U.S. News Ranks 2027 Best Nursing Homes

The annual ratings evaluate more than 14,600 U.S. nursing homes and name 18% of them as top performers.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Nursing Jobs

Live Poll

Would you trust a nursing home rated Best for your own family's care?

U.S. News & World Report published its 2027 Best Nursing Homes ratings, evaluating more than 14,600 nursing homes across the United States. Nearly 1 in 5 evaluated facilities, or 18%, earned recognition as a Best Nursing Home in Short-Term Rehabilitation, Long-Term Care, or both.

Why it matters

The ratings give families a transparent set of quality metrics to compare facilities when making nursing home decisions. The analysis draws on federal data to measure outcomes that matter for patient care.

Top short-term rehab facilities show 19% fewer emergency room visits than the national average, and Best long-term care homes show 21% fewer hospital readmissions. The analysis does not break out how many homes earned each category's designation separately.

The players

U.S. News & World Report

A national media company that publishes annual consumer rankings, including its Best Nursing Homes analysis, which it has produced since 2009.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

The federal agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid and supplies the underlying data used in the Best Nursing Homes calculations.

The details

The ratings assess 17 quality measures across Short-Term Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care, including post-acute care quality and hospital readmission rates. The evaluation covers facilities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and the Best Nursing Homes analysis has been published annually since 2009.

2009: U.S. News began its annual Best Nursing Homes analysis.
November 10, 2026: U.S. News announced the 2027 Best Nursing Homes ratings.

Market Landscape

The 2027 edition continues the annual Best Nursing Homes series that U.S. News has published since 2009, extending a long-running comparison tool for the skilled nursing market. Its reliance on CMS data places it within the federal quality-reporting framework that shapes how nursing home performance is measured nationally.

Families comparing nursing homes can use the designation and measures to narrow options before visiting facilities. Workers considering nursing careers can see which facilities report higher staffing levels per resident per day than the national average.

The takeaway

Checking a facility's designation alongside its readmission and staffing figures gives a fuller picture than any single rating. Comparing a shortlist of homes on these measures can help families make more informed choices.