Selling a skilled nursing facility in California

California at a glance

California has 1,165 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified skilled nursing facilities with 114,991 certified beds, and on average 88.3% of those beds are occupied, above the national average of 80.3%.

Source: CMS Provider Information file, August 2026. The full California picture, rates and every building are on SNFRadar, the market record we built and publish free.

What a buyer reads first in California

The numbers a buyer pulls before the first call, for the typical California building against the nation. Your own building's are on its SNFRadar page.

Sources: CMS Provider Information file, August 2026 (occupancy, staffing, turnover, star ratings: averages across certified buildings); Medicare cost reports (full-year filings), as SNFRadar compares them (medians, the same figures each building's SNFRadar page is compared against).

What moves value in California

Occupancy. 88.3% of California's certified beds are occupied, above the national 80.3%. Full buildings are the norm here, so a buyer will ask why yours is not, or price in the referral strength if it is.

Payer mix and the Medicaid rate. Medicaid pays for 61% of resident days in the median California building, less than the national 66%. Medicare and private-pay residents carry more of the value here, so buyers weigh referral sources and short-stay results heavily. California's Medicaid rate files are on SNFRadar.

Revenue and margin. Net patient revenue runs $522 per patient day in the median California filing, above the national $373, and the median net margin is 7.3% against 3.6%. Buyers here can price on the cash flow a building already earns.

Staffing. California's buildings average 4.52 nurse staffing hours per resident per day, more than the national 3.86, and nurse turnover runs 36.7% a year against 45.8%. A stable staff is easier to show here, and buyers notice a building that is the exception.

Inspection record. 44% of California buildings are rated four or five stars by Medicare and 35% one or two, against 40% and 41% nationally. With strong ratings common here, a weak one stands out, and buyers will ask for the plan of correction before they price.

Size and ownership type. The average California building has 99 certified beds, against 107 nationally. 87% are for-profit, 10% non-profit and 3% government, and 72% are part of a chain.

Where the beds are

California's largest counties by certified beds. Each opens that county's buildings on SNFRadar.

How a sale works

1. A first call. What you want from the sale, and when. No listing, no blast.
2. A value from the record. Your building's own numbers and the trades around it. How valuation works
3. Vetted buyers under confidentiality, bidding against each other, not against you.
4. Letter of intent, then the purchase agreement and the operations transfer agreement. The full process
5. Change of ownership. California's licensure filings plus Medicare and Medicaid, timed so billing does not stop. CHOW and Medicaid

Our recent closings

All five closings, with the press coverage they drew.

Questions owners ask