Often, the decision to place a loved one in a nursing home is difficult and fraught with emotional and financial considerations.

A year of nursing home care costs on average $50,000, according to the AARP. For those who can afford to shop around, the biggest question is how well a facility does at caring for the residents.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services attempts to help answer that question with its Nursing Home Compare data. This is a report card of sorts, with the federal agency giving ratings of between 1 and 5 stars to each nursing home based on the results of inspections.

In New Jersey, the Department of Health and Senior Services conducts inspections at least annually of all nursing homes that receive federal money.

CMS rates the results of these inspections according to the three main areas: health, including resident care, staff and resident interactions and environment; staffing, which measures the hours worked by nurses and assistants; and quality measures, which include data on vaccinations, pressure sores, depression, infections, and weight loss.

NJ Spotlight has mapped the most current data, from 2010 inspections, so it is easy to see which facilities got the highest scores. In Essex County that would be Waterview Center in Cedar Grove, Gates Manor in Montclair, South Mountain Healthcare and Rehabiltation Center near Millburn in Vauxhall, and Stratford Manor and Rehabilitation in West Orange, all which received the highest overall rating of 5.

The average score for New Jersey nursing homes was 3.15 stars and several facilities in Essex fall in that range, including Care One at Livingston, receiving a 3 overall.

See the interactive map @ NJ Spotlight.