Nursing Homes by Star Rating

CMS Five-Star Quality Rating breakdown for 14,703 Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing facilities.

The CMS Five-Star Quality Rating System assigns each Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home an overall rating from 1 to 5 stars, based on three components: health inspection results, staffing levels, and quality measures. A 5-star rating indicates performance well above average, while a 1-star rating means performance substantially below average. The rating system is updated quarterly and is intended to help consumers compare nursing home quality.

Facilities by Overall Star Rating

Distribution of nursing homes across all five CMS quality tiers.

Star Rating Facilities % of Total Browse
1 Star 2,938 20% Browse
2 Stars 3,066 20.9% Browse
3 Stars 2,819 19.2% Browse
4 Stars 2,807 19.1% Browse
5 Stars 2,942 20% Browse

How the CMS Five-Star Rating Works

Three Rating Components

The overall star rating combines three domain scores. The health inspection domain is based on the number, scope, and severity of deficiencies found during annual and complaint inspections over the past three years — more recent inspections are weighted more heavily. The staffing domain reflects nursing hours per resident per day for RNs and total nursing staff, adjusted for the acuity of the resident population. The quality measures domain covers 15 long-stay and 5 short-stay clinical measures such as pressure ulcer rates, falls, and antipsychotic medication use.

Limitations of Star Ratings

The Five-Star system has well-documented limitations. Staffing data is self-reported by facilities, and until the introduction of payroll-based journal (PBJ) data, was not independently verified. Quality measure scores are also based on facility-submitted clinical data. Health inspection scores are considered the most objective component because they reflect observations by state surveyors. Consumer advocates recommend using star ratings as a starting point rather than a final verdict — visiting the facility, speaking with staff, and reviewing the detailed inspection reports in the CMS Care Compare database provides the most complete picture.

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