HRSA Counties Indexed
20
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in New Jersey
42 Medically Underserved Areas and 127 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across New Jersey.
- MUAs
- 42
- Total HPSAs
- 127
- Primary care
- 45
- Mental health
- 43
- Dental
- 39
Lowest-density verdict
Relative to other states and territories, New Jersey is in the lowest-density quarter for active designations per resident. Current HRSA Data Warehouse records show 127 designations across 20 counties; Essex County has the largest county count at 20; about 45.4% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 127
- Active HPSA designations
- 45
- Primary-care shortages
- 42
- Medically underserved areas
- 45.4%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for New Jersey 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.
-
Essex County holds 15.7% of New Jersey's 127 active designations (20 of 127).
19 of 20 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
35.4% of New Jersey's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 45 primary care, 43 mental health, 39 dental (denominator 127).
-
Closing New Jersey's active designations would take about 114 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 41 primary care, 38 mental health, 35 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where New Jersey sits among all 56 states and territories
New Jersey carries 127 active HPSA designations for a population of 8,333,262, which is 1.5 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 56 of 56 and above 0% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
15 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
42
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
3,785,277
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
45.4%
Discipline Mix
45 / 43 / 39 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 45.4%
New Jersey 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 New Jersey
16 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Cumberland (6). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Cumberland (6) , Essex (6) , Burlington (3) , Camden (3) , Hudson (3) , Mercer (3) , Middlesex (3) , Hunterdon (2) , Monmouth (2) , Ocean (2) , Atlantic (1) , Morris (1) , Passaic (1) , Somerset (1) , Union (1) , Warren (1) .
Primary-care HPSA counties in New Jersey
18 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Essex (8). Full list: Essex (8) , Cumberland (6) , Burlington (4) , Camden (3) , Hudson (3) , Middlesex (3) , Ocean (3) , Hunterdon (2) , Mercer (2) , Monmouth (2) , Union (2) , Atlantic (1) , Cape May (1) , Morris (1) , Passaic (1) , Salem (1) , Somerset (1) , Warren (1) .
Mental-health HPSA counties in New Jersey
19 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Cumberland (6). Full list: Cumberland (6) , Essex (6) , Camden (4) , Middlesex (4) , Burlington (3) , Hudson (3) , Mercer (2) , Monmouth (2) , Morris (2) , Ocean (2) , Union (2) , Atlantic (1) , Cape May (1) , Hunterdon (1) , Passaic (1) , Salem (1) , Somerset (1) , Sussex (1) , Warren (1) .
All counties in New Jersey, by total shortage volume
All 20New Jersey counties, ranked by active HPSA designations across primary care, mental health, and dental.
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essex | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | MUA |
| 2 | Cumberland | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | MUA |
| 3 | Burlington | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 4 | Camden | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | MUA |
| 5 | Middlesex | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | MUA |
| 6 | Hudson | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 7 | Mercer | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | MUA |
| 8 | Ocean | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 9 | Monmouth | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 10 | Hunterdon | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | MUA |
| 11 | Union | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | MUA |
| 12 | Morris | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | MUA |
| 13 | Atlantic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 14 | Passaic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 15 | Somerset | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 16 | Warren | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 17 | Cape May | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | MUA |
| 18 | Salem | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | MUA |
| 19 | Sussex | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | MUA |
| 20 | Gloucester | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
Medically Underserved Areas in New Jersey
New Jersey carries 42 medically underserved designations covering 20 of the 20 New Jersey counties on record here: 32 designated as an underserved area and 10 as an underserved population within an otherwise adequately served area. A lower Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) means greater measured need.
- 1 Low Inc - Deerfield/millville 0.0
- 2 Low Inc - Orange 0.0
- 3 Low Inc - Pemberton/browns Mill 0.0
- 4 Low Inc - City Of Perth Amboy 0.0
- 5 Low Inc - Irvington Service Area 39.7
- 6 Mercer Service Area 43.8
- 7 Low Inc - Central Long Branch Service Area 44.7
- 8 Camden Service Area 48.4
- 9 Passaic Service Area 50.1
- 10 Essex Service Area 51.0
The 10 lowest-IMU designations on record for New Jersey, from the HRSA shortage-designation file. IMU scores the service area, not any individual practice or hospital.
Lowest-density reading for New Jersey
Relative to other states and territories, New Jersey is in the lowest-density quarter (127 active designations). A low state total is not evidence that local access is adequate everywhere: facility and population-group designations can still open NHSC or FQHC geography inside individual counties.
Inspect the 20 indexed counties on this page before treating today's low state rank as a settled access verdict. About 45.4% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in New Jersey? ▼
New Jersey has 42 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 3,785,277 residents (45.4% 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 New Jersey have dental HPSA designations? ▼
16 New Jersey counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Cumberland (6), Essex (6), Burlington (3), Camden (3), Hudson (3), Mercer (3), Middlesex (3), Hunterdon (2), Monmouth (2), Ocean (2), Atlantic (1), Morris (1), Passaic (1), Somerset (1), Union (1), Warren (1). Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse Not affiliated with HRSA
Choose the next comparison
Use New Jersey'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 New Jersey's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Essex 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 New Jersey (NJ) 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.