Transparency matters. Here's exactly where our data comes from, how we process it, and what its limitations are.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
CMS inspects and rates every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the United States. We use the following publicly available datasets:
| Dataset | Records | Key Data |
|---|---|---|
| Provider Information | 14,710 | Ratings, beds, address, chain, staffing |
| Health Deficiencies | 419,453 | Inspection citations, severity, corrections |
| Penalties | 17,464 | Fines ($), payment denials, dates |
| Ownership | 159,221 | Owner names, types, percentages |
| Quality Measures | 14,710 | Falls, infections, restraints, rehospitalizations |
| State Averages | 55 | Benchmark averages for all metrics |
| Citation Codes | 644 | Deficiency tag descriptions and categories |
American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates
We use Census data to provide demographic context:
Note: ACS 5-year estimates aggregate data from 2018–2022. These are statistical estimates, not exact counts. We use 5-year estimates because they cover all counties including small/rural ones (1-year estimates only cover areas with 65,000+ population).
Cost of Care Survey
The Genworth/CareScout Cost of Care Survey is the industry's most comprehensive annual study of long-term care costs in the United States. We use:
Note: These are state-level medians. Actual costs at individual facilities may vary significantly based on location within the state, level of care, and room availability.
Places API — Ratings & Reviews
Google Maps ratings provide an independent quality signal from real visitors and families, complementing the official CMS inspection-based ratings. Where available, we show both the CMS government rating and the Google user rating for each facility.
Data pipeline: We download the raw CMS CSV files monthly, parse and normalize the data, cross-reference each facility with Census demographics and cost data, and generate static JSON files for each facility, city, state, chain, and deficiency code.
Ratings: All CMS ratings are presented exactly as published — we do not modify, weight, or create our own rating system. Rankings (best, worst, most fined, best staffing) are derived directly from CMS data.
Geographic matching: Facilities are matched to cities and counties using the address data provided by CMS. County demographics are matched by county name within each state. Cities with facilities in multiple counties use the county of the first listed facility.
Cost assignment: Cost data is assigned at the state level (not facility level). Individual facility costs are not publicly available in any dataset we're aware of.
NursingHomes.us is not affiliated with CMS, Medicare, Medicaid, or any U.S. government agency. We are an independent informational resource.
This site is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always visit facilities in person and consult healthcare professionals before making care decisions.
We do not accept payment from nursing homes for placement, reviews, or ranking position.