Newsweek and the research firm Statista have published their 2026 ranking of America’s Best Continuing Care Retirement Communities, recognizing 330 communities from more than 1,800 CCRCs and Life Plan Communities evaluated in 30 states. For residents, prospective residents, and their families, the rankings offer an intriguing opportunity to see how familiar communities compare nationally — but they are also worth examining for what they measure and what they do not.
At the top of the 2026 list is HumanGood–Valle Verde in Santa Barbara, California, with a score of 93.27%. Willow Valley Communities in Willow Street, Pennsylvania, ranks second nationally at 92.54%, followed by Freedom Pointe at The Villages in Florida at 92.27%, Moorings Park in Naples, Florida, at 91.92%, and Roland Park Place in Baltimore at 90.78%. Pennsylvania has another top-ten community: Landis Homes in Lititz ranks ninth nationally with a score of 80.19%.
Willow Valley is of particular interest to NaCCRA members. Its resident network is a NaCCRA affiliate, giving residents there a connection with the larger national movement of CCRC residents even as their community receives exceptionally high marks in the Newsweek survey.
The rankings are based on four sources of information. Seventy percent of the score comes from national online surveys, combining recommendations from medical professionals and people working in CCRC administration with ratings from residents and acquaintances of residents. Visitor satisfaction data supplied by Accushield accounts for another 15 percent, CARF accreditation for 10 percent, and Google reviews for 5 percent.
That methodology is important when interpreting the results. A community apparently does not have to formally participate in the Newsweek project in order to appear in the rankings. Residents, acquaintances, professionals, and others can provide evaluations independently. Thus, the absence of an organized effort by a provider to participate does not necessarily prevent a community from being rated.
CARF accreditation raises another interesting question. CARF reports that only 53 of the 330 communities on the Newsweek list are CARF accredited, yet CARF accreditation automatically accounts for 10 percent of the total score. CARF is a respected voluntary accreditation process, but participation is far from universal. Some excellent communities have never sought accreditation, while other communities may not be able or willing to undertake the considerable process and expense involved. A ranking that assigns 10 percent of its score to CARF therefore gives those 53 communities a significant structural advantage.
The Newsweek ranking can still give prospective residents and their families useful points of comparison. A community’s reputation, residents’ experiences, professional assessments, visitor impressions, and Google reviews may reveal patterns that are otherwise difficult to find, particularly in an industry where comparable information is surprisingly difficult for consumers to obtain.
But residents should also recognize what these rankings largely do not measure. They tell us relatively little about the adequacy of reserves, long-term actuarial strength, the history of resident fee increases, the transparency of financial reporting, the quality of governance, the effectiveness of resident participation in decision-making, or the mechanisms available when residents and management disagree. Nor do they tell us much about whether a community has developed the relationships, trust, and shared sense of purpose that can make it resilient when unexpected problems arise.
For someone choosing a CCRC, those questions may prove every bit as important as the characteristics captured in a national reputation survey. For people who already live in CCRCs, the rankings can serve another useful purpose: they give us something concrete to compare and discuss. Why does one community rate highly and another less so? What practices might be worth learning from? And are there important dimensions of CCRC quality that no national ranking yet measures?
The Newsweek list is worth exploring — just don't mistake one measure of a community for the whole community. Newsweek and Statista provide an interactive table containing all 330 ranked communities, searchable by community, city, and state.
Interactive Data Table
View the Statista Survey Data
Richmond Shreve
NaCCRA Board Member & VP
Forum Moderator