraud case (2003-2005)	Financial reporting manipulation	Settlement with injunctions and penalties
Wrongful death (104-year-old resident)	Falls, stage 4 pressure ulcers, sepsis	$1.25 million jury award
Class action (Heredia v. Sunrise)	Staffing fraud and misleading contracts	$18.2 million settlement (2024)
Misrepresentation case	Conditions didn’t match sales pitch	$279,000 jury award
Jacksonville assault	Resident attacked by known violent resident	Lawsuit filed

💡 Insider Tip: Ask Sunrise directly during your tour: “Has this specific community been named in any lawsuits in the past five years?” Their answer — or refusal to answer — will tell you a lot. You can also search your county’s circuit court records online for free.

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🏢 Sunrise Was Bought by an $27 Billion Real Estate Company — and That Changes Everything

Here’s a detail that gets buried in the marketing. In 2012, Sunrise Senior Living was acquired for $844 million in cash by Health Care REIT, which later renamed itself Welltower Inc. — a massive real estate investment trust with a $27 billion portfolio and over 1,400 properties.

Why does this matter? Because the original founding philosophy of individualized, home-like care is now operating under the financial priorities of a publicly traded real estate corporation. The question of whether an organization can maintain consistent quality across 300 facilities — or 1,400 — as well as it can for one is a legitimate concern that predates even the Welltower acquisition.

Employees have noticed. One internal review stated plainly: “Better pay and treatment of the hourly staff will translate to better service for the residents.”

🏗️ Corporate Reality	🎯 What It Means for Residents
Welltower is a real estate investment trust	Financial returns to shareholders can compete with care investments
Over 1,400 properties in portfolio	Your loved one’s community is one of many, not the focus
Budget-driven staffing alleged in lawsuit	Resident needs may take a backseat to corporate targets
High employee turnover reported widely	Inconsistent care relationships for vulnerable seniors

💡 Insider Tip: Research the specific Executive Director at the community you’re considering. Leadership at the local level can make or break a Sunrise experience. Ask how long the current director has been in place. High turnover at the top usually signals trouble below.

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✅ Your Pre-Signing Checklist: Seven Questions That Could Protect Your Family

Before you commit to any Sunrise Senior Living community, arm yourself with these critical questions. Bring a notebook. Record their answers. And don’t let anyone rush you.

1. What is the exact caregiver-to-resident ratio on every shift, including overnight? Don’t accept vague language. Get specific numbers.

2. What is the maximum annual rate increase, and will you put that cap in writing? If they won’t commit to a ceiling, plan for the worst.

3. Has this specific community been inspected in the past 12 months, and can I see the results? Contact your state’s health department independently to verify.

4. What happens if my loved one’s care needs increase but they can’t afford a higher level of service? Understand the discharge policy before you need it.

5. How many full-time registered nurses are on staff versus agency or temporary nurses? A heavy reliance on agency staff often indicates retention problems.

6. What is the staff turnover rate at this specific community? They may not answer, but the question itself sends a message that you’re paying attention.

7. Can I visit unannounced at any time, including evenings and weekends? Any hesitation here is a dealbreaker.

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🔎 The Bottom Line: Sunrise Can Be Excellent or Alarming — It Depends Entirely on the Individual Community

Here’s the nuanced truth that no single review can capture: Sunrise Senior Living is not universally terrible, and it’s not universally wonderful. Some individual communities have received the “Best of Senior Living” award from platforms like Seniorly, with families praising compassionate staff and engaging programming. On Glassdoor, 71% of employees recommend working at Sunrise.

But the documented pattern of staffing shortfalls, aggressive rate increases, legal settlements totaling tens of millions of dollars, and inspection deficiencies above national averages means that trusting the brand name alone is a dangerous gamble when your parent’s safety is at stake.

Do your homework on the specific building, the specific director, and the specific staff. Visit multiple times at different hours. Talk to current residents and their families in the hallway, not in a staged tour. And never, ever sign without reading every word of that residency agreement.

Your loved one deserves that diligence.