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U.S. News & World Report is out with its 2025 Best Senior Living ratings. Of the 1,894 highlighted nationwide, New Jersey boasts 54 “best” facilities on this year’s list.

This marks the fourth year the publication has released these ratings. According to U.S. News, the feature aims to assist seniors and their families in finding the independent living, assisted living, memory care or continuing care retirement community that best fits their needs.

With the population of older Americans set to grow exponentially in the near-term, New Jersey featured in one of the two metropolitan areas that tied for having the greatest number of Best Senior Living communities: New York and Chicago (both with 71).

To determine its ratings, U.S. News said it analyzed data from nearly 450,000 nationwide resident and family survey responses from more than 3,800 senior living communities. The questionnaire inquired about: satisfaction with community safety, caregiving, activities, management, staff, food and value, as well as other aspects of community life.

New Jersey’s 54 top-ranked facilities helped the state place 15th nationwide in terms of quantity. Texas (165), California (161), Florida (129) and Illinois (110) led the pack, with figures breaking the 100-mark threshold. New Jersey’s neighbor Pennsylvania pulled off the fifth-most “best” locations (90).

U.S. News evaluated a total 91 senior living communities in the Garden State.

New Jersey’s overall senior living tally includes:

• Total best independent living communities, 2 
• Total best assisted living communities, 34 
• Total best memory care communities, 43 
• Total best continuing care retirement communities, 0

By 2050, the number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to grow to 82 million, marking a 47% increase, according to PRB.

Across the Mid-Atlantic, several regions offer reasons why seniors might want to move for their “golden years.” In New Jersey, operators like FellowshipLIFE are growing and reimagining what senior living will look like as these boomers continue to age through the process.

Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. boasted the most, “best” senior living communities within U.S. News’ 2025 ratings with 319. The next closest company or operator was Sunrise, with 154 “best” properties. The former boasts 12 New Jersey locations, while the latter has nearly 30 locations here.

Only the highest-rated communities in each care level earned a “best” rating. U.S. News also recognizes outstanding performance in several key areas with a “high performing accolade.” These designations go to communities that scored in the top 25% of those evaluated nationwide for caregiving, activities & enrichment, management & staff, food and home-like environment and met certain other criteria.

A closer look at New Jersey’s “high” performers:

• Total U.S. News Independent Living Rating, 2 
• Total U.S. News Assisted Living Rating, 34
• Total U.S. News Memory Care Rating, 43

The U.S. News Best Senior Living finder features each community’s ratings on independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement.

According to U.S. News Senior Living Director Liz Pearce, the Best Senior Living set offers data-driven decision making for older adults. “Choosing a senior living community is a major life decision for older adults and their families,” she said, adding the ratings offer an “unbiased evaluation of resident and family satisfaction in senior living …”