Nursing Home Deficiency Counts by State

Name: Nursing home deficiency counts by state
Creator: ElderCareCosts Research
License: https://www.eldercarecosts.com/editorial-standards/

Among states with at least 10 scored nursing homes in period 2026-08-01, District of Columbia has the highest average deficiency count at 48.1 per facility.

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What the numbers mean

deficiency_count comes from the CMS nursing home quality snapshot for period 2026-08-01.

Averages are not adjusted for facility size, acuity, or survey cycle timing.

Chart

Highest average deficiency counts by state

Average deficiency_count per nursing home (2026-08-01).

Unit: Avg deficiencies

Highest average deficiency counts by state
Label	Avg deficiencies
District of Columbia	48.1
Maryland	39.5
Washington	38.6
California	38.3
New Mexico	37.6
West Virginia	30.9
Illinois	30.9
Connecticut	30.1
Delaware	29.2
Virginia	29.1
Missouri	26.9
Oregon	25.0
Montana	25.0
Michigan	24.9
Maine	24.6

Data table

Deficiency counts by state (2026-08-01)
State	Facilities	Average	Median	Total
District of Columbia	17	48.1	48.0	817
Maryland	220	39.5	36.0	8,685
Washington	192	38.6	35.0	7,415
California	1,159	38.3	32.0	44,379
New Mexico	68	37.6	36.5	2,560
West Virginia	123	30.9	28.0	3,800
Illinois	665	30.9	26.0	20,521
Connecticut	191	30.1	28.0	5,745
Delaware	44	29.2	27.0	1,285
Virginia	287	29.1	23.0	8,358
Missouri	482	26.9	23.0	12,954
Oregon	128	25.0	22.0	3,200
Montana	60	25.0	21.5	1,499
Michigan	422	24.9	21.0	10,504
Maine	78	24.6	24.0	1,920
Pennsylvania	656	24.6	19.0	16,132
Ohio	917	24.2	20.0	22,226
Hawaii	42	23.8	21.0	999
Wisconsin	323	23.0	17.0	7,429
Nevada	66	22.9	20.5	1,511
Texas	1,171	22.8	20.0	26,749
Rhode Island	72	22.3	19.5	1,607
Vermont	33	21.0	17.0	692
Kansas	295	20.9	18.0	6,171
Idaho	80	20.5	18.5	1,640
Louisiana	265	19.7	17.0	5,219
Colorado	209	18.9	17.0	3,952
Utah	97	18.5	15.0	1,794
Massachusetts	340	18.4	16.0	6,240
Alaska	20	18.1	14.0	362
Minnesota	338	17.9	14.0	6,055
New Jersey	348	17.7	17.0	6,143
Indiana	507	17.4	14.0	8,797
Oklahoma	283	16.5	15.0	4,673
Iowa	387	16.0	12.0	6,208
Wyoming	36	15.9	12.0	573
New York	593	15.5	13.0	9,216
Arizona	140	15.4	13.0	2,157
Nebraska	179	15.1	13.0	2,706
Florida	694	14.9	13.0	10,344
South Dakota	94	14.5	13.0	1,364
Mississippi	200	14.4	13.0	2,887
North Carolina	417	13.8	11.0	5,737
North Dakota	72	13.2	9.0	947
Georgia	356	12.8	11.0	4,561
Arkansas	219	11.3	10.0	2,465
Tennessee	302	10.9	10.0	3,285
New Hampshire	73	9.2	9.0	674
South Carolina	187	9.1	8.0	1,702
Kentucky	266	7.8	6.0	2,083
Alabama	224	7.1	6.0	1,591

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Source: CMS Nursing Home Health Deficiencies, 2026-08-01. Live figures on the data journalism hub.

Methodology

Use deficiency_count on the current CMS quality snapshot.

The count is cumulative across the survey cycles CMS carries in the snapshot (roughly the last three standard surveys plus recent complaint surveys), not a per-inspection or per-year figure.

Require at least 10 facilities with a non-null count.

Source: CMS Nursing Home Health Deficiencies · Updated 2026-08-01

Limits

Counts are not adjusted for bed size or resident acuity.

Survey timing differs across facilities.

Sources

CMS Nursing Home Health Deficiencies: Item-level citations and severe (G-L) deficiency counts
CMS Nursing Home Provider Information: Nursing home directory rows, ownership type, and quality snapshot fields
Queryable cut: the ElderCareCosts provider, organization, quality, and inspection records behind this site (placeholder rows excluded).

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