In U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Nursing Home Rankings, less than 20% of the nursing homes rated made the list of “Best Nursing Homes” out of approximately 15,000 facilities in the country. This includes those who provide short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, or both.
And a U.S. News ranking released Tuesday found that nearly half of nursing homes were not complying with federal regulations that require a registered nurse to be present for at least eight hours a year. The average nursing home was understaffed for 15 days.
Ben Harder, head of health analysis and editor-in-chief at U.S. News, said overall staffing levels continue to be a major challenge for nursing homes across the country.
Harder said in a statement that the best short-term rehabilitation facilities provided an average of 50 percent more total nursing care per resident than facilities rated below average. Additionally, top-ranked short-term rehabilitation facilities had an average 50% increase in resident discharges compared to facilities ranked below average.
“This is a pretty big difference, because this is an important goal in providing rehabilitation for patients. And these best nursing homes have 50% more success than the worst nursing homes.” Harder said.
When it comes to long-term care, nursing homes considered the best have twice the staff retention rate compared to underperforming long-term care facilities, he said.
This year, retention is a new metric when calculating ratings, defined as the percentage of staff who remain after one year.
“U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Nursing Homes rating lists fewer than 3,000 of the best nursing homes in the United States,” said Zach Adams, senior medical data engineer at U.S. News, Skilled Nursing.・Told the news. “U.S. News is committed to providing families with the data they need to make informed decisions about the care of their loved ones.”
Adams said the evaluation revealed significant disparities in various aspects of nursing home care, noting disparities in performance such as discharge success rates, antipsychotic prescription rates and nurse staffing levels. He added that there is.
“The latest U.S. News survey of nursing homes in the United States highlights the importance of choosing a nursing home with a track record of quality care,” he added.
Another new criterion in this year’s evaluation was health deficiencies, as determined by state inspectors who assess whether facilities meet the standards required for nursing home care, according to U.S. News.
U.S. News said more frequent, more widespread and more serious defects indicate an environment that could negatively impact the safety of residents.
The evaluation found that top-performing long-term care facilities maintained residents’ independence longer, including the ability to eat and do laundry, compared to long-term care facilities considered below average.
“Which nursing home your loved one is in can have a huge impact on whether they retain or lose the ability to care for themselves,” Harder said. said. “That was a really important discovery.”
According to U.S. News, high-performing long-term care providers spent 46% less time administering antipsychotic medications to residents than low-performing long-term care providers.
“If you don’t need antipsychotics for psychosis or other mental illness, you really shouldn’t be receiving antipsychotics,” Harder says. “For these residents, the risk of falls is higher and the risk of other complications is higher. The best nursing homes are much less likely to use those drugs in these long-term care residents. I understand.”
Another notable long-term care finding is that residents in high-performing facilities are more than 60% less likely to require emergency department care than those in facilities rated below average. That’s it.
U.S. News ratings were calculated using various quality measures obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The unique evaluation method considers resident care, safety, consistency and retention, along with antipsychotic use and success in preventing emergency room visits, according to U.S. News.
According to the ranking, the following 10 metropolitan areas had the highest number of top nursing homes. Boston, Massachusetts. Chicago, Illinois. Miami, Florida – Fort Lauderdale. MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL, MN. New York, New York. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Phoenix, Arizona. San Diego, California. San Francisco-Oakland, California. and Washington DC.
