Skilled Nursing Facility Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Skilled Nursing Facility Market is projected to experience significant expansion, rising from a valuation of USD 99.24 Billion in 2025 to USD 147.93 Billion by 2031, achieving a CAGR of 6.88%. Skilled Nursing Facilities are defined as specialized healthcare institutions offering round-the-clock medical oversight, rehabilitation therapies, and long-term support for patients needing continuous nursing care due to injuries, chronic illnesses, or post-surgical recovery requirements. The primary forces driving this market growth include a rapidly aging global population alongside an increasing prevalence of chronic conditions like dementia and cardiovascular diseases, both of which demand extended professional medical intervention and institutionalized care.

Despite these growth prospects, the market confronts a major obstacle in the form of critical workforce shortages, which severely limit service availability and operational capacity. This lack of available labor forces facilities to operate below their full potential, making it difficult to meet patient demand. Data from the American Health Care Association illustrates the severity of this issue, revealing that in 2024, 46 percent of nursing homes in the United States were forced to restrict new patient admissions specifically as a result of these staffing challenges.

Market Drivers

The constructive evolution of government funding and reimbursement models serves as a vital stabilizing force for the market, directly addressing the financial solvency of operators contending with inflationary pressures. By adjusting payment rates to more accurately reflect the complexity and acuity of patient care, federal policies are ensuring that facilities maintain the liquidity necessary to support workforce wages and upgrade clinical capabilities. As noted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the 'Fiscal Year 2025 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Final Rule' from July 2024, the administration finalized a net increase of roughly $1.4 billion in Medicare Part A payments to skilled nursing facilities for the upcoming fiscal year, providing capital essential for sustaining operations.

Concurrently, the rise in public and private healthcare spending is fueling a wave of operational scaling and strategic consolidation among major market players to accommodate increasing demand. Corporate entities are actively deploying capital to acquire and revitalize regional networks, thereby improving the reach of specialized restorative services in underserved areas. For instance, The Ensign Group announced in an October 2024 press release that it agreed to add eight skilled nursing operations in Tennessee and one in Alabama to its portfolio, indicating a strong appetite for expansion. This investment activity is supported by strengthening financial fundamentals; Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. reported that its skilled nursing and transitional care facilities achieved an EBITDARM coverage ratio of 1.85x in the second quarter of 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic performance.

Market Challenges

Critical workforce shortages constitute a severe restriction on the growth of the Global Skilled Nursing Facility Market. The scarcity of qualified personnel, such as registered nurses and certified nursing assistants, compels administrators to voluntarily curtail operational capacity to uphold safety standards and regulatory compliance. Unlike industries where production can be automated, this sector relies heavily on direct human interaction, meaning a staff deficit immediately results in fewer available beds. Consequently, facilities are unable to absorb the increasing volume of hospital discharges, leading to revenue stagnation and effectively placing a ceiling on the market's potential.

The consequences of this deficit are visible in recent industry data highlighting significant structural contractions within the sector. According to the American Health Care Association, 20 percent of nursing homes in the United States completely closed a wing, unit, or floor in 2024 solely due to labor shortages. This reduction in physical capacity prevents the market from meeting the surging demand caused by demographic shifts, directly resulting in a deceleration of overall industry stability and growth.

Market Trends

The Adoption of Artificial Intelligence for Predictive Analytics is developing as a transformative trend, allowing operators to improve operational efficiency and clinical decision-making. Facilities are increasingly incorporating machine learning algorithms to analyze resident data, facilitating the early detection of health deterioration and reducing hospital readmissions. This technological shift also alleviates administrative burdens, such as staff scheduling and regulatory reporting, which is crucial given the sector's labor constraints. However, adoption remains slow compared to other healthcare segments; Skilled Nursing News reported in December 2025 that AI adoption in nursing facilities rose from 3.1 percent in 2023 to just 4.5 percent in 2025, indicating substantial room for future digital modernization.

Simultaneously, the Shift Toward Private Rooms and Homelike Facility Designs is reshaping the market's physical landscape to align with evolving infection control standards and consumer preferences. Operators are actively de-densifying properties by converting multi-bed wards into single-occupancy units, a strategy that enhances resident privacy and clinical safety while reducing overall bed inventory. This structural contraction generates a tighter supply-demand dynamic, boosting utilization metrics for the remaining capacity. According to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care's January 2025 report, nursing care occupancy increased to 84.5 percent in the third quarter of 2024, a gain partially driven by the strategic migration toward private room configurations and the resulting reduction in operational bed counts.

Key Players Profiled in the Skilled Nursing Facility Market

• Genesis Healthcare
• Life Care Centers of America
• Encompass Health
• Kindred Healthcare
• Brookdale Senior Living
• Amedisys
• SavaSeniorCare
• Signature HealthCARE
• Consulate Health Care
• HCA Healthcare

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Skilled Nursing Facility Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Skilled Nursing Facility Market, by Facility Type:

• Hospital
• Freestanding

Skilled Nursing Facility Market, by Service Type:

• Intensive Rehabilitation Therapy
• Low and Medium Rehabilitation
• Medically Complex

Skilled Nursing Facility Market, by Ownership Type:

• Non-Profit
• For-Profit
• Government

Skilled Nursing Facility Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Skilled Nursing Facility Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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