New data
Q1 2026 staffing data is out: nearly 9 in 10 U.S. nursing homes were understaffed.
Read the alert
Nursing Home Staffing
Sufficient staffing is a key indicator of a nursing home’s quality and safety, yet chronic understaffing remains widespread. Every quarter, LTCCC publishes staffing levels for every U.S. nursing home, searchable by state, county, city, and facility name.
Latest quarter
Released August 31, 2026
Q1 2026 staffing data
National, state, community, and facility-level data, including the expected staffing for each nursing home based on its residents’ care needs.
Nursing home staffing by the numbers
3.75
Average total nurse staff hours per resident day (HPRD), short of the 4.1 needed to ensure clinical care, according to a landmark 2001 federal study.
0.62
Average RN hours per resident day, below the 0.75 RN HPRD the 2001 federal study found necessary.
90%
Share of nursing homes below their expected staffing levels in 2024, as identified in LTCCC’s September 2026 study.
1.25M
Residents living in U.S. nursing homes on an average day, across 14,487 facilities reporting staffing data.
Staffing data by quarter
Each quarter links to searchable national, state, and facility files. Starting with Q3 2024, files also show the staffing each home should have, using LTCCC’s evidence-based methodology.
Quarterly staffing alerts
All alerts
Q1 2026
Aug 31, 2026
Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. Nursing Homes Understaffed
Q4 2025
May 18, 2026
Latest Federal Data Indicate Widespread Understaffing in US Nursing Homes
Q3 2025
Mar 4, 2026
Over 1 Million Vulnerable Residents in Understaffed US Nursing Homes
Q2 2025
Jan 15, 2026
Federal Data Indicate That the Average US Nursing Home is 25% Short-Staffed
Q1 2025
Aug 25, 2025
Nursing Homes Provide Far Less Care Than Residents Require
Q4 2024
Jun 3, 2025
Average Facility Operating Over 40% Short of Expected RN Staffing
Understanding the staffing crisis
Guides, research, and policy resources on why nursing homes fail to recruit and retain staff, and what standards should require.
Everything in one place
Nursing Home Staffing Resource Center
Fact sheets, guides, research, policy analysis, and advocacy tools on nursing home staffing.