Market Study Guidelines for Rural Assisted Living
This document was developed for the Iowa Finance Authority to provide guidelines for market analyses conducted for assisted living facilities in rural areas.
Because rural markets are by their very nature different from areas with larger populations, the application of standard market study methodologies to rural communities may underestimate the strength of a market. This report was developed to provide guidelines for the analysis of assisted living facilities in rural communities, based on the findings of a prior study that examined the characteristics of a sample of rural assisted living facilities and on data obtained from three Iowa assisted living facilities.
Based on the information obtained from these facilities, guidelines were developed for rural AL market analyses, including how to determine the boundaries for a project’s primary market area, the impact of a secondary market factor, conducting a competitive analysis, and developing a demand analysis. Also included is detailed information comparing the residents of rural assisted living facilities to nationally-based data for AL residents.