Celebrating 20 years of NIC MAP
Explore Two Decades of Data in a Competitive Market →
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF DATA • 2006 – 2026
Two decades helping investors, developers, lenders, operators, researchers, and the federal government understand a market that more older Americans depend on every year.
214
markets covered
35,000+
communities tracked
1.7M+
units of inventory
OUR STORY
NIC MAP was launched in 2004 by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, a non-profit created to support the investors and lenders who finance the sector. In 2006 we published our first consistent metro-level metrics; today the platform covers 214 markets nationwide.
Two decades later, NIC MAP data supports how investors, lenders, and developers plan and invest in senior housing, and how researchers and public agencies study and oversee it.
NIC MAP Data Service founded
First metro rate & occupancy metrics
Coverage expands to more markets
Additional markets added
NIC MAP Vision formed
Active Adult performance data
20-year milestone · 214 markets
TRUSTED AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS
NIC MAP’s largest customer is the U.S. federal government. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have relied on NIC MAP data for nearly two decades, and it is built into how they underwrite the sector. Freddie Mac’s own seniors-housing underwriting guidance relies on NIC MAP submarket data. HUD procures the subscription through a public solicitation to run the FHA insurance programs that help finance senior housing nationwide.
“This data access is needed to meet vital components of HUD’s Strategic Plan… data are used for modeling and predicting FHA loan performance and for computing impacts of the FHA insurance programs and the Federal budget.”
— U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, Statement of Work, NIC-MAP Data Service (Notice APP-H-2025-051). SAM.gov · Statement of Work
Total HUD exposure to senior housing & care
(Section 232)
$40B
insured and outstanding
3,970+
senior-care communities
477K
units financed
HUD’s FHA insures roughly $40B of Section 232 mortgages on senior housing & care nationwide; states shaded by loan volume — hover for detail. Source: HUD FHA insured-portfolio data.
HUD’s Office of Risk Management describes the NIC MAP subscription as a principal source of economic and mapping data for monitoring its FHA healthcare portfolio, under a contract that runs through 2030.
“An independent, respected, and reliable source… the principal source of national and regional economic time series for the statutory mandate to protect the General Insurance / Special Risk Insurance funds.”
— HUD Office of Risk Management & Regulatory Affairs, on its NIC MAP subscription
“[Used for] evaluating the condition of the existing portfolio, anticipating potential problem locations, reviewing underwriting standards in specific regions, and alerting Executive FHA Management of [potential] losses.”
— HUD Statement of Work, NIC-MAP Data Service (Notice APP-H-2025-051). SAM.gov
TWENTY YEARS OF IMPACT
Measure a market for twenty years and patterns become undeniable. Two stand out in senior housing: it is broadly competitive, and it is growing to meet a historic wave of demand.
A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, FRAGMENTED INDUSTRY
Senior housing is one of the most fragmented sectors in commercial real estate. Families choosing a community typically have many options run by many different companies, and the operators who serve the country are overwhelmingly small, local organizations, alongside familiar national names.
TWO DECADES OF BUILDING
Over two decades, the industry has built an extraordinary amount of senior housing. Today it totals more than 1.7 million units nationwide, and across NIC MAP’s markets, developers have delivered more than 630,000 new units since 2006. NIC MAP is a widely used source for sizing, siting, and financing new development.
And the need is only growing. As the 85-and-older population accelerates, demand is outpacing new construction. The country needs an estimated $275 billion of additional senior housing by 2030 and more than $1 trillion by the early 2040’s just to keep pace.
1.7M+
units of senior housing
nationwide today
$275B
of new senior housing
needed by 2030
$1T+
of new senior housing
needed by early 2040’s
WHY SENIOR HOUSING MATTERS
The first baby boomers turned 80 in 2025, the beginning of the largest and fastest expansion of the older-adult population in the nation’s history.
According to U.S. Census Bureau projections, the population aged 80 and older will more than double over the next 25 years, from nearly 15 million today to more than 30 million by 2050. Meeting that need takes capital, new construction, and skilled operators in thousands of local communities, and reliable information about where the need is greatest.
For two decades, investors, lenders, developers, researchers, and public agencies have used NIC MAP data to plan, invest, and serve older Americans well. Understanding this market has never mattered more.
BUILT FOR EVERYONE
The organizations that rely on NIC MAP span the sector — investors, lenders, developers, researchers, and public agencies — and everyone is served the same way: the same data, on the same terms. NIC MAP lowers the cost of understanding the sector.
Market sizing, segmentation, and demographic context to allocate capital across geographies and care segments.
Metrics that support sizing and underwriting, the same data federal lending partners rely on.
Feasibility and supply-pipeline data to find underserved markets and size new communities.
Demand and demographic trends that inform where to expand, reinvest, and add new communities.
Market and demographic context for partners serving the industry and its residents.
The same access, on the same terms, for academic and public-sector analysis of the sector.
STUDIED INDEPENDENTLY
Scholars from across the globe have used this data to study senior housing economics in peer-reviewed work, and public agencies have drawn on it for policy analysis.
THE STORY
Hear directly from senior housing professionals who were part of building NIC MAP and who rely on it today.
WHAT’S NEXT
The next decade is about putting two decades of data into the hands of investors, lenders, developers, researchers, and public agencies who need it, answerable in plain language, wherever they work. The mission is the same as it was in 2006: a market better understood by investors, lenders, developers, and public agencies who finance and study it, one that grows rapidly to meet the needs of the burgeoning aging population.
Whether you want to understand this market or simply learn more, we’d love to talk.
Market figures on this page are drawn from the NIC MAP platform: aggregated market data published in arrears. Platform metrics reflect asking rates and occupancy; the platform does not display in-place transaction rates or any operator’s individual rates. Agency lending figures are approximate and drawn from public agency reporting.
NIC MAP was founded in 2004 by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and published its first consistent metro-level rate and occupancy metrics in 2006. As of 2026, NIC MAP has been tracking the senior housing market for 20 years.
Yes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have relied on NIC MAP data for nearly two decades. HUD’s Office of Risk Management uses it as a principal source for monitoring its FHA healthcare loan portfolio under a contract running through 2030.
NIC MAP currently covers 214 markets nationwide, tracking more than 35,000 senior housing communities and 1.7 million+ units of inventory.
The U.S. senior housing market now totals more than 1.7 million units nationwide. Across NIC MAP’s tracked markets, developers have delivered more than 630,000 new units since 2006.
As the 85-and-older population accelerates, demand is outpacing new construction. The industry needs an estimated $275 billion in additional senior housing investment by 2030, and more than $1 trillion by the early 2040s, just to keep pace with demand.
The first baby boomers turned 80 in 2025, marking the start of the largest and fastest expansion of the older-adult population in U.S. history. According to U.S. Census Bureau projections, the population aged 80 and older will more than double over the next 25 years, from nearly 15 million today to more than 30 million by 2050.
NIC MAP is used by investors, lenders, developers, operators, vendors and healthcare partners, and researchers and public agencies.
Performance of the Seniors Housing Market (Freddie Mac)