How to Compare Nursing Homes Side by Side

A step-by-step method for comparing nursing homes using CMS ratings, staffing, inspections, cost, location, and the care needs of your family member.

Category: staffing-and-quality · Updated 2026

Comparing nursing homes is easier when you use a fixed set of criteria, and harder when each facility tells its story its own way. CMS data gives you a common yardstick for ratings, staffing, inspections, and penalties, while the person's care needs and your family's practical constraints set the priorities. A structured comparison keeps a persuasive tour from overshadowing the numbers.

This guide gives you a repeatable method and a table you can fill in for each facility on your shortlist.

Step 1: Define the care need first

Before comparing, write down the specific need: skilled nursing, dementia care, rehabilitation, ventilator care, bariatric care, behavioral support, or long-term custodial care. A facility that is excellent for one need may be unable to serve another. This filters the list faster than any rating.

Step 2: Build the comparison table

Criterion	Where to find it
Overall and domain star ratings	Care Compare facility page
Inspection deficiencies and severity	Inspection results on Care Compare
Adjusted nurse and RN hours	Staffing section on Care Compare
Turnover rates	Staffing section on Care Compare
Quality measures	Quality measure section on Care Compare
Fines, denials, abuse icon, SFF status	Care Compare and CMS SFF page
Cost and rate structure	Facility rate sheet
Distance from family	Your own measure
Specialty services and culture	Tour and family feedback

Step 3: Weight what matters to you

Not every criterion carries equal weight. For a person with complex nursing needs, staffing and clinical capability may lead. For a person seeking rehabilitation, short-stay quality measures and therapy staffing may lead. For a family that will visit daily, distance may be decisive. Write your weights down so the process stays honest when one facility feels friendlier.

Step 4: Investigate anything that stands out

Read the actual inspection reports for any serious or repeated deficiency
Ask about any immediate jeopardy history and the plan of correction
Ask the director of nursing about staffing and turnover numbers
Check whether the facility will keep a resident who transitions to Medicaid
Visit on an evening or weekend, when staffing is often thinner

See Spotting Red Flags in CMS Data for what to look for.

Step 5: Decide with the person, not for them

When possible, include the person who will live there. Their sense of the building, the staff, and the other residents matters. If the decision is being made under time pressure, such as a hospital discharge, focus on the practical criteria first, then plan to revisit the choice. For the move itself, see Hospital to Nursing Home Discharge and Planning a Move to a Care Facility.

Sources: Medicare Care Compare; CMS Provider Data Catalog; CMS Nursing Home Quality.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

How many facilities should I compare?

Three to five is usually manageable. Once you have filtered by care need and distance, a shortlist of that size lets you compare data and visit each one without becoming overwhelmed.

What matters more, ratings or the tour?

Both. Ratings narrow the field and reveal patterns you cannot see in an hour. The tour reveals daily life. Use the ratings to decide where to look harder, then trust what you observe and hear.

How do I compare cost fairly?

Ask each facility for an all-in monthly figure at the care level you need, including ancillaries. Then ask about annual increases and the policy if the resident transitions to Medicaid.

Where can I get help comparing?

Hospital discharge planners, Area Agencies on Aging, and state long-term care ombudsman programs can help families understand options. Our guides and the CMS Care Compare tool provide the data.

Should I favor a newer building?

A newer building can offer private rooms and better design, but quality of care depends more on staffing, leadership, and systems than on the age of the building. Weigh the data accordingly.

Data sources

CMS Provider Data Catalog · CMS Care Compare. This guide is informational and is not medical advice. Processing date: 2026-10-05.

Important disclosures

Informational only, not medical advice. This directory publishes public data and general information. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations, and it is not a substitute for consulting a qualified health care professional or Medicare.

Not affiliated. FacilityDirectory.org is an independent, privately operated directory. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare, or any government agency. CMS has not reviewed or endorsed this site.

Verify before you act. Facility information is derived from public federal datasets and may lag or contain errors. Always confirm current ratings, services, availability, and coverage directly with the provider and at Medicare.gov.

Some outbound links may be partner or affiliate links - we may earn a commission at no cost to you. This never affects the data we publish.