U.S. News Recognizes Nearly 1,700 Communities in Newly Evolved ‘Best Senior Living’ List

U.S. News & World Report today released its second-ever “Best Senior Living” ratings list with some new additions and changes. 

This year, organizers with U.S. News & World report rated nearly 3,900 senior living communities — representing about 140 different organizations — in four categories: Independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs).

For independent living, only residents were surveyed; for assisted living, family members and residents were surveyed; and for memory care, only family members were surveyed.

Advertisement

Of the communities surveyed, nearly 1,700 — about 43% — earned a “best” distinction in one or more categories, meaning they scored highly on a consumer-satisfaction survey conducted by U.S. News partner Activated Insights between April and November 2022.

Another 17 operators had more than half of their communities receiving the distinction, and 11 were awarded “best” in at least one category for 65% of their portfolio.

Among the operators with a highest share of communities receiving the distinction were Kisco Senior Living, which had 19 out of 22 surveyed communities recognized as best; HumanGood, with 17 out of 20 communities; and Brightview Senior Living, with 36 out of 43 communities.

Advertisement

HumanGood CEO John Cochrane noted that he feels “tremendously proud to have over 85% of our communities recognized as best-in-class.”

“These ratings showcase our commitment to helping our residents live their best lives and confirms what we already know about our teams and our communities,” Cochrane told SHN in an email. “But it’s always nice to have external validation.”

Brightview CEO Doug Dollenberg said he was “thrilled and honored” that Brightview had so many communities on the list with high ratings.

“When associates feel valued and find meaning in the work they do, resident satisfaction follows,” Dollenberg told SHN. “We engage and empower associates at all levels to identify ways to raise the bar on resident satisfaction, so we are humbled that Brightview residents have provided this level of feedback in the first year we’ve participated in the U.S. News and World Reports rankings.”

This year’s list also included:

  • Aegis Living: 30 of 36 communities
  • Principal Senior Living Group: 20 of 25 communities
  • Brandywine Living 24 of 31 communities
  • Leisure Care: 36 of 48 communities
  • Agemark Senior Living:17 of 25 communities
  • The Arbor Company: 31 of 44 communities
  • Americare Senior Living: 62 of 92 communities
  • Morning Pointe Senior Living: 24 of 37 communities
  • Benchmark Senior Living: 40 of 63 communities
  • Ebenezer: 21 of 34 communities
  • Belmont Village Senior Living: 17 of 32 communities
  • Grace Management: 35 of 65 communities
  • Sagora Senior Living: 26 of 51 communities

Brookdale (NYSE: BKD), the nation’s biggest operator, had the most communities on the list with 265 of 658 surveyed communities earning the title; followed by Sunrise Senior Living, with 130 of 253 surveyed communities making the list, also representing more than half of its total share.

While the inaugural list made waves throughout the senior living industry, particularly for its usefulness in marketing; the second go-round built on last year’s list, including by bolstering the category for CCRCs and making a community finder tool available to prospective residents — the latter representing “an evolution of what we had available last year,” according to Zach Adams, senior health data engineer for U.S. News & World Report.

Prospective residents can now compare communities in their markets to one another as well as other information that communities provide, such as photos, according to Adams. U.S. News created new profiles for the communities that participated in last year’s survey with photos and more detailed information.

“People wanted the community profiles to be more content-rich and have more accurate information,” Adams told Senior Housing News. “So, the best way to get that was … directly from the communities. That way, it’s coming from the source.”

Adams told SHN that the number of communities that participated in the second iteration of the list jumped about 35%, and the number of survey respondents jumped about 30%.

The news and data organization also tweaked the way it evaluated continuing care retirement communities (CCRC). Last year, to be named one of the best CCRCs, communities needed to earn the “best” title for IL, AL and memory care. But, many CCRCs also provide nursing care, according to Adams.

Looking ahead, Adams said U.S. News & World Report will continue to refine its methodology and build on previous years’ lists.

“We’re going to continue to take feedback from our readership and from the industry,” he said. “And we want to make a product that helps people find the best fit for them.”

Being named one of U.S. News’ “Best Senior Living” brings pride to senior living staff and operators, but it also serves as a marketing tool for residents looking to make the move to senior living

IntegraCare CEO Larry Rouvelas recently told Senior Housing News that the accolade has helped attract prospective residents from farther away.

“We certainly have seen people try to travel further,” he told SHN in April.

And last year, Wisconsin-based senior living operator Cedar Community reported growing its Facebook post reach by 57% over its typical average after receiving the accolade.

“Cedar Community has been heavily leveraging this year’s ratings in marketing and advertising to support sales in current and new independent living residential projects,” Cedar Community CEO Nicole Pretre told SHN in 2022.

Companies featured in this article:

, , ,