Demand for senior housing is at an all-time high, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). U.S. occupancy rates increased 0.3 percentage points to 87.4% in the first quarter of 2025, with the number of occupied senior housing units setting a new record at nearly 621,000.
“Older adults are moving into senior housing at a rapid pace, and that trend will continue given the wave of baby boomers and many more ‘solo agers’ who don’t have a caregiver to rely on as a safety net,” said Lisa McCracken, NIC’s head of research and analytics. “The industry needs to ramp up development for supply to catch up with demand, but we don’t foresee any meaningful movement here in 2025 given current market conditions.”
The pace of new senior housing units and units under development was slower than historical norms in Q1. Construction starts in the 31 markets NIC analyzed were at 1,076 units, the lowest count since Q2 2009.
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