HRSA Counties Indexed
58
with HPSA / MUA coverage
State healthcare shortage profile
California Healthcare Shortage Areas
1,623 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations and 214 Medically Underserved Areas across California.
- Total HPSAs
- 1,623
- Primary care
- 559
- Mental health
- 518
- Dental
- 546
Lowest-density verdict
Relative to other states and territories, California is in the lowest-density quarter for active designations per resident. Current HRSA Data Warehouse records show 1,623 designations across 58 counties; Los Angeles County has the largest county count at 271; about 58.6% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 1,623
- Active HPSA designations
- 559
- Primary-care shortages
- 214
- Medically underserved areas
- 58.6%
- Residents in a shortage county
Corpus placement
Where California sits among all 56 states and territories
California carries 1,623 active HPSA designations for a population of 39,538,223, which is 4.1 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 45 of 56 and above 20% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
81 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
214
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
23,154,916
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
58.6%
Discipline Mix
559 / 518 / 546 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 58.6%
Counties in California, by shortage volume
The 40 counties with the most active HPSA designations, of 58 in California. Counts are live designated-HPSA records by care type (primary care, mental health, dental).
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 271 | 96 | 85 | 90 | MUA |
| 2 | Fresno | 96 | 33 | 31 | 32 | MUA |
| 3 | San Diego | 75 | 25 | 23 | 27 | MUA |
| 4 | Kern | 74 | 27 | 22 | 25 | MUA |
| 5 | San Bernardino | 63 | 22 | 20 | 21 | MUA |
| 6 | Orange | 57 | 20 | 18 | 19 | MUA |
| 7 | Tulare | 55 | 20 | 17 | 18 | MUA |
| 8 | Mendocino | 47 | 15 | 14 | 18 | MUA |
| 9 | Riverside | 45 | 15 | 14 | 16 | MUA |
| 10 | Tehama | 44 | 16 | 13 | 15 | MUA |
| 11 | Lake | 40 | 13 | 13 | 14 | MUA |
| 12 | Shasta | 40 | 13 | 11 | 16 | MUA |
| 13 | Alameda | 39 | 13 | 13 | 13 | MUA |
| 14 | Santa Clara | 39 | 13 | 13 | 13 | MUA |
| 15 | Kings | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | MUA |
| 16 | Siskiyou | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | MUA |
| 17 | Tuolumne | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | MUA |
| 18 | Monterey | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | MUA |
| 19 | Santa Barbara | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | MUA |
| 20 | San Francisco | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | MUA |
| 21 | Butte | 23 | 9 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 22 | Humboldt | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | MUA |
| 23 | Plumas | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 24 | Sacramento | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | MUA |
| 25 | Imperial | 21 | 9 | 7 | 5 | MUA |
| 26 | Sonoma | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | MUA |
| 27 | Merced | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | MUA |
| 28 | El Dorado | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | MUA |
| 29 | Del Norte | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | MUA |
| 30 | Trinity | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | MUA |
| 31 | Lassen | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | MUA |
| 32 | Modoc | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | MUA |
| 33 | Madera | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | MUA |
| 34 | San Benito | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 35 | San Joaquin | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
| 36 | Yolo | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | MUA |
| 37 | Stanislaus | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | MUA |
| 38 | Calaveras | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - |
| 39 | Mariposa | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | MUA |
| 40 | Yuba | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | MUA |
Lowest-density reading for California
Relative to other states and territories, California is in the lowest-density quarter (1,623 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 58 indexed counties on this page before treating today's low state rank as a settled access verdict. About 58.6% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there doctor shortages in California? ▼
Yes. California has 1,623 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 559 in primary care, 518 in mental health, and 546 in dental care. About 58.6% of California 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.
What are HPSAs? ▼
Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are federal designations by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) identifying communities with insufficient healthcare providers. HPSAs are categorized into three types: primary care, mental health, and dental. In California, there are 1,623 designated HPSAs and 214 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs).
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse HRSA Data Warehouse Not affiliated with HRSA
Choose the next comparison
Use California'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 California's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Los Angeles 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 California (CA) 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.