Compliance Risk Index / CMS Nursing Home / State
Nursing-Home Deficiencies in California
Data coverage: 2017-03-23 through 2026-07-23 · Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog
58,141
real citations, 10 categories
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies
most common deficiency category
12.3%
of national volume in that category
California's Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing homes carried 58,141 real deficiency citations across 10 categories, 2017-03-23 through 2026-07-23, per the CMS Provider Data Catalog. The most common category was Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies at 13,254 citations — about 12.3% of the real national total for that category comes from California alone. Citations are most concentrated in Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies — a real 11.7 citations per facility already cited, the highest ratio of any category in this state.
Study CNA / Nurse Aide Practice Test (California) →All 10 deficiency categories in California
| Category | Volume | Avg. penalty | Facilities cited | Citations/facility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies | 13,254 | $28,189 | 1,133 | 11.7 |
| Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies | 9,115 | $28,032 | 1,134 | 8 |
| Resident Rights Deficiencies | 8,664 | $27,987 | 1,114 | 7.8 |
| Pharmacy Service Deficiencies | 7,316 | $28,053 | 1,146 | 6.4 |
| Nutrition and Dietary Deficiencies | 6,175 | $28,045 | 1,152 | 5.4 |
| Infection Control Deficiencies | 4,325 | $28,066 | 1,127 | 3.8 |
| Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies | 3,515 | $28,921 | 900 | 3.9 |
| Environmental Deficiencies | 2,598 | $29,797 | 882 | 2.9 |
| Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies | 1,798 | $29,587 | 772 | 2.3 |
| Administration Deficiencies | 1,381 | $30,417 | 699 | 2 |
Click a category to see how California ranks against all 23 states CQU tracks state-level CMS data for.
Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog: Health Deficiencies (r5ix-sfxw) + Penalties (g6vv-u9sr), 2017-03-23 through 2026-07-23. Citations-per-facility measures concentration among already-cited facilities, not statewide prevalence. Full methodology and every other dataset: the Compliance Risk Index.
Frequently asked questions
How many nursing-home deficiency citations does California have?
58,141 real citations across 10 deficiency categories, 2017-03-23 through 2026-07-23, sourced from the CMS Provider Data Catalog.
What's the most common type of nursing-home deficiency in California?
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies, with 13,254 real citations — about 12.3% of the real national total for that category.
Which deficiency category is most concentrated among California's cited facilities?
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies, at a real 11.7 citations per cited facility -- a measure of how repeat-heavy citations are among facilities that got at least one, not a statewide prevalence rate (CQU doesn't have each state's total certified-facility count to divide by instead).