HRSA Counties Indexed
102
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Illinois
176 Medically Underserved Areas and 731 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Illinois.
- MUAs
- 176
- Total HPSAs
- 731
- Primary care
- 296
- Mental health
- 185
- Dental
- 250
Lower-middle density verdict
Illinois sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 102 counties carry 731 active shortage designations; Cook County has the largest county count at 154, while about 49.8% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 731
- Active HPSA designations
- 296
- Primary-care shortages
- 176
- Medically underserved areas
- 49.8%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Illinois on its own pages , computed from the retained designation mirror as of 2026-08-03. Each line carries its own denominator so it can be quoted as it stands.
-
Cook County holds 21.1% of Illinois's 731 active designations (154 of 731).
102 of 102 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
40.5% of Illinois's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 296 primary care, 185 mental health, 250 dental (denominator 731).
-
Closing Illinois's active designations would take about 918 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 532 primary care, 143 mental health, 243 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where Illinois sits among all 56 states and territories
Illinois carries 731 active HPSA designations for a population of 12,812,508, which is 5.7 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 33 of 56 and above 41% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
42 of those are county-wide geographic designations; the remainder are facility-, population- or clinic-based, which is why the county map and the designation count answer different questions.
Designation density tracks rural geography as much as unmet need: AK records 134.7 designations per 100,000 residents and NJ 1.5, because a sparsely-settled state accumulates more separate designations to cover the same population. Designations also overlap, so this counts designations, not people. Counted as distinct HRSA designation IDs, the same unit as the totals above. Computed from the designation records and county populations behind this page; states without county population data are given no placement rather than an estimated one.
Medically Underserved Areas
176
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
6,386,526
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
49.8%
Discipline Mix
296 / 185 / 250 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 49.8%
Illinois Shortage Designations by Care Type
How Illinois's 731 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Illinois has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
Illinois HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
296 designations
- Dental
Dental
250 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
185 designations
Illinois HPSA Counties by Care Type
County lists for the three HRSA shortage disciplines searchers ask for by name (dental, primary care, mental health). Counts are live designated-HPSA records in this release, not provider headcounts.
Dental HPSA counties in Illinois
85 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Cook (42). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Cook (42) , Adams (7) , Greene (7) , Hancock (7) , Iroquois (7) , Williamson (7) , Knox (6) , Clay (5) , Crawford (5) , Pike (5) , Saline (5) , Vermilion (5) , Woodford (5) , Brown (4) , Franklin (4) , Jackson (4) , Jersey (4) , La Salle (4) , Lawrence (4) , Massac (4) ; plus 65 more in the table below.
Primary-care HPSA counties in Illinois
93 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Cook (74). Full list: Cook (74) , Adams (7) , Greene (7) , Hancock (7) , Iroquois (7) , Williamson (7) , Knox (6) , Clay (5) , Crawford (5) , Pike (5) , Saline (5) , Vermilion (5) , Woodford (5) , Brown (4) , Franklin (4) , Jackson (4) , Jersey (4) , La Salle (4) , Lawrence (4) , Massac (4) ; plus 73 more in the table below.
Mental-health HPSA counties in Illinois
102 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Cook (38). Full list: Cook (38) , Adams (7) , Greene (7) , Hancock (7) , Iroquois (7) , Williamson (7) , Knox (6) , Clay (5) , Crawford (5) , Jersey (5) , Pike (5) , Randolph (5) , Saline (5) , Vermilion (5) , Woodford (5) , Brown (4) , Franklin (4) , Jackson (4) , La Salle (4) , Lawrence (4) ; plus 82 more in the table below.
All counties in Illinois, by total shortage volume
The 40 counties with the most active HPSA designations, of 102 in Illinois. Columns split primary care, mental health, and dental.
