Small assisted living homes in Oakland, ranked by inspection data
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Of the 31 licensed assisted living facilities in Oakland, only 9 are small homes with 6 beds or fewer. That is about 29%. In most California cities, the share is 70% to 80%. Oakland, like San Francisco across the bay, runs the opposite pattern: most of the city's assisted living is in larger communities, and the small-home format is the exception.
The 9 small homes have a combined FYI Safety Score average of 7.62. The average across all Oakland assisted living is 7.66. Small homes and larger communities are about even in Oakland, which is itself unusual. In dominant small-home markets, small homes typically run above the citywide average; in inverted markets like SF and Oakland, the math runs differently because the small-home set is too small to dominate the average.
Below is the full list of all 9, what the distribution looks like, and what the rest of the Oakland small-home market is shaped like. The data was pulled from California state inspection records in May 2026.
What a small assisted living home actually is
A small assisted living home is a licensed Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) with a capacity of 6 residents or fewer. The license type is the same as a 200-bed community. The scale is not.
In practice: a small home is usually a converted single-family house in a residential neighborhood. The owner-operator often lives onsite or runs the home as their primary business. Families call them small homes, board and care homes, residential care homes, or 6-bed homes. They are the same thing under California law.
The structural argument for the format is staff-to-resident ratio. A 6-resident home with 1 caregiver on shift is a 1:6 ratio. A larger community usually runs 1:10 to 1:15. The structural argument against is choice and concentration: fewer residents means a smaller social pool, and a smaller staff means more dependence on one or two key people.
The 9 small assisted living homes in Oakland, ranked
The ranking is the FYI Safety Score on a 1.0 to 10.0 scale, computed from the public state inspection record. Linked facility names open the full inspection record on their detail page.
| # | Facility | Beds | Score | State visits | Years licensed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heart & Soul Communities | 6 | 9.6 | 7 | 20 |
| 2 | Dimond Care II | 6 | 9.5 | 4 | 14 |
| 3 | Connected Living | 5 | 9.4 | 9 | 4 |
| 4 | Nacila Senior Living | 3 | 9.4 | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | D'Nalor Care Homes, LLC | 6 | 8.6 | 6 | 9 |
| 6 | Golden Living Guest Home | 6 | 6.4 | 6 | 3 |
| 7 | Mom Board and Care Services, Inc. | 6 | 6.2 | 6 | 1 |
| 8 | Charitys Residence | 6 | 5.3 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 | Alondra Care Home | 6 | 4.2 | 10 | 2 |
A few things worth noticing.
The top of the list is unusually small. Nacila Senior Living at 3 beds is one of the smallest licensed RCFEs in the city. Connected Living at 5 is also below the standard 6-bed cap. Smaller-than-6 homes tend to be more deliberate operations, not commercial scaling plays, and the safety scores reflect that.
The drop-off after the top 5 is sharp. Heart & Soul Communities (9.6), Dimond Care II (9.5), Connected Living (9.4), Nacila (9.4), and D'Nalor (8.6) form a clean upper tier. Then the list breaks to Golden Living Guest Home at 6.4, Mom Board and Care at 6.2, Charitys Residence at 5.3, and Alondra Care Home at 4.2. The middle ground is thin. The Oakland small-home market is essentially "strong or weak" with not much in between.
How the rest of the Oakland small-home market looks
Here is the full distribution of all 9 Oakland small homes.
| Score band | Oakland small homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 9.0–9.9 Excellent | 4 | 44% |
| 7.0–8.9 Good | 1 | 11% |
| 5.0–6.9 Fair | 3 | 33% |
| 3.0–4.9 Poor | 1 | 11% |
| Below 3.0 Severe | 0 | 0% |
About 56% of Oakland small homes score Good or Excellent. None score Severe, but one scores Poor and three sit in the Fair band. The distribution shape is bimodal: nearly half the market is in the strongest band, but the middle is hollow and the tail is real.
For a 9-facility market, that shape is meaningful in a different way than it would be in a larger city. With only 9 options, families do not have the luxury of avoiding the bottom half by accident. If you are touring an Oakland small home, the inspection record on the facility's detail page is the first thing to read.
