Alzheimer's Report

Which states are best placed for Alzheimer’s care support?

Mirador Living ranked all 50 states across four care-access signals, from Alzheimer’s prevalence growth to nursing homes, geriatric clinicians, and paid care workers.

Explore the rankings US Rankings Read methodology

Key findings

Missouri ranks first overall, with four states leading individual measures.

Overall leader

Missouri

Its lead came from steady performance across all four measures, ranking between 5th and 15th on each rather than relying on one standout metric. Lower prevalence growth is stronger, while higher rates are stronger for nursing homes, clinicians and care workers.

No. 1 overall 82.15 Alzheimer’s Care Score

18.18%Prevalence growth#5, lower is better

3.63Nursing homes per 10K#9

43.7Clinicians per 100K#15

68.34Care workers per 1K#10

Individual measures

Leaders by measure

Lowest prevalence growth

North Dakota

14.29%10-year increase

Most nursing homes

Iowa

5.82per 10K older adults

Most geriatric clinicians

Rhode Island

73.7per 100K older adults

Largest care workforce

New York

160.69per 1K older adults

Why care support matters

See how Alzheimer’s may affect the perception of a familiar room.

Drag the slider left and right to compare an everyday room with an illustrative view of possible visual and recognition challenges associated with Alzheimer’s.

This is an illustrative example, not a universal experience. Alzheimer’s affects people differently.

Everyday view Possible challenges

US Rankings

Compare the top 10 and bottom 10 states.

See the states with the highest and lowest overall scores, with all four underlying measures shown for every state.

Alzheimer’s Care Score, out of 100

Lower prevalence growth is stronger. Higher values are stronger for nursing homes, clinicians and care workers.

View all 50 states

Full data table

Compare all 50 states.

Use the selector to highlight a state in the table, then switch between the overall ranking and each metric ranking.

Find your state

Jump to one state in the rankings.

Choose a state to keep its row easy to find while you move between ranking views. It’s a quick way to see which care-access signals shape that state’s overall position.

Choose a state

Metric view

State-level Alzheimer's and memory care access indicators. Use the controls above to switch between the overall score and individual measures.

Find local care options for a loved one with Alzheimer's.

State rankings show broad patterns. Mirador Living helps families compare local communities by services, pricing, reviews, availability, and support needs.

Explore local care options

Methodology

How the states were ranked.

This study ranks all 50 US states to identify those with the strongest care conditions for people living with Alzheimer's. Each state was scored across four core measures, then the scores were averaged equally to produce one overall ranking.

Quick read

Use the ranking as a starting point.

The report compares broad state-level signs that may affect Alzheimer’s and memory care access. Families should pair it with local details such as services, pricing, reviews, availability, and a loved one’s needs.

It does not measure individual care quality, open beds, waitlists, assisted living capacity, memory-care specialization, or local rural and urban differences.

Four metrics form the score

The ranking is based on the percentage increase in Alzheimer's prevalence from 2016 to 2025 (Alzheimer's Association), nursing homes per 10,000 older adults (CMS Care Compare), geriatric clinicians per 100,000 older adults (America's Health Rankings), and care workers per 1,000 older adults (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Percentile ranks make the numbers comparable

Each state was ranked across all four measures and converted to percentile scores. This ensures different types of data, growth rates and staffing counts, can be compared fairly.

Equal weighting, one overall score

All four measures carry the same weight in the final score. The prevalence growth metric is inverted: a slower increase in Alzheimer's cases scores higher, because it suggests less added demand pressure.

Sources: Alzheimer’s Association, CMS Care Compare, America’s Health Rankings and CMS NPPES underlying data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2024.