Doctors per capita by state and specialty
District of Columbia has the most Medicare-enrolled physicians per 100,000 residents, 545, and Nevada the fewest, 152. The national rate is 214. Pick a specialty and a state below for its count, rate and rank, from the CMS file dated Aug 18, 2026.
By Ryan Doyle, founder of Doctor Email List. Published Oct 3, 2026.
Pulmonologists per 100,000 residents, by state
11,612 pulmonologists are enrolled in Medicare across the states and DC: 3.4 per 100,000 residents. District of Columbia has the most (7.1) and Alaska the fewest (1.2).
| Rank | State | Enrolled in Medicare | Residents | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 50 | 702,250 | 7.1 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 446 | 7,136,171 | 6.2 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 217 | 3,675,069 | 5.9 |
| 4 | Ohio | 554 | 11,883,304 | 4.7 |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 64 | 1,409,032 | 4.5 |
| 6 | Delaware | 47 | 1,051,917 | 4.5 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 579 | 13,078,751 | 4.4 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 49 | 1,112,308 | 4.4 |
| 9 | Indiana | 299 | 6,924,275 | 4.3 |
| 10 | New York | 851 | 19,867,248 | 4.3 |
| 11 | West Virginia | 75 | 1,769,979 | 4.2 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 397 | 9,500,851 | 4.2 |
| 13 | Minnesota | 241 | 5,793,151 | 4.2 |
| 14 | Iowa | 129 | 3,241,488 | 4.0 |
| 15 | Kansas | 117 | 2,970,606 | 3.9 |
| 16 | Colorado | 227 | 5,957,493 | 3.8 |
| 17 | Louisiana | 171 | 4,597,740 | 3.7 |
| 18 | Michigan | 370 | 10,140,459 | 3.6 |
| 19 | Illinois | 459 | 12,710,158 | 3.6 |
| 20 | Montana | 40 | 1,137,233 | 3.5 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 386 | 11,046,024 | 3.5 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 250 | 7,227,750 | 3.5 |
| 23 | Kentucky | 158 | 4,588,372 | 3.4 |
| 24 | Missouri | 213 | 6,245,466 | 3.4 |
| 25 | Alabama | 174 | 5,157,699 | 3.4 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | 196 | 5,960,975 | 3.3 |
| 27 | Florida | 767 | 23,372,215 | 3.3 |
| 28 | Maine | 46 | 1,405,012 | 3.3 |
| 29 | North Dakota | 26 | 796,568 | 3.3 |
| 30 | South Dakota | 30 | 924,669 | 3.2 |
| 31 | Vermont | 21 | 648,493 | 3.2 |
| 32 | Maryland | 202 | 6,263,220 | 3.2 |
| 33 | Washington | 256 | 7,958,180 | 3.2 |
| 34 | South Carolina | 172 | 5,478,831 | 3.1 |
| 35 | Virginia | 272 | 8,811,195 | 3.1 |
| 36 | Oregon | 129 | 4,272,371 | 3.0 |
| 37 | Georgia | 333 | 11,180,878 | 3.0 |
| 38 | Idaho | 59 | 2,001,619 | 2.9 |
| 39 | Mississippi | 84 | 2,943,045 | 2.9 |
| 40 | Arizona | 205 | 7,582,384 | 2.7 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | 107 | 4,095,393 | 2.6 |
| 42 | California | 1,027 | 39,431,263 | 2.6 |
| 43 | Arkansas | 80 | 3,088,354 | 2.6 |
| 44 | Nebraska | 50 | 2,005,465 | 2.5 |
| 45 | Utah | 86 | 3,503,613 | 2.5 |
| 46 | Hawaii | 35 | 1,446,146 | 2.4 |
| 47 | Texas | 737 | 31,290,831 | 2.4 |
| 48 | New Mexico | 49 | 2,130,256 | 2.3 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 13 | 587,618 | 2.2 |
| 50 | Nevada | 58 | 3,267,467 | 1.8 |
| 51 | Alaska | 9 | 740,133 | 1.2 |
| Puerto Rico | 114 | 3,203,295 | 3.6 |
Counts: CMS Doctors and Clinicians national downloadable file dated Aug 18, 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates for July 1, 2024. Rate = count divided by residents, times 100,000. Ranked among the 51 states and DC; Puerto Rico is listed last and left out of the ranking. Download every specialty and state as CSV.
Want the names? The pulmonologists list has every one of these clinicians with NPI and practice address.
