Provider Supply & Healthcare Access
HRSA Shortage Areas + Medicare Physician PUF | 36,216 Designated HPSAs | 52 States
Where the gaps are, and what drives them
Key Insights
The Scale of the Problem
Over 36,000 designated shortage areas span all 50 states, DC, and territories. Mental health and dental shortages rival primary care — with 10,400+ mental health HPSAs and 10,800+ dental HPSAs alongside 14,900 primary care designations. The total FTE provider shortage across all disciplines exceeds 222,000.
Rural America Hit Hardest
Non-metropolitan areas account for the largest share of HPSAs by designation count. Frontier areas — the most remote communities — carry some of the highest severity scores. Rural HPSAs have disproportionately high shortage FTEs relative to their population, meaning fewer providers must stretch to serve more patients.
Provider Supply ≠ Access
States like California and Florida have the most providers in raw numbers, but still carry massive shortage designations. Texas alone has 2,400+ designated HPSAs despite ranking in the top 5 for total Medicare providers. Provider supply concentrates in metro areas while shortages persist in rural and underserved populations.
Severity Is Not Uniform
HPSA scores range from 0–25, with the average at 15.9 — indicating moderate-to-high severity across the board. Dental health HPSAs average the highest scores (16.6), suggesting dental care access is the most critical gap. States like Missouri, Texas, and Kentucky carry both high HPSA counts and high average severity scores.
HPSAs by Discipline
Designation Type Breakdown
HPSA Score Distribution
Metropolitan vs Non-Metropolitan
Top 20 States by Total HPSAs
Top 20 States by FTE Shortage
Provider Supply vs Shortage (State-Level)
State Discipline Mix (Top 15 States)
State HPSA Rankings (Top 20)
| State | Primary Care HPSAs | Dental HPSAs | Mental Health HPSAs | Total HPSAs | Avg Severity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Provider Supply vs Shortage (Top 20 States)
| State | Providers | Beneficiaries | Total HPSAs | FTE Shortage | Providers per 10K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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