What small homes typically cost compared to larger Oakland communities
Small assisted living homes in Oakland are often lower-priced than the larger communities in the city's market, but the pricing range is wide. A 6-bed home running on one live-in caregiver and four hourly relief shifts is a small business with fixed overhead and limited economies of scale. Pricing reflects the level of care, what is included, and whether the home is run as a true family operation or a commercial care business.
The honest read: do not assume small means budget. Some Oakland small homes price near the premium tier of larger communities, particularly for residents with higher care needs. Others run meaningfully lower. Ask for a written breakdown of base rate, care levels, and additional fees from every home you tour.
What to look for on a small-home tour
Touring a small home is different from touring a 100-bed community. A few small-home-specific questions matter more.
- Who is the live-in caregiver, and who covers when they are off? Most 6-bed homes run with 1 or 2 caregivers on shift. If the owner-operator is the primary caregiver, ask what happens when they are sick, on vacation, or in mandated training.
- Whose name is on the license? The license holder is legally responsible for the home. In a true family-run home, the owner is also the day-to-day operator. In some homes the license is in one name and the caregiving is done by hired staff. Both are legal arrangements. The answer just tells you who you are working with.
- Does the house feel like a residence or a care setting? Walk through every room. Is the kitchen actually used? Are the bedrooms personalized with residents' own furniture and photos? A home that feels institutional inside a single-family house is a signal that the format is being marketed but not lived.
- What happens if my parent's needs change? Small homes vary widely in how much escalation they can absorb. Some can manage residents through significant decline. Others have a clear cap. Ask what the cap is, and what the transition looks like if it is reached.
For the broader framework on evaluating any facility, see the assisted living vibe check. For how to read the inspection record before the tour, see how to read a California inspection report.
How to use this list
The score is the gut check. The visit is the field test. The conversations with current residents and frontline staff are the verification.
For Oakland specifically, the small-home market is small enough that you can tour every facility on this list over a few weekends if you have the time. Start at the top, and use the inspection record on each detail page as the basis for the questions you ask on the tour. If you are willing to look across the bay, the San Francisco small-home list and the San Jose list extend the search.
Browse all Oakland assisted living facilities on the AssistedLiving.fyi map. For the broader citywide picture across all sizes, see safest assisted living in Oakland. For memory care specifically, see memory care options in Oakland. For the full FYI Safety Score methodology, see our safety score page.
Data: Computed from California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) inspection records, ingested into AssistedLiving.fyi. Safety scores reflect the inspection record as of May 2026 and may change as new visits are documented. The FYI Safety Score is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee or prediction of the safety, quality, or suitability of any facility. Always visit in person before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
How many small (6-bed) assisted living homes are in Oakland?
There are 9 licensed assisted living facilities in Oakland with a capacity of 1 to 6 residents. That is about 29% of the 31 licensed assisted living facilities in the city. Like San Francisco across the bay, Oakland's assisted living market skews toward larger communities. In most California cities, small homes are 70% to 80% of the market. In Oakland, they are less than a third.
What is the safest small assisted living home in Oakland?
The safest small assisted living home in Oakland is Heart & Soul Communities, a 6-bed home with an FYI Safety Score of 9.6. It has 7 documented state inspections across 20 years of licensing, with a clean enough record to anchor the top of the Oakland small-home list.
Are small assisted living homes safer than larger Oakland communities?
In Oakland, small homes average an FYI Safety Score of 7.62 versus 7.66 across all Oakland assisted living. Small homes and large communities are about even on average. The variation between specific small homes is much larger than the gap between small and large. Four of the nine score Excellent (9.0+); one scores Poor.
How is the FYI Safety Score calculated?
The FYI Safety Score is computed from three components of a facility's public California state inspection record: citations from routine inspections, substantiated complaints, and recency weighting that gives more weight to recent inspections than older ones. Scores run from 1.0 to 10.0. See the full methodology at our safety score page.
About the author
Steve Selzer is the founder of AssistedLiving.fyi. He started this work while searching for assisted living for his mom, who has dementia, after running into the same opaque pricing, sales calls, and impossible-to-read inspection records that every family in the same situation runs into. The site exists to make the information families actually need easier to find.