Top 10 Best Nursing Homes in Illinois

Compare the Best Nursing Homes in Illinois

Every year, thousands of seniors, their families, and friends are faced with the difficult decision of choosing a skilled nursing facility, either because someone is recuperating after a hospital visit or for end-of-life care. This is usually an issue that arises suddenly, and the decision makers are not equipped with the right knowledge and information to make a good decision. Not knowing how to decide, they turn to others for recommendations. Word of mouth, along with geography, are constantly cited as the most important factors in choosing a skilled nursing facility. Choosing a facility with such limited information can lead to significant problems. Not all skilled nursing facilities are the same and the people that you trust to recommend a facility may not know enough about the facility and the alternatives to be a competent guide.

To help people who are facing this difficult situation, we have compiled a list of the best Illinois skilled nursing facilities and the the worst skilled nursing facilities. (We have also compiled the best and worst nursing homes by city for most cities in the United States, links are shown at the bottom on this page.) The lists are based on data provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (“CMS”) and include information gathered from detailed annual inspections, monthly reporting, complaint histories, deficiency reports and much more.

To see a more detailed analysis of the performance on skilled nursing facilities in Illinois, including staffing, COVID-19 infections, historical occupancy levels and recent trends, look at our detailed analysis page.

Best Nursing Homes in the Largest Illinois Cities

All of the following nursing homes have been given a Weighted Health Inspection Score by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Every year, nursing homes in Illinois go through an unannounced inspection performed by independent state examiners. These examiners look at factors such as cleanliness, hazards, and safety to perform the inspection. Points are given to nursing homes based on their deficiency in a certain category. Thus, a higher Weighted All Cycles Score means more problems and lower quality of care.

The list below ranks the homes with the best (lowest) weighted inspection scores. The score is shown next to the facility name.

Best Nursing Homes in Chicago, Illinois

• Mercy Circle (23)
• Buckingham Pavilion (42)
• Community First Medical Center (42)
• Terraces at The Clare (47)
• Birchwood Plaza (50)
• St Joseph Village of Chicago (52)
• Balmoral Home (60)
• Lakefront Nursing and Rehab Ctr (64)
• Selfhelp Home of Chicago (65)
• Smith Village (66)

Best Nursing Homes in Rockford, Illinois

• Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital -Snf (0)
• Divine Rehabilitation and Nursing at Shane Hill (46)
• Amberwood Care Centre (71)
• Fairhaven Christian Ret Center (74.75)
• Willows Health Center (80)
• Colonial Nursing Center of Rockford (86)
• River Bluff Nursing Home (97.5)
• Alpine Fireside Health Center (99.5)
• Alden Debes Rehab and Hcc (117.75)
• Pa Peterson at The Citadel (119)

Best Nursing Homes in Round Lake Beach, Illinois

• Hillcrest Retirement Village (68)

Best Nursing Homes in Peoria, Illinois

• Freedom Plaza Care Center (0)
• Peoria Post Acute and Rehabilitation (13)
• Az - Rio Vista Post Acute and Rehabilitation (22)
• Apostolic Christian Skylines (22)
• Lutheran Hillside Village (26)
• Lake Pleasant Post Acute Rehabilitation Center (26)
• Immanuel Campus of Care (70)
• Accolade Healthcare of Peoria (73)
• Manor Court of Peoria (104.25)
• Sharon Health Care Willows (120)

Best Nursing Homes in Aurora, Illinois

• Beth Israel at Shalom Park (0)
• Essentia Health Northern Pines Medical Center (0)
• Kensington at Anna Maria (13)
• Advanced Health Care of Aurora (22)
• Garden Terrace Alzheimer's Center of Excellence (32)
• Aurora Manor Special Care Cent (35)
• Avenue at Aurora (37)
• Grove of Fox Valley,the (41)
• Thrive of Fox Valley (42)
• Alden Courts of Waterford (47)

Best Skilled Nursing Homes in Other States

How We Compile Nursing Home Ratings in Illinois

Every month, we rank all of the skilled nursing facilities in Illinois. These rankings are based on data provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid measures ("CMS”), including the CMS 5-Star Rating System and the Health Inspection Scores. The list of the best Skilled Nursing Facilities in Illinois is based on the weighted overall health inspection score which is a composite of CMS's three most recent skilled nursing home inspection scores weighted to give the most recent inspection more importance.

The CMS 5-Star Rating System rates skilled nursing facilities from one to five stars, with one star being the lowest and five stars being the highest. The rating system also rates Illinois nursing homes across five different dimensions including overall rating, health inspection rating, quality measures rating, overall staffing rating, and RN staffing rating (RN is an acronym for Registered Nurse).