Editor’s Note: Hear similar insights like this at the upcoming SHN Trends event August 4-6 in Chicago. This new event will bring together senior living executives alongside capital partners, clinicians, operators, designers, culinary leaders and other stakeholders to explore current trends and opportunities in the sector. Tickets for Trends are available here.
Occupancy is just half of lease-up – senior living operators also must make a decent margin – which is why they are honing operations with both top of mind.
The senior living industry’s average occupancy rate reached 89.9% in the second quarter across 31 primary markets tracked by NIC MAP, representing a 0.4 percentage point increase from the first quarter and the 20th consecutive quarter of overall occupancy growth.
Getting to 90% occupancy and higher at a community takes a gradual approach from consistent daily operations and staffing, all of which hinges on creating strong resident satisfaction, according to 12 Oaks Senior Living CEO Greg Puklicz.
The Dallas, Texas-based senior living provider operates 38 communities in four states. In the last few years the senior living provider reported strong occupancy rates and improved length of stay in assisted living by three months to an average of 22.5 months in 2026.
“Once you get over the 90% level, we have to ensure the services, staffing and quality is maintained,” Puklicz said during a recent SHN webinar. “Staying in the 90% occupancy area is largely a function of the culture that you build in the community and what’s critically important is that the residents are engaged and cared for.”
Denver, Colorado-based Ascent Living Communities operates six communities spanning 650 units. This year, Ascent Living has maintained strong margin and occupancy growth. For example, the company’s newest property, Hilltop Reserve in Denver, occupancy grew from 79% in 2025 to 91% this year, with an operating margin of 41% and net operating income per occupied unit of approximately $3,100 per month.
To protect margin growth, Ascent Living Communities overhauled its data model, and implemented a points-based acuity tracking system to more accurately bill for care services and track staffing resources.
The points-based system has helped the provider determine residents’ care needs on a weekly basis and allocated labor hours to executive diretors based on real-time data rather than being based on past budget forecasts, according to Ascent Living Communities Founder and President Susie Finley.
“90% and above is an executing time, but the operational focus needs to shift from generating leads and demand to managing the quality of that demand,” Finley said during the webinar.
Stabilized occupancy, unit turnover critical to margin growth
Getting stabilized occupancy rates within a portfolio requires a disciplined approach toward expense control, staffing stability and resident engagement. Offering steep concessions to fill a community can undercut the value of the services being provided, and in today’s demand environment, rate integrity is an integral part of both improving occupancy and growing margin, Finley said.
“The biggest mistake that we see providers making is using short-term tactics that create long-term damage,” Finley said. “Deep rent reductions, long-term concessions, deferring maintenance or not investing in your care—all those actions can create strong occupancy for a moment in time, but it’s going to weaken your rate integrity.”
While improving occupancy is worth celebrating, resting on the laurels of occupancy gains is risky, and Finley said Ascent Living views occupancy as the input of disciplined operations, but the outcomes of methodical strategy are resident experience and improved margin.
Unit turnover is a critical piece to solving a community’s occupancy puzzle, with each new month an opportunity to improve the time in which vacant units are refurbished and made available, Puklicz said. The provider aims for unit transitions to occur in seven to 10 days, an improvement from what historically could take three weeks to complete. Using waitlists or having popular unit types available for turnover more quickly with pre-set unit turnover instructions.
12 Oaks averages roughly four move-outs per 100 units per month. On average, the company anticipates six move-outs per month in a 150-unit community. If it takes a month to turn around six units, that’s a potential revenue hit of more than $24,000, Puklicz noted.
“One of the challenges you get into that high, 90% occupancy in a community is the ability to turn your units correctly,” Puklicz said.
Margin growth hinges on resident satisfaction
For 12 Oaks and Ascent Living Communities, keeping buildings occupied and profitable depends on curating communities with compelling engagement and prompt care services.
Resident engagement and quality care, combined with best-in-class dining services, are the foundations that help improve length of stay, stronger rate integrity and better margins, Puklicz said.
In switching care services to a points-based model, Ascent Living has helped improve transparency and satisfaction among resident families with care teams able to present data during difficult conversations around a resident’s increased care needs.
“It makes sure residents receive the services they need, which then equates to quality of care and resident satisfaction,” Finley said. “We’re really focusing as a company on matching resources to resident needs and not just budget history.”
12 Oaks is also “moving in the direction” of having a points-based acuity model to determine levels of care because it allows for more frequent assessments and more accurate insights into care needed within a community, Puklicz said.
To appropriately address resident satisfaction, Puklicz said operators need to “decouple” resident satisfaction and financial performance because resident satisfaction is ultimately “a function of the culture” at a community.
“It’s that thoughtful investment in ensuring that we’re doing everything possible to help the residents thrive in the community,” Puklicz said. “The end result will be margin, so it’s about driving the culture at the community and having a vibrant thriving community will drive that margin growth.”
Data helps bring occupancy, insights to life
Last year, Ascent Living adapted and modernized its back-end data collection and analytics platform to give better insights into resident care and overall community performance. This has helped create increased insight and responsiveness from care outcomes and financial performance of communities.
Every morning at 6:30 a.m., Ascent Living sends community leadership teams a dashboard summarizing the prior 24 hours, sometimes including events from just hours earlier. That shared snapshot shapes the day’s priorities, from staffing adjustments to fall-risk follow-up and family communication.
Having the right dashboards can help community leaders “identify trends early,” rather than waiting on month-old financial reports teams can make decisions quickly and better respond to the evolving needs a community faces, Finley said. The most useful data points to track include overtime, agency usage, missed staffing timecards, scheduled versus worked labor hours and resident acuity, Finley added.
“The earlier you see the trends and address them, the less disruptive the correction has to be on the back end,” Finley said.
Puklicz said regional vice presidents play a crucial role at 12 Oaks interpreting data and supporting on-site teams at high occupancy. Regional vice presidents at the company oversee a select handful of communities to monitor move-in and move-out trends, unit turnover and staffing in close to real time.
Combined with centralized recruiting and standardized processes, this structure is designed to keep executive directors focused on residents and culture while still understanding a community’s financial standing.
