South Carolina is last in many unsavory categories.

Add abuse of the elderly to that unsavory list.

In a new survey, we were the worst of all 50 states in abuse protection, gross neglect and exploitation

With the share of adults 65 and older expected to be 1 in 5 by 2030, as many as 13 out of every 14 elder-abuse cases go unreported.

The personal-finance website WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 16 areas. It rated the best states as 1 to 25 and the worst 26 to 51.

It also found SC:

• 42nd in number of elderly care organizations and service providers.

• 41st in state expenditures on abuse prevention.

• 31st in nursing home quality, 28th in number of certified volunteer ombudsmen and 17th in long-term care ombudsman funding.

Volunteer ombudsmen receive and report abuse.

There is good news.

Federal agencies are flagging nursing homes with a history of mistreatment.

The government’s Nursing Home Compare database has for years allowed the public to search and compare nursing homes.

Last month, the government began adding a small red circle icon with a white hand inside next to the name of nursing homes cited for abuse or neglect.

The mark is affixed to 760 or roughly 5% of 15,262 US nursing homes caring for 1.4 million elderly and disabled adults, according to data-analysis firm StarPRO.

The marks go to nursing homes where government investigators found evidence of abuse to a resident in the last year and abuse or neglect that could have harmed a resident in each of the last 2 years.

Nursing home owners argue the marks could unfairly damage a home’s reputation, cause unnecessary concern for residents’ families and lower access to care.

They say states have inconsistent inspection standards and loosely define what counts as abuse.

Consumer advocates say the red icon is an imperfect tool based on an inspection system that fails to capture many cases of abuse.