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cook | 154 | 74 | 38 | 42 | MUA |
| 2 | Adams | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 3 | Greene | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 4 | Hancock | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 5 | Iroquois | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 6 | Williamson | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 7 | Knox | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | MUA |
| 8 | Clay | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 9 | Crawford | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | - |
| 10 | Pike | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 11 | Saline | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 12 | Vermilion | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 13 | Woodford | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | - |
| 14 | Jersey | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | MUA |
| 15 | Brown | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 16 | Franklin | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 17 | Jackson | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 18 | La Salle | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | - |
| 19 | Lawrence | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 20 | Massac | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 21 | Randolph | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | - |
| 22 | Bond | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 23 | Cass | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 24 | Hamilton | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 25 | Peoria | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 26 | Perry | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 27 | Sangamon | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | MUA |
| 28 | Union | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 29 | Warren | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 30 | White | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 31 | Whiteside | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 32 | Clinton | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | MUA |
| 33 | Livingston | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | MUA |
| 34 | Will | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | MUA |
| 35 | Bureau | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 36 | Calhoun | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 37 | Carroll | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 38 | Champaign | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 39 | Clark | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 40 | De Witt | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
Medically Underserved Areas in Illinois
Showing 30 of 176 MUA designations (lowest MUA Index first, i.e. most underserved).
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| Hisp Low-inc Pop- West Chicago | 0.0 |
| Hisp Low-inc Pop- Addison / Bensenville | 0.0 |
| Pov Pop - Woodstock | 0.0 |
| Low Inc - Bolingbrook | 0.0 |
| Highland Park/highwood Service Area | 0.0 |
| Okawville Service Area | 0.0 |
| DuBois Service Area | 0.0 |
| Roseville Service Area | 0.0 |
| Waverly Prec - County | 0.0 |
| Tunbridge Service Area | 0.0 |
| Creek Service Area | 0.0 |
| Low Inc - Zion Service Area | 0.0 |
| Low Inc - Waukegan Service Area | 0.0 |
| Low Inc - Alton/Wood River Service Area | 0.0 |
| Mercer Governor | 0.0 |
| Communities Asian-American Population | 0.0 |
| Low Inc - Champaign Service Area | 0.0 |
| Pulaski County | 25.1 |
| Cook Service Area | 35.1 |
| Broown County | 36.1 |
| Cook Service Area | 36.7 |
| Pope County | 36.9 |
| Cook Service Area | 43.3 |
| Chicago Heights/Ford Heights Service Area | 45.0 |
| Harvey/Phoenix Service Area | 45.2 |
| Jackson County | 45.7 |
| Robbins Service Area | 46.7 |
| Roseland Service Area | 46.9 |
| Alexander County MUA | 47.0 |
| Pembroke Service Area | 47.3 |
Lower-middle density reading for Illinois
Illinois sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 731 active records across 102 counties. A moderate footprint still matters: a single high-score dental or mental-health record can open program geography even when the state total looks small next to denser peers.
About 49.8% of residents live in a geographic shortage county. Use the county ranking below to see which localities drive that share.
Learn More About Healthcare Shortages
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Illinois? ▼
Illinois has 176 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 6,386,526 residents (49.8% of the state) live in a county with a geographic HRSA shortage designation. MUA-designated areas qualify for enhanced federal funding and Community Health Center grants.
Which counties in Illinois have dental HPSA designations? ▼
85 Illinois counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Cook (42), Adams (7), Greene (7), Hancock (7), Iroquois (7), Williamson (7), Knox (6), Clay (5), Crawford (5), Pike (5), Saline (5), Vermilion (5), Woodford (5), Brown (4), Franklin (4), Jackson (4), Jersey (4), La Salle (4), Lawrence (4), Massac (4); plus 65 more on the table below. Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in Illinois? ▼
Yes. Illinois has 731 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 296 in primary care, 185 in mental health, and 250 in dental care. About 49.8% of Illinois residents live in a county that HRSA has designated as a geographic (whole-community) shortage area; additional residents are covered by population-group and facility designations counted separately.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse Not affiliated with HRSA
Choose the next comparison
Use Illinois's designation totals as a starting point, then move to the comparison that answers the next decision without treating a shortage designation as a personal care outcome.
- Compare Illinois's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Cook County has the most active HPSA designations in this state profile. Open its county record to inspect the local primary-care, mental-health, and dental breakdown. Open county profile
- Use the national statistics reference for the source vintage, aggregate context, and methodology behind these state-level figures. Read national context
HRSA designations describe structural provider-shortage criteria and federal-program eligibility. They do not measure appointment availability, insurance coverage, care quality, or an individual patient’s access to care.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →
Every figure on PlainHealthAccess is rendered directly from HRSA source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every county-level HPSA and MUA designation on record for Illinois (IL) and ranks the state's per-capita designation density among all states and territories. Designations describe federal shortage criteria, not appointment availability or care quality for any person. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, review the public data changelog, or report a data issue for this page. Data current as of 2026.