The nursing care industry in the US includes about 30,000 companies with combined annual revenue of $100 billion that operate 60,000 nursing facilities. About 10,000 companies are nonprofit, generally affiliated with churches, charities, and local governments. Large for-profit companies include Beverly Enterprises and Sun Healthcare Group. Nursing homes are a cheaper alternative to long-term hospital care. The profitability of nursing facilities depends greatly on efficient operations, because revenue per patient is largely controlled by the large government insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid. The majority of companies operate a single facility, with average annual revenue of $1 million, but about 600 operate ten or more facilities. Large companies tend to run larger facilities that have economies of scale in purchasing and staffing, with average annual revenue of $3 million.

The industry includes skilled nursing facilities for recovery from acute or chronic medical conditions, mental health and substance abuse facilities, and various types of community care and assisted living (AL) arrangements. A wide array of healthcare and dependent-care services are provided, ranging from expensive 24-hour nursing care to help with daily living tasks such as bathing, eating, and dressing.