U.S. Nursing Home Statistics 2026
Key statistics on the 14,703 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in the United States, drawn directly from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Nursing Home Compare program. Every figure below is current to March 2026 and free to cite with attribution to CMS.
- 14,703
- Certified nursing facilities
- 1,570,047
- Certified beds nationwide
- 2.98 / 5
- Average CMS overall rating
- $480.1M
- Federal fines on record
Scale of the U.S. nursing-home sector
- 14,703 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities operate across 53 states and territories.
- They hold 1,570,047 certified beds and report roughly 1,241,401 residents, an average of 107 beds per facility.
- The most common ownership type is For profit - Corporation.
CMS Five-Star quality ratings
The average U.S. nursing home scores 2.98 of 5 CMS overall stars, built from health inspections (2.82★), staffing (2.88★), and quality measures (3.59★). The overall star is force-curved within each state. Of 14,572 rated facilities, 2,942 (20.2%) hold the top 5-star mark and 2,938 (20.2%) sit at the 1-star floor.
U.S. nursing homes by CMS overall star rating · 14,572 rated facilities
Staffing levels
Nationwide, nursing homes report an average of 3.89 total nursing hours per resident day, including 0.68 registered-nurse hours, the single staffing metric most strongly tied to resident outcomes. Nursing staff turnover averages 46.4% a year (RN turnover 43.6%).
Average nursing hours per resident day by role · U.S. average
Inspection deficiencies & enforcement
- State surveyors have recorded 419,452 inspection deficiencies across 14,642 facilities. Of these, 23,831 reached the actual-harm level or higher, including 10,041 immediate-jeopardy citations (scope/severity J–L).
- CMS has assessed $480.1M in federal Civil Money Penalties across 14,835 fine actions, plus 2,628 payment-denial actions.
- 86 facilities (0.6%) carry a Special Focus designation or candidacy, the CMS watch list for persistently poor performers.
Citing these statistics
These figures are compiled from the public-domain CMS Nursing Home Compare provider data (March 2026 release) and may be cited freely. Suggested attribution: "U.S. nursing home statistics, CMS Nursing Home Compare, March 2026." For state-level breakdowns, see our state rankings and per-state pages.