Highest and lowest state for every specialty
One row per specialty, with the national rate and the states at either end. Small specialties swing widely: a state with a handful of clinicians can top or bottom the table on a count of one or two. Open a row for the full ranking.
| Specialty | Enrolled in Medicare | US per 100,000 | Highest state | Lowest state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All physicians | 727,010 | 214 | District of Columbia, 545 | Nevada, 152 |
| Nurse Practitioners | 284,601 | 83.7 | District of Columbia, 149 | California, 38.9 |
| Physician Assistants | 138,799 | 40.8 | District of Columbia, 79.5 | Mississippi, 11.0 |
| Internal Medicine Physicians | 105,057 | 30.9 | District of Columbia, 86.4 | North Dakota, 12.7 |
| Family Physicians | 97,719 | 28.7 | Alaska, 57.6 | Connecticut, 18.1 |
| Emergency Physicians | 45,892 | 13.5 | District of Columbia, 26.3 | South Dakota, 8.2 |
| Anesthesiologists | 45,137 | 13.3 | District of Columbia, 33.0 | Idaho, 5.3 |
| Chiropractors | 40,249 | 11.8 | North Dakota, 42.2 | District of Columbia, 2.3 |
| Radiologists | 37,779 | 11.1 | District of Columbia, 40.0 | Rhode Island, 3.6 |
| Optometrists | 37,218 | 10.9 | North Dakota, 21.2 | District of Columbia, 4.8 |
| OB/GYNs | 34,249 | 10.1 | District of Columbia, 29.0 | Arizona, 7.5 |
| Cardiologists | 29,565 | 8.7 | District of Columbia, 25.2 | South Dakota, 4.0 |
| Psychiatrists | 28,578 | 8.4 | District of Columbia, 24.4 | Mississippi, 3.3 |
| Orthopedic Surgeons | 25,043 | 7.4 | Alaska, 13.1 | Texas, 5.5 |
| Hospitalists | 24,160 | 7.1 | District of Columbia, 21.1 | Rhode Island, 1.0 |
| General Surgeons | 23,444 | 6.9 | District of Columbia, 20.4 | Utah, 5.2 |
| Neurologists | 18,659 | 5.5 | District of Columbia, 15.1 | Wyoming, 2.4 |
| Ophthalmologists | 18,157 | 5.3 | District of Columbia, 15.0 | Wyoming, 1.7 |
| Oncologists | 17,045 | 5.0 | District of Columbia, 16.9 | Wyoming, 2.6 |
| Podiatrists | 16,074 | 4.7 | New Jersey, 10.1 | Mississippi, 1.8 |
| Gastroenterologists | 15,844 | 4.7 | District of Columbia, 14.4 | Wyoming, 1.7 |
| Dermatologists | 13,509 | 4.0 | District of Columbia, 9.3 | Wyoming, 1.7 |
| Pathologists | 13,067 | 3.8 | District of Columbia, 12.4 | Wyoming, 0.9 |
| Pediatricians | 13,064 | 3.8 | District of Columbia, 20.2 | Nevada, 1.6 |
| Pulmonologists | 11,612 | 3.4 | District of Columbia, 7.1 | Alaska, 1.2 |
| Urologists | 10,247 | 3.0 | District of Columbia, 5.3 | Nevada, 1.5 |
| Nephrologists | 9,988 | 2.9 | District of Columbia, 7.7 | Wyoming, 1.4 |
| ENTs | 9,932 | 2.9 | District of Columbia, 6.3 | Nevada, 1.4 |
| Physiatrists | 9,199 | 2.7 | District of Columbia, 6.0 | Mississippi, 1.0 |
| Infectious Disease Physicians | 7,197 | 2.1 | District of Columbia, 6.7 | Oklahoma, 0.7 |
| Endocrinologists | 7,140 | 2.1 | District of Columbia, 5.6 | Idaho, 0.6 |
| Critical care physicians | 6,184 | 1.8 | District of Columbia, 12.7 | Rhode Island, 0.4 |
| Neurosurgeons | 5,730 | 1.7 | District of Columbia, 4.0 | Nevada, 0.7 |
| Rheumatologists | 5,475 | 1.6 | District of Columbia, 3.4 | Wyoming, 0.9 |
| General practice physicians | 4,165 | 1.2 | Florida, 5.3 | Vermont, 0.3 |
| Radiation Oncologists | 5,368 | 1.6 | District of Columbia, 5.3 | Mississippi, 0.9 |
| Plastic Surgeons | 4,721 | 1.4 | District of Columbia, 3.7 | Wyoming, 0.2 |
| Pain Management Physicians | 4,618 | 1.4 | Delaware, 2.6 | Maine, 0.5 |
| Vascular Surgeons | 4,183 | 1.2 | District of Columbia, 3.3 | Wyoming, 0.5 |
| Cardiothoracic Surgeons | 4,115 | 1.2 | District of Columbia, 4.4 | Alaska, 0.7 |
| Allergists | 3,587 | 1.1 | District of Columbia, 2.3 | Wyoming, 0.2 |
| Sports medicine physicians | 2,371 | 0.7 | Minnesota, 1.9 | Wyoming, 0.0 |
| Hospice and palliative care physicians | 2,255 | 0.7 | District of Columbia, 3.4 | Oklahoma, 0.2 |
| Geriatric medicine physicians | 2,029 | 0.6 | District of Columbia, 1.9 | North Dakota, 0.0 |
