Assisted Living Facilities
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 15,000 assisted living centers in the US serve adults who need help with everyday tasks, but don’t require full-time care. Continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) provide independent living, assisted living, and nursing home facilities, allowing residents to stay on the same campus as their needs change.
Resident Turnover
Because the average stay at an assisted living facility is less than two years, firms may struggle to maintain occupancy while managing constant turnover.
Employee Turnover
Employee turnover in the senior living industry is high but remained stable in 2023, according to the 25th annual Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service.
Industry size & Structure
The average assisted living facility employs about 32 workers and generates about $2.5 million annually.
- The assisted living industry consists of about 15,000 firms that employ 474,400 workers and generate over $37.3 billion annually.
- The industry is concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom; the top 50 companies account for about 40% of industry revenue.
- The assisted living industry includes chains, independent operators, and non-profit organizations. More than 55% of establishments are chain-affiliated; more than 40% are independently owned, according to the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).
- About 90% of firms are for-profit entities, while about 10% are non-profit tax-exempt organizations.
- Large companies include Brookdale Senior Living (726 communities), Life Care Services (LCS – 135 communities, 95 campuses), and Holiday Retirement.
- There are approximately 28,900 assisted living communities with almost 1 million beds in the US.
- More than 800,000 Americans reside in assisted living; 71% are women and 29% are men. More than half of residents are aged 85+.
Industry Forecast
Assisted Living Facilities Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 14, 2024 - Occupancy Rate Increases
- The senior living occupancy rate was 86.5% for Q3 2024, up 0.7 percentage points from the prior quarter. Independent living saw a 0.5 percentage point increase in the third quarter, whereas assisted living occupancy rose 0.9 percentage points, narrowing the gap between the two settings.
- The supply of available beds in assisted living is greater than the demand, according to Marcy Baskin, vice president of elder care consulting firm Senior Care Authority. “However, that [balance] varies regionally, [and] we expect the supply-demand ratio to change as the baby boomer population ages. The number of assisted living locations is increasing while [the number of] skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for long-term care is decreasing. SNFs are moving more toward rehabilitation services for people needing short-term stays that are often covered by Medicare.” States with the most assisted living communities include California (4,100), Washington (1,902), Florida (1,804), Texas (1,295) Wisconsin (1,272) and Oregon (1,208), according to the US Census Bureau.
- Many assisted living communities and nursing homes that call local fire departments for lift assist services are now being billed, according to McKnight's Senior Living. Decatur City Council in Illinois is among the latest local governments to adopt an ordinance charging communities for fire department responses to lift assist calls. Facilities will be billed $500 per assist call for at least the next year. The ordinance addresses what city officials say is a growing problem: an increase in lift assist calls that take fire department staff members away from their core responsibilities. The number of lift assist calls received increased from 430 in 2014 to more than 1,000 in 2023, according to the Decatur Fire Department.
- Nursing and residential care industry revenue increased 9.2% year over year and 1.7% quarter over quarter during the second quarter of 2024, according to the US Census Bureau. Assisted living industry employment increased slightly while average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased moderatetly during the first seven months of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assisted living facilities sales are forecast to increase at a 4.74% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.
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