By Pittsburgh Senior Advisor Care Team · October 27, 2026
Across 107 Pittsburgh-area nursing homes reporting to CMS, the median is 3.57 total nurse staffing hours per resident per day, ranging from 2.76 to 6.20. Median total nursing staff turnover is about 50%.
What do the staffing numbers measure?
CMS reports staffing from payroll data. Total nurse staffing hours per resident per day adds registered nurse, licensed practical nurse and nurse aide hours and divides by the number of residents. CMS also reports registered-nurse hours on their own, weekend staffing, and turnover among nursing staff and administrators.
The numbers here come from the CMS Provider Data Catalog processed October 1, 2026.
How do Pittsburgh-area homes compare?
The regional median is 3.57 total nurse hours per resident per day and 0.74 registered-nurse hours. The homes reporting the most total nurse hours are Sherwood Oaks in Cranberry Township (6.20); UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Tcu in Pittsburgh (5.87); Little Sisters of the Poor in Pittsburgh (5.52); Longwood at Oakmont in Verona (5.09).
| County | Homes reporting | Median total nurse hours | Median RN hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegheny | 51 | 3.59 | 0.84 |
| Westmoreland | 19 | 3.63 | 0.65 |
| Butler | 11 | 3.65 | 0.81 |
| Washington | 11 | 3.53 | 0.60 |
| Beaver | 6 | 3.42 | 0.72 |
| Fayette | 6 | 3.45 | 0.51 |
| Armstrong | 3 | 3.57 | 0.59 |
Why do very high hours sometimes appear?
Homes that specialize in short-term rehab or that sit inside a hospital often report more nurse hours per resident, because their patients need more skilled care. Comparing a hospital-based transitional care unit with a long-term care home on hours alone can mislead.
CMS also publishes a case-mix-adjusted staffing measure for that reason; the staffing star rating uses adjusted figures.
Why does turnover matter?
High turnover means residents see unfamiliar staff more often, which matters especially for people with dementia. CMS reports total nursing staff turnover and registered-nurse turnover over a year, plus the number of administrators who left. Our facility pages show all three where CMS reports them.
Ask any home how long its director of nursing and administrator have been in their roles.
What does weekend staffing tell you?
CMS reports weekend staffing separately because many homes run thinner on Saturdays and Sundays. A home whose weekend hours drop sharply compared with weekdays may leave residents waiting longer for help when families often visit. The Care Compare page for each home shows its weekend figure.
Ask a home how many aides work the unit on a Sunday evening, and compare the answer with CMS's numbers.
How do staffing and star ratings relate?
The staffing star rating is one of three components of the overall CMS rating, and it is built from adjusted staffing hours rather than the raw totals shown here. A home can have a strong staffing rating and a weak health-inspection rating, or the reverse, so look at both.
Among the 111 nursing homes in our seven counties, the facility pages show each home's staffing rating next to its total and RN hours, with the county median for comparison.
Which homes report the fewest nurse hours?
At the other end of the range, the lowest-staffed homes in the region report fewer than three total nurse hours per resident per day. Low reported hours do not prove poor care on their own, because resident mix and data timing matter, but they are a reason to ask detailed questions about evening and night coverage and to read the home's health-inspection results for staffing-related deficiencies.
Every home's figure is on its facility page, next to the county median, so you can see where a home falls without doing the math yourself.
Does ownership type relate to staffing?
Of the region's 111 certified nursing homes, CMS lists 75 as for-profit, 30 as nonprofit and 6 as government-owned, and 77 belong to a chain. Ownership alone does not predict staffing at a given home, so compare each home's own CMS figures rather than relying on its ownership type.
Each facility page lists the ownership, legal business name and chain CMS reports.
How should families use staffing data on a tour?
Look up the home's staffing rating and hours before visiting, then ask how many nurses and aides work the evening and night shifts on the unit your parent would live on, and how often agency staff fill shifts. Visit at a shift change if you can.
Staffing data is one of the few nursing home measures built from payroll rather than self-report, so it is worth the few minutes it takes to check.
CMS staffing hours: what they are and are not
| They are | They are not | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | payroll-based journal data | self-reported marketing |
| Measure | nurse and aide hours per resident per day | a ratio for every shift |
| Adjustment | raw totals here; adjusted in the star rating | comparable across very different homes without context |
| Coverage | certified nursing homes | personal care homes |
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical nurse staffing level around Pittsburgh?
The regional median is about 3.57 total nurse staffing hours per resident per day, per CMS data processed October 1, 2026.
Where does CMS staffing data come from?
From payroll-based journal data that nursing homes submit to CMS.
Do personal care homes report staffing to CMS?
No. Personal care homes follow Pennsylvania's direct care hour rules and are not in CMS's nursing home data.
Where can I see a specific home's staffing?
On Medicare Care Compare or on our nursing home facility pages.
