California nursing homes at a glance
California has 1,165 Medicare-certified nursing homes with 114,991 beds across 55 counties. The average CMS overall rating is 3.2 out of 5 stars: 270 homes hold 5 stars and 186 hold 1 star. 1,120 are certified to take Medi-Cal, and 116 carry the CMS abuse citation flag (CMS data as of September 1, 2026).
Every county, side by side
Counties sorted by number of homes. Data: CMS provider file processed September 1, 2026. Counties with their own page link to a full, filterable list of every home.
| County | Homes | Beds | Avg stars | 5-star | 1-star | Take Medi-Cal | Abuse flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 369 | 37,526 | 2.5 | 41 | 108 | 361 | 52 |
| San Diego | 83 | 8,791 | 4.0 | 34 | 3 | 74 | 4 |
| Orange | 72 | 7,736 | 3.0 | 9 | 10 | 68 | 5 |
| Alameda | 69 | 5,522 | 3.8 | 28 | 4 | 66 | 3 |
| San Bernardino | 55 | 4,996 | 3.9 | 16 | 1 | 55 | 1 |
| Riverside | 54 | 5,123 | 3.2 | 10 | 7 | 53 | 2 |
| Santa Clara | 50 | 5,114 | 3.5 | 17 | 6 | 47 | 0 |
| Sacramento | 37 | 3,915 | 3.3 | 7 | 2 | 36 | 13 |
| Fresno | 31 | 2,780 | 3.2 | 8 | 3 | 31 | 1 |
| Contra Costa | 30 | 2,916 | 3.7 | 7 | 1 | 30 | 3 |
| San Joaquin | 24 | 2,629 | 2.7 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 6 |
| Ventura | 19 | 1,862 | 4.2 | 12 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 18 | 2,322 | 4.3 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Sonoma | 18 | 1,506 | 3.6 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 4 |
| Kern | 17 | 1,755 | 1.9 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 2 |
| Stanislaus | 17 | 1,795 | 2.9 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
| Tulare | 16 | 1,552 | 3.1 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 0 |
| Monterey | 14 | 994 | 3.7 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| San Mateo | 14 | 1,657 | 3.8 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Santa Barbara | 14 | 1,277 | 4.1 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Marin | 11 | 948 | 3.1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| Merced | 10 | 781 | 3.6 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Placer | 10 | 1,125 | 4.1 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| Shasta | 10 | 1,055 | 3.8 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Butte | 9 | 910 | 2.2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| Solano | 9 | 846 | 3.7 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| San Luis Obispo | 7 | 755 | 5.0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Santa Cruz | 7 | 725 | 3.6 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Napa | 6 | 678 | 3.0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Yolo | 6 | 577 | 3.8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Humboldt | 5 | 406 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Madera | 5 | 400 | 2.6 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Nevada | 5 | 429 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| El Dorado | 4 | 314 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Mendocino | 4 | 274 | 3.3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Sutter | 4 | 433 | 3.8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Imperial | 3 | 253 | 2.7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Kings | 3 | 327 | 3.7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Lake | 3 | 270 | 2.7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Plumas | 3 | 118 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Colusa | 2 | 105 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Inyo | 2 | 132 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Modoc | 2 | 106 | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tehama | 2 | 113 | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Tuolumne | 2 | 278 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Amador | 1 | 199 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Calaveras | 1 | 99 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Del Norte | 1 | 99 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Glenn | 1 | 79 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Lassen | 1 | 96 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mariposa | 1 | 16 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| San Benito | 1 | 119 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Siskiyou | 1 | 59 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Trinity | 1 | 13 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yuba | 1 | 86 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
What the ratings mean
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gives every certified nursing home one overall rating and three underlying ones: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. The abuse flag means CMS cited the home for abuse or neglect at the level of actual harm in its latest inspection cycle, or at the level of potential harm in both of its last two. We publish CMS’s ratings as they are; we do not rate or rank homes ourselves.
Download the data
The full California file, one row per home, is free to use: california-nursing-homes-2026.csv (CSV) or JSON. Source: CMS Provider Information file processed September 1, 2026, retrieved October 11, 2026. Please cite California Care Compass and CMS.
Related guides and next steps
- Nursing homes in Orange County
- Nursing homes in Los Angeles County
- Nursing homes in Sacramento County
- Nursing homes in Riverside County
- How to choose a skilled nursing facility in California
- Long-term skilled nursing: who pays
- What senior care costs in California, 2026
This guide explains program rules and county-specific contacts, not legal advice. California Care Compass does not place referrals on county or planning pages.