Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Beds by Region

Equipped and staffed to give skilled nursing care on a daily basis, Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) serve the needs of over 61 million Americans with Medicare Part A SNF coverage.  More than 15,000 skilled nursing facilities, having over 1.5 million beds, participated in the Medicare program in calendar year 2019.  Here is a more detailed look at Medicare skilled nursing facility beds by region (to see state level data, follow the "region" links in the table below):

Region	# Part A Enrollees		# SNFs	# Beds
Far West	9,271,394		1,603	155,151
Great Lakes	9,033,798		2,975	290,756
Great Plains	4,057,565		1,940	150,865
Mid-East	9,264,126		1,951	287,563
New England	3,009,294		870	94,397
Rocky Mountain	1,971,770		495	43,036
Southeast	16,668,792		3,562	389,213
Southwest	6,619,024		1,700	180,807
U.S. Territories	1,270,929		7	253
National	61,166,694		15,103	1,592,041

Source:  CMS Program Statistics, Table: MDCR PROVIDERS 4. Medicare Providers:  Number of Medicare Certified Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Number of Beds, by State, Territories, Possessions and Other, Calendar Year 2019

Dental Hygienist Pay in the Southeastern U.S

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data published this past summer put dental hygienist (DH) employment in the United States at about 195,000 as of May 2020.  At that time, the twelve-state Southeastern U.S. was home to approximately 48,600 employed dental hygienists according to the BLS.  BLS data shows the region to be the worst in the nation for dental hygienist pay.  Although Virginia DHs earned an average annual mean wage that was 15th best in the nation, every other state in the Southeast had an annual mean wage level for dental hygienists that was below the national average.  Moreover, eight Southeastern states ranked among the ten worst states in the nation for dental hygienist annual mean wage levels.  A deeper examination of May 2020 BLS data shows the following about dental hygienist pay in the Southeastern U.S.:

Dental Hygienist Pay in the Southeastern U.S

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
AL	3,670	$49,200	51st
AR	1,560	$65,730	46th
FL	11,830	$67,870	41st
GA	5,690	$66,330	43rd
KY	2,130	$61,140	49th
LA	2,340	$69,980	34th
MS	1,180	$56,650	50th
NC	6,700	$71,140	31st
SC	3,500	$61,360	48th
TN	4,020	$65,820	45th
VA	5,040	$82,530	15th
WV	980	$61,530	47th
U.S.	194,830	$78,050	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on May 17, 2021