Stability was a theme of 2012, at least among the biggest players in the senior living sector. The Assisted Living Federation of America recently released its annual list of the largest providers by total resident capacity, and the top 12 positions remained the same as in 2011. All but three of these companies saw capacity growth.

Brookdale Senior Living led the pack again, followed by Emeritus Corp., Holiday Retirement, Sunrise Senior Living and Life Care Services LLC. The rankings are based on the companies’ self-reported resident capacity as of Jan. 1, 2013.

The deal with the most noteworthy impact on ALFA’s list was Genesis HealthCare’s $215 million acquisition of Sun Healthcare Group last summer. This boosted Genesis from No. 36 to No. 24. Another major deal was the fall 2012 announcement that Health Care REIT was purchasing Sunrise

Overall, the 80 companies on ALFA’s list represented a capacity of 514,000, up 2% from last year. The sector is poised for further expansion in 2013, with investment experts and industry executives telling ALFA that mergers and acquisitions will continue to drive growth.

The full list is available here.