Best Nursing Homes in California — 2026 Rankings

California has 1,162 CMS-certified skilled nursing facilities. The state averages 50.0 deficiencies per facility, with 0 facilities receiving zero citations in their latest CMS survey cycle. Rankings below are based on official CMS Health Deficiency data.

Top-Ranked Facilities (Fewest Deficiencies)

1. Morton Bakar Center — Hayward (5 deficiencies)
2. Stonehaven Senior Living — Fresno (5 deficiencies)
3. Tahoe Forest Hospital D/P SNF — Truckee (5 deficiencies)
4. Healdsburg Hospital D/P SNF — Healdsburg (6 deficiencies)
5. John C. Fremont Healthcare District Dp/SNF — Mariposa (6 deficiencies)
6. Barton Hospital D/P SNF — South Lake Tahoe (7 deficiencies)
7. Bay Area Healthcare Center — Oakland (7 deficiencies)
8. San Luis Transitional Care — San Luis Obispo (7 deficiencies)
9. Shadelands Post Acute — Walnut Creek (7 deficiencies)
10. Pacifica Nursing And Rehabilitation Center — Pacifica (8 deficiencies)
11. Coastal Oaks Special Care Center — Atascadero (9 deficiencies)
12. Greenridge Post Acute — El Sobrante (9 deficiencies)
13. Oakview Skilled Nursing — Thousand Oaks (9 deficiencies)
14. Redlands Comm Hosp D/P SNF — Redlands (9 deficiencies)
15. Arroyo Grande Care Center — Arroyo Grande (10 deficiencies)
16. California Pacific Medical Ctr- Davies Campus Hosp — San Francisco (10 deficiencies)
17. Chinese Hospital D/P SNF — San Francisco (10 deficiencies)
18. Crestwood Treatment Center — Fremont (10 deficiencies)
19. Marina Garden Nursing Center — Alameda (10 deficiencies)
20. Mountains Community Hosp Dpsnf — Lake Arrowhead (10 deficiencies)
21. Niles Canyon Post Acute — Fremont (10 deficiencies)
22. Clear View Sanitarium — Gardena (11 deficiencies)
23. Dept Of State Hospitals - Napa D/P SNF — Napa (11 deficiencies)
24. Excell Health Care Center — Oakland (11 deficiencies)
25. Hayes Convalescent Hospital — San Francisco (11 deficiencies)

Most-Cited Compliance Areas in California

• Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies — 13,332 citations
• Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies — 8,948 citations
• Resident Rights Deficiencies — 8,722 citations
• Pharmacy Service Deficiencies — 7,432 citations
• Nutrition and Dietary Deficiencies — 6,091 citations

Compare to Other States

• Browse all 50 state rankings
• California SNF Scorecard
• California Compliance Benchmark

Explore POCDesk — Free Nursing Home Compliance Tools

• SNF Scorecard — look up any facility's inspection record
• Nursing Home Compare Tool — side-by-side comparisons
• Skilled Nursing Near Me — find facilities by city & state
• Best Nursing Homes by State — ranked by inspection results
• Survey Tracker — recent CMS survey activity
• F-Tag Reference Guide — every CMS deficiency tag
• Plan of Correction (POC) Complete Guide
• Free AI POC Generator
• Plan of Correction Examples
• CMS Survey Preparation Guide
• SNF Compliance Guides
• What Is Skilled Nursing Care?

Official Sources

POCDesk analyzes official government data. Verify any facility's record or read the underlying regulations at these primary sources:

• Medicare.gov Care Compare — CMS's official nursing home comparison tool
• CMS Provider Data Catalog — the raw nursing home inspection & deficiency datasets
• CMS Nursing Home Certification & Compliance — enforcement policy and the Special Focus Facility program
• 42 CFR Part 483 (eCFR) — the federal requirements of participation behind every F-Tag
• National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center — free advocacy help for residents and families