| Colorectal surgeons | 1,837 | 0.5 | District of Columbia, 1.1 | Mississippi, 0.1 |
| Sleep medicine physicians | 1,115 | 0.3 | Oregon, 0.7 | Texas, 0.1 |
| Hematologists | 1,093 | 0.3 | Minnesota, 1.3 | Wyoming, 0.0 |
| Osteopathic manipulative medicine physicians | 875 | 0.3 | Maine, 3.0 | North Dakota, 0.0 |
| Nuclear medicine physicians | 616 | 0.2 | District of Columbia, 1.0 | Wyoming, 0.0 |
| Micrographic dermatologic surgeons | 571 | 0.2 | Minnesota, 0.5 | Vermont, 0.0 |
| Addiction medicine physicians | 536 | 0.2 | Alaska, 0.7 | New Hampshire, 0.0 |
| Preventive medicine physicians | 529 | 0.2 | Minnesota, 0.5 | Wyoming, 0.0 |
How the rates are built
Counts come from the CMS Doctors and Clinicians national downloadable file dated Aug 18, 2026. The file has one row per clinician, enrollment and address. We keep one row per NPI, the primary practice location, and take the state from it. A clinician who practices in two states counts once, in the state of the location with the largest group. The specialty is the CMS primary specialty; the specialties with a list of their own combine the CMS specialties mapped to them, so “cardiologists” covers cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.
Population is the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 resident population estimate for July 1, 2024 (Census Bureau), the latest state estimate when this page was built. The rate is the count divided by residents, times 100,000. The national figure divides the count in the 51 states and DC by the Census United States total of 340,110,988; Puerto Rico and the other territories are left out of it.
The all-physicians row is every NPI whose CMS primary specialty is one where at least 90 percent of clinicians hold an MD or DO. Anyone in two such specialties counts once. It holds 727,010 clinicians in the 51 states and DC, and 732,814 once Puerto Rico and the other territories are added.
What a rate does not tell you
It counts clinicians enrolled in Medicare, so a physician who bills no Medicare patients is missing, and pediatricians are missed most of all because few children are on Medicare. It places a clinician at one address, so telehealth and visiting specialists are not spread across the states they serve. It does not adjust for age, and a state with an older population needs more physicians per resident. Read it as a map of where Medicare-enrolled clinicians practice. It says nothing about access to care.
The source file is CMS Doctors and Clinicians. Every count behind a rate is in the CSV.
Questions about these rates
District of Columbia, with 545 Medicare-enrolled physicians per 100,000 residents in the file dated Aug 18, 2026. Nevada has the fewest of the 51 states and DC, at 152. DC is one city and not a state, so some readers rank the 50 states without it.
214 physicians per 100,000 residents are enrolled in Medicare, counting 727,010 MD and DO clinicians once each against the Census count of 340,110,988 residents for July 1, 2024. The AAMC counts 1,032,365 active physicians for 2024, about 304 per 100,000 residents, which is higher because it also includes physicians who bill no Medicare patients.
The all-physicians row counts MD and DO specialties only. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors, optometrists and podiatrists have rows of their own in the specialty menu, so you can read their density next to the physicians'.
They measure something narrower. Each clinician counts once, in the state of their primary Medicare practice location, and only if they are enrolled in Medicare. Licensing boards count every license, including physicians who hold licenses in several states or no longer practice.
Yes. Each specialty with a file of its own links to it from the result: every row is a named clinician with an NPI and a practice address. The counts and rates on this page are free to reuse with a link back.