Nursing Homes in South Carolina
187 Medicare/Medicaid certified nursing facilities in South Carolina (SC).
Facilities
187
Avg Rating
3.0/5
Total Beds
19,684
Avg RN Hours
0.63
Avg Turnover
47.0%
5-Star / 1-Star
37 / 37
Rating Distribution
1-Star
37
20%
2-Star
41
22%
3-Star
29
16%
4-Star
42
22%
5-Star
37
20%
What the South Carolina Nursing Home Record Reveals
South Carolina hosts 187 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities operating 19,684 total certified beds, with a statewide average CMS overall rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars. Rating distribution in South Carolina skews toward the middle of the scale, with 5-star and 1-star providers roughly balanced: 37 facilities (20%) hold the top 5-star mark, while 37 (20%) sit at the 1-star floor. The star distribution is a forced curve — CMS ratings are state-normalized, so the same absolute inspection record may place differently in South Carolina than in a state with a different facility mix.
Statewide staffing reports an average of 0.63 registered-nurse hours per resident day across South Carolina facilities, the single most outcome-correlated metric in the CMS staffing file. Nursing staff turnover statewide averages 47.0% — broadly within the range associated with stable care teams, though facility-level variance is wide. Staffing levels and turnover are upstream drivers of the inspection and quality-measure scores that feed the overall star rating; states with structurally higher wages, stronger collective-bargaining coverage, and tighter state-level minimum-staffing rules tend to post better composite numbers. The South Carolina figures above should be read against the federal CMS 2024 minimum-staffing rule, which phases in HPRD floors over several years and will reshape this distribution for facilities currently operating below the thresholds.
For families evaluating nursing home options in South Carolina, the statewide averages above set the backdrop, but placement decisions ultimately turn on facility-level records: the specific deficiencies cited at the most recent inspection, the staffing hours actually logged (as opposed to budgeted), the enforcement history of fines and payment denials, and direct observation through in-person visits. Every facility listed below links to its full CMS record on this site. Data is sourced from CMS Nursing Home Compare and Provider Data; figures reflect the most recent refresh and should be verified with each facility and the South Carolina state survey agency before any placement decision is finalized.
All Facilities (187)
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
How South Carolina compares on federal nursing-home metrics
The CMS Five-Star Quality Rating program scores every Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facility on three independent axes: health inspections, total nurse staffing hours per resident day, and a basket of quality measures drawn from MDS (Minimum Data Set) clinical assessments. Each axis is normalized against same-state peers to produce a 1-to-5 rating, then combined into the overall star count visible on each facility's record. Because the overall star is forced into a curve, the median facility in South Carolina sits at 3 stars by construction — but the underlying inspection-deficiency counts, registered-nurse hours, and rehospitalization rates are not curve-adjusted and remain directly comparable across states.
State-level patterns in South Carolina reflect labor market conditions (registered-nurse wages, certified-nursing-assistant turnover), regulatory posture (state surveyor strictness, mandatory minimum-staffing thresholds), payer mix (Medicaid reimbursement rates set the floor for skilled nursing margins), and ownership concentration (chain-owned versus independent operators show consistently different staffing and inspection profiles in published academic work). When using South Carolina averages as a benchmark, treat them as the backdrop against which an individual facility's record stands — not as a substitute for reading that record in detail.
The Provider Information File (PIF), Health Deficiencies File, MDS Quality Measures File, and Penalties File are all published on a quarterly cadence at data.cms.gov; PlainNursing refreshes the South Carolina record within 30 days of each release. State survey agencies enforce federal certification requirements on CMS's behalf — South Carolina families with concerns about a specific facility should file complaints through the state's long-term-care ombudsman channel as well as through the federal CMS reporting portal. Cross-reference the figures shown here against the upstream provider record on the official Medicare Care Compare tool before drawing any individual-facility conclusion, since small differences in monthly refresh timing can shift specific star ratings between data snapshots, and the federal record carries the definitive deficiency, staffing, and penalty history for each Medicare-certified nursing home.
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Nursing Home Compare 5-Star Quality Rating, South Carolina · 2024 Star ratings combine health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. Updated quarterly by CMS.
