Active Adult Average Occupancy Nears 93% As New Growth Stalls 

Average active adult occupancy increased 1.4 percentage points to 92.6% in the second quarter of 2026, 0.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year, according to a new analysis by NIC MAP.  

For stabilized properties open at least two years, occupancy rates dropped 20 basis points to rest at 93.5% in the second quarter of this year.

“Demand for active adult reflects a positive trend of older adults who are ready to downsize into maintenance free and socially stimulating communities,” said NIC Senior Principal Caroline Clapp. “Senior living providers should continue to evolve to meet the next generations of Baby Boomers’ and Generation X’s changing consumer preferences.”

NIC MAP started tracking active adult occupancy rates two years ago and today tracks conditions across 875 properties. Since then, active adult operators have maintained occupancy rates well above 90%. Part of the average occupancy increases stem from improvements in markets where new supply has been built in recent years, including Sunbelt markets like Austin, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona, Clapp noted.

In the second quarter, Los Angeles and Virginia Beach, Virginia had the highest active adult occupancy rates at 96.2% each, followed by Buffalo, New York at 95.4%, while Austin (88.0%) and Phoenix (88.1%) remained the lowest, though their rates rose by 1.1 and 3.0 percentage points from the prior quarter, respectively.

The pace of active adult development has also slowed, alongside all areas of the senior living continuum as construction and financing costs remain too pricy for largescale development to start again. In the first half of this year, NIC MAP tracked 1,000 new active adult units being added across 880 active adult rental communities spanning 103,000 units, a pace well behind the average openings of 7,000 new units annually between 2023 and 2025.

Also, an “overhang” of conventional multifamily developments in some markets may be “weighing on underwriting active adult asking rents,” Clapp added.

“That said, experienced active adult developers have attractive pipelines at the ready, and opportunities should continue to emerge for operators who distinguish their enhanced lifestyle programming from conventional multifamily properties,” Clapp said.

Going forward, marketing, outreach and education will continue to be a “helpful” tool in maintaining and growing occupancy rates of active adult communities, Clapp noted.

Recently, active adult providers are debating the role of dining in active adult, and some active adult developers are partnering with higher-acuity providers to offer assisted living and memory care services in limited capacities to attract older adults.

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