Medically Underserved Area Mono-discipline · dental care

PA · Healthcare shortage profile

Lawrence County, PA

Home to 86,070 residents, with 1 active HRSA shortage designation.

Active HPSAs
1
Population
86,070
Peak shortage score
14.0
MUA Index
61.2
PA state overview → About this data

Light-burden verdict

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Lawrence County carries a comparatively light shortage burden - 1 active HPSA designation, more than 2% of the 3,289 real US counties, with dental the deepest gap.

1
Active HPSA designations
1
Dental shortages
14
Peak severity score (of 26)
Top 98%
US counties by volume

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Lawrence County, PA 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. 100% of Lawrence County's 1 active designations are dental.

    Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 0 primary care, 0 mental health, 1 dental (denominator 1).

  2. Closing Lawrence County's active designations would take about 3.5 additional clinician FTEs, with dental the largest gap.

    HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 3.5 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.

  3. Peak HPSA score 14.0 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.

Corpus placement

Designated volume without a high-priority score

According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, Lawrence County carries 1 active designation, above 2% 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. Lawrence County falls in the lower half of PA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 53 of 67. 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: 42073. Population: 86,070.

Medically Underserved Area

MUA Designated
MUA Index: 61.2

Active HPSA scores

Dental 14.0

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

Highest-severity HPSA designations

All 1 active (designated) HPSAs in Lawrence County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.

Name Type Score
LI - Lawrence County dental 14.0

Light-burden reading for Lawrence County

Dental care carries Lawrence County's deepest shortage reading, 14.0 on HRSA's 0–26 dental scale, still short of the 17-point priority line, though the designation itself is formal. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 61.2, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.

Lawrence County carries 1 active designation and sits below the national mid-pack (above 2% 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.

Lawrence County falls in the lower half of PA counties by active-designation volume, at rank 53 of 67. Read the active scores and the deepest-care guide link below before collapsing this county into a "no shortage" story.

Nationwide counties with similar HRSA profiles

Two peer sets for Lawrence County: active designation volume and primary-care HPSA score, ranked across the national county corpus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lawrence County a Medically Underserved Area?

Yes, Lawrence County is designated as a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) by HRSA. The MUA Index for this county is 61.2. MUA designation qualifies the area for enhanced federal funding and provider incentive programs.

How many healthcare shortage areas does Lawrence County have?

Lawrence County, PA has 1 Health Professional Shortage Area designation: 0 in primary care, 0 in mental health, and 1 in dental care, according to HRSA data.

What does Lawrence County's HPSA score of 14.0 mean?

14.0 in dental care falls under 17, so the shortage is formally designated but outside HRSA's high-priority tier.

Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 42073. This county’s designations come from 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.