Medically Underserved Area Designated · below priority line

NC · Healthcare shortage profile

Davidson County, NC

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Davidson County's active designations would take about 26 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 168,930.

Active HPSAs
3
Population
168,930
Peak shortage score
16.0
MUA Index
44.8

Light-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Davidson County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 3 active HPSA designations, more than 20% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.

3
Active HPSA designations
1
Primary-care shortages
16
Peak severity score (of 26)
Top 80%
US counties by volume
C
Healthcare Access Score
56/100
Davidson County, NC

Based on HRSA primary/mental/dental shortage severity, Medically Underserved Area status, and estimated unmet provider need -- not patient outcomes, insurance access, facility quality, or wait times.

Primary care C-
16.0 of 25
Primary care shortage severity (HPSA score)
Mental health B+
16.0 of 25
Mental health shortage severity (HPSA score)
Dental B+
15.0 of 26
Dental shortage severity (HPSA score)
Underserved status F
IMU 44.8
Index of Medical Underservice (designated MUA)
Provider gap B
1.6 per 10K
Unmet provider need (HRSA-estimated) per 10,000 residents

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Davidson County, NC on its own pages , computed from the retained designation mirror as of 2026-08-15. Each line carries its own denominator so it can be quoted as it stands.

  1. Closing Davidson County's active designations would take about 26 additional clinician FTEs, with dental the largest gap.

    HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 10 primary care, 3.7 mental health, 12 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

  2. 33.3% of Davidson County's 3 active designations are primary care.

    Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 3).

  3. Peak HPSA score 16.0 sits below HRSA's 17-point high-priority line.

    Below-17 designations still count as shortages for program geography, but they do not clear the high-priority NHSC placement threshold on this release.

Davidson County's mid-pack ZIP footprint

14 Census ZCTAs intersect Davidson County, between the 9 and 15 ZIP cuts across published counties: neither a postage-stamp footprint nor a metro-scale lattice.

Largest land-share ZCTAs

6 additional ZCTAs intersect this county in the crosswalk (ordered by land share).

Source: Census ZCTA–county relationship file joined to this portal's county FIPS set. As of 2026-08-15.

Corpus placement

Designated volume without a high-priority score

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Davidson County carries 3 active designations, above 20% of real US counties. None of those scores clear HRSA's high-priority line of 17 on this release, so the page leads with severity reading rather than a national distribution chart.

State peer position. Davidson County falls in the lower half of NC counties by active-designation volume, at rank 67 of 100. Ties share a rank.

Computed from current designated HPSA rows for every five-digit county FIPS. See the placement methodology.

Healthcare shortage designations from HRSA. FIPS: 37057. Population: 168,930.

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated
MUA Index: 44.8

Active HPSA scores

Primary Care 16.0 Below priority line
Mental Health 16.0 Below priority line
Dental 15.0 Below priority line

Current designated records only. Scores range 0–25 (primary/mental health), 0–26 (dental). Higher = greater need. What counts as a high score?

Highest-severity HPSA designations

All 3 active (designated) HPSAs in Davidson County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name Type Score
LI - Davidson County primary_care 16.0
LI - Davidson County mental_health 16.0
LI - Davidson County dental 15.0

Light-burden reading for Davidson County

The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing Davidson County's active designations would take about 26 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Davidson County's shortage runs equally deep in primary care and mental health: both scored 16.0 by HRSA, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. Dental care reads 15.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 44.8, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Davidson County carries 3 active designations and sits below the national mid-pack (above 20% of counties). A light footprint still matters: a single high-score dental or mental-health record can open program geography even when the county total looks small next to heavy peers.

Davidson County falls in the lower half of NC counties by active-designation volume, at rank 67 of 100. Read the active scores and the deepest-care guide link below before collapsing this county into a "no shortage" story.

Light-volume FTE gap for Davidson County

Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 26 FTE across Davidson County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.

Counties with a matching designation count to Davidson County's 3

One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 3 - the inventory behind the ~26 FTE published need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Davidson County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
Yes - Davidson County carries an MUA designation (index 44.8; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.
Where is the largest clinician FTE gap inside Davidson County?
Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~26 FTE, with dental the largest slice (12). "LI - Davidson County" is the highest-scored active row (score 16.0; primary care; 26,727 people in the service area; ~10 FTE still needed on the record; designated 08/19/2025). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
Which named designations drive Davidson County's FTE reading?
Active names on this release include "LI - Davidson County". Discipline counts: 1 primary care, 1 mental health, 1 dental across 3 designated rows.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 37057. This county’s designations come from BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_PC.csv (primary care) , BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_MH.csv (mental health) and BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_DH.csv (dental) — download the normalized export on our open data page. PlainHealthAccess is not affiliated with HRSA or any government agency.

HRSA Data Warehouse HPSA + MUA/P records for FIPS 37057 (Davidson County, NC), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 3; peak score 16.0; signature 26 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.