Doctors in South Dakota: 1,882 enrolled in Medicare
South Dakota has 1,882 MD and DO clinicians enrolled in Medicare in the CMS file dated Aug 18, 2026: 204 per 100,000 residents, 31st of 51 (the states and DC), against 214 for the US. The most are in Sioux Falls, 749 in our physician files. Per capita South Dakota is strongest in optometrists (2nd, 20.8 per 100,000), pediatricians (2nd, 7.4 per 100,000) and chiropractors (3rd, 37.0 per 100,000).
By Ryan Doyle, founder of Doctor Email List. Published Oct 5, 2026.
South Dakota physicians by specialty
Every specialty with at least one clinician in South Dakota, largest first. Rank is among the states and DC (51 in all) by clinicians per 100,000 residents. Where we have a state page or a list for the specialty, the name links to it.
| Specialty | South Dakota | Per 100,000 | Rank | US per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Practitioners | 1,110 | 120 | 6th | 83.7 |
| Physician Assistants | 547 | 59.2 | 15th | 40.8 |
| Family Physicians | 396 | 42.8 | 6th | 28.7 |
| Chiropractors | 342 | 37.0 | 3rd | 11.8 |
| Optometrists | 192 | 20.8 | 2nd | 10.9 |
| Internal Medicine Physicians | 187 | 20.2 | 42nd | 30.9 |
| Hospitalists | 102 | 11.0 | 7th | 7.1 |
| Orthopedic Surgeons | 98 | 10.6 | 9th | 7.4 |
| OB/GYNs | 96 | 10.4 | 22nd | 10.1 |
| Radiologists | 93 | 10.1 | 32nd | 11.1 |
| Anesthesiologists | 86 | 9.3 | 46th | 13.3 |
| General Surgeons | 78 | 8.4 | 14th | 6.9 |
| Emergency Physicians | 76 | 8.2 | 51st | 13.5 |
| Pediatricians | 68 | 7.4 | 2nd | 3.8 |
| Psychiatrists | 63 | 6.8 | 32nd | 8.4 |
| Neurologists | 56 | 6.1 | 17th | 5.5 |
| Dermatologists | 44 | 4.8 | 9th | 4.0 |
| Oncologists | 41 | 4.4 | 31st | 5.0 |
| Cardiologists | 37 | 4.0 | 51st | 8.7 |
| Gastroenterologists | 36 | 3.9 | 31st | 4.7 |
| Podiatrists | 35 | 3.8 | 25th | 4.7 |
| ENTs | 35 | 3.8 | 6th | 2.9 |
| Ophthalmologists | 33 | 3.6 | 48th | 5.3 |
| Pulmonologists | 30 | 3.2 | 30th | 3.4 |
| Urologists | 29 | 3.1 | 22nd | 3.0 |
| Pathologists | 26 | 2.8 | 44th | 3.8 |
| Physiatrists | 22 | 2.4 | 24th | 2.7 |
| Endocrinologists | 19 | 2.1 | 18th | 2.1 |
| Neurosurgeons | 19 | 2.1 | 11th | 1.7 |
| Rheumatologists | 18 | 1.9 | 12th | 1.6 |
| Infectious Disease Physicians | 17 | 1.8 | 31st | 2.1 |
| Radiation Oncologists | 16 | 1.7 | 17th | 1.6 |
| Nephrologists | 13 | 1.4 | 50th | 2.9 |
| Plastic Surgeons | 12 | 1.3 | 23rd | 1.4 |
| Hospice and palliative care physicians | 12 | 1.3 | 6th | 0.7 |
| General practice physicians | 11 | 1.2 | 10th | 1.2 |
| Critical care physicians | 10 | 1.1 | 41st | 1.8 |
| Allergists | 9 | 1.0 | 21st | 1.1 |
| Vascular Surgeons | 8 | 0.9 | 45th | 1.2 |
| Cardiothoracic Surgeons | 8 | 0.9 | 46th | 1.2 |
| Sports medicine physicians | 8 | 0.9 | 12th | 0.7 |
| Pain Management Physicians | 7 | 0.8 | 48th | 1.4 |
| Sleep medicine physicians | 2 | 0.2 | 38th | 0.3 |
| Nuclear medicine physicians | 2 | 0.2 | 12th | 0.2 |
| Geriatric medicine physicians | 1 | 0.1 | 50th | 0.6 |
| Colorectal surgeons | 1 | 0.1 | 50th | 0.5 |
| Osteopathic manipulative medicine physicians | 1 | 0.1 | 42nd | 0.3 |
| Micrographic dermatologic surgeons | 1 | 0.1 | 39th | 0.2 |
| Addiction medicine physicians | 1 | 0.1 | 32nd | 0.2 |
| Preventive medicine physicians | 1 | 0.1 | 33rd | 0.2 |
Counts are one row per NPI under the clinician's primary Medicare specialty, from the CMS file dated Aug 18, 2026. Rates use the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate for South Dakota. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors and optometrists have their own files and are not in the MD and DO total. South Dakota ranks lowest per capita in emergency physicians (51st, 8.2 per 100,000).
Where South Dakota physicians practice
In the 1,781 clinicians South Dakota has across the physician specialty files we sell, counted once each, 34% are women and 12% offer telehealth. The median graduation year is 2007. These are the cities with the most of them.
| City | Clinicians | Share of South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 749 | 42% |
| Rapid City | 391 | 22% |
| Brookings | 87 | 4.9% |
| Aberdeen | 65 | 3.6% |
| Yankton | 61 | 3.4% |
Largest practice groups in South Dakota
Groups ranked by the number of South Dakota clinicians the CMS file lists under them. 85% of South Dakota physicians with a group on file are in a group of 50 or more listed clinicians, against 80% across the US.
| Practice or health system, as CMS prints it | South Dakota clinicians listed |
|---|---|
| Avera McKennan | 329 |
| Sanford Medical Center | 290 |
| Monument Health Rapid City Hospital Inc | 215 |
| Monument Health Network Inc | 61 |
| Avera St Lukes | 55 |
A health system can appear under more than one legal name, so a group here may be part of a larger one.
Questions about South Dakota doctors
1,882 MD and DO clinicians in South Dakota are enrolled in Medicare in the CMS file dated Aug 18, 2026, one per NPI, in the state of their main practice location. That is 204 per 100,000 residents, 31st of 51 among the states and DC. Physicians who bill no Medicare patients are not in the file.
Nurse Practitioners are the largest group in South Dakota, with 1,110, then physician assistants with 547. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are counted in their own files and are not in the MD and DO total.
We sell national lists, one CSV per specialty for $295, or every specialty in one file for $995. We don't sell a state-only file. City, state and ZIP are on nearly every row, so keeping the South Dakota rows is one filter in any spreadsheet.
States with a similar count per capita
Specialty email lists
National CSVs, one per specialty. City, state and ZIP are on the rows, so any state is one filter away.