The number of Americans living in designated primary care shortage areas increased by about 21% in 2025 compared to the year prior, new federal data shows.
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Health Workforce published its latest quarterly report of Designated Health Professional Shortage Area Statistics on Jan. 14, reflecting data as of Dec. 31, 2025. HPSA designations are given to areas where the population-to-provider ratio for primary care meets or exceeds 3,500 to 1, or 3,000 to 1 in high-need communities.
Compared with 2024 figures, the latest HRSA data suggests primary care shortages have worsened. The number of designated primary care health professional shortage areas rose from 7,718 in 2024 to 8,467 in 2025, and the population covered by those designations increased from about 76.3 million to 92.3 million.
Over the same period, the percentage of Americans’ primary care needs met improved only slightly — from 47.2% to 48.1% — while the estimated number of additional practitioners needed to remove the designations increased from 13,273 to 15,604. The figures suggest that workforce growth has not kept pace with demand.
Below is a breakdown of how each state and Washington, D.C., rank based on the percentage of primary care needs met. This metric assesses how well a state’s current primary care workforce meets federal adequacy standards. The “practitioners needed to remove HPSA designation” metric reflects the additional number of physicians needed to eliminate these shortages. These figures do not account for the contributions of nurse practitioners or physician assistants, who may help expand primary care access in some regions.
|
State |
Percent of primary care need met |
Practitioners needed to remove designation |
|
Vermont |
84.15 % |
2 |
|
New Hampshire |
78.87 % |
14 |
|
South Carolina |
78.54 % |
189 |
|
Connecticut |
74.56 % |
73 |
|
Rhode Island |
74.29 % |
22 |
|
Louisiana |
72.45 % |
220 |
|
New Jersey |
70.18 % |
24 |
|
Alabama |
66.98 % |
239 |
|
Hawaii |
66.58 % |
58 |
|
Wisconsin |
66.00 % |
223 |
|
Utah |
65.44 % |
79 |
|
Maine |
60.06 % |
26 |
|
Tennessee |
58.76 % |
383 |
|
Massachusetts |
58.54 % |
81 |
|
Virginia |
57.53 % |
298 |
|
Minnesota |
54.39 % |
216 |
|
Wyoming |
53.77 % |
29 |
|
California |
53.62 % |
1,045 |
|
Arkansas |
53.50 % |
177 |
|
Indiana |
52.23 % |
431 |
|
Pennsylvania |
51.56 % |
91 |
|
Oregon |
51.28 % |
169 |
|
Texas |
50.98 % |
1,147 |
|
Nebraska |
49.17 % |
36 |
|
Ohio |
48.52 % |
686 |
|
North Carolina |
47.77 % |
559 |
|
Michigan |
47.50 % |
464 |
|
Idaho |
47.09 % |
85 |
|
Colorado |
46.72 % |
171 |
|
Washington |
45.41 % |
685 |
|
Illinois |
44.39 % |
597 |
|
New Mexico |
43.69 % |
182 |
|
Nevada |
43.67 % |
180 |
|
Montana |
42.26 % |
57 |
|
Arizona |
42.21 % |
776 |
|
Kansas |
41.19 % |
122 |
|
Florida |
39.55 % |
1,434 |
|
Georgia |
38.99 % |
563 |
|
West Virginia |
38.28 % |
163 |
|
North Dakota |
37.71 % |
37 |
|
Iowa |
37.21 % |
197 |
|
New York |
35.41 % |
1,036 |
|
Mississippi |
34.93 % |
303 |
|
South Dakota |
33.20 % |
59 |
|
Kentucky |
31.40 % |
388 |
|
Oklahoma |
30.66 % |
318 |
|
Maryland |
28.74 % |
284 |
|
Alaska |
26.58 % |
68 |
Click here to download the full report.
