Original data research from the PlainNursing editorial process. Every number here is pulled directly from our live database; nothing is hardcoded. Download the matching national aggregates as CSV (wired into this page's Dataset JSON-LD).
What this research covers
PlainNursing research ranks CMS Nursing Home Compare skilled-nursing facilities across 14,690 facilities in 53 states and territories (1,567,504 certified beds); 84 on the active Special Focus Facility list.
Studies below answer one ranking question each from the live CMS Care Compare mirror; they are descriptive quality statistics, not care recommendations.
The headline national CMS statistics in one place, facilities, beds, residents, the Five-Star rating distribution, staffing hours, deficiencies, and federal fines, all rendered live from the source records and free to cite.
The nursing homes CMS flags for a persistent pattern of serious quality problems, the active Special Focus Facility list plus the candidate pool, rendered live from the source records.
How the average nursing day is staffed (RN, LPN, CNA hours), which states staff the heaviest, and why heavier staffing does not cleanly predict a higher CMS rating, rendered live from the Payroll-Based Journal.
PlainNursing ranks US states by the number of CMS-certified skilled-nursing facilities operating in each state, rendered live from the states table.
PlainNursing ranks US states by the arithmetic mean of facility-level CMS five-star overall ratings.
PlainNursing ranks US states by the total dollar value of fines issued to skilled-nursing facilities and recorded in the CMS Nursing Home Compare penalties dataset, rendered live from the facilities table aggregated by state.