Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile

Medically Underserved Areas in Connecticut

29 Medically Underserved Areas and 117 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Connecticut.

MUAs: 29
Total HPSAs: 117
Primary care: 41
Mental health: 41
Dental: 35

Lowest-density verdict

Relative to other states and territories, Connecticut is in the lowest-density quarter for active designations per resident. Current HRSA Data Warehouse records show 117 designations across 17 counties; Capitol County has the largest county count at 32; about 5.8% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.

117
Active HPSA designations: 41
Primary-care shortages: 29
Medically underserved areas: 5.8%
Residents in a shortage county

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Connecticut 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.

Capitol County holds 27.4% of Connecticut's 117 active designations (32 of 117).

15 of 17 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
35% of Connecticut's active designations are primary care.

Discipline mix from state aggregates: 41 primary care, 41 mental health, 35 dental (denominator 117).
Closing Connecticut's active designations would take about 234 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 103 primary care, 52 mental health, 80 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.

Corpus placement

Where Connecticut sits among all 56 states and territories

Connecticut carries 117 active HPSA designations for a population of 3,611,317, which is 3.2 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 50 of 56 and above 11% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.

2 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

Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas

208,383

% Residents in Geographic Shortage

5.8%

HRSA Counties Indexed

with HPSA / MUA coverage

Discipline Mix

41 / 41 / 35 PC/MH/D

Primary care · Mental health · Dental

% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 5.8%

Connecticut 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 Connecticut

9 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Capitol (11). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Capitol (11) , Southeastern Connecticut (6) , Western Connecticut (5) , Naugatuck Valley (4) , Greater Bridgeport (3) , South Central Connecticut (3) , Lower Connecticut River Valley (2) , Northwest Hills (2) , Fairfield (1) .

Primary-care HPSA counties in Connecticut

10 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Capitol (12). Full list: Capitol (12) , Southeastern Connecticut (7) , Western Connecticut (6) , Naugatuck Valley (4) , Greater Bridgeport (3) , South Central Connecticut (3) , Lower Connecticut River Valley (2) , Northwest Hills (2) , Fairfield (1) , Northeastern Connecticut (1) .

Mental-health HPSA counties in Connecticut

14 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Capitol (9). Full list: Capitol (9) , Western Connecticut (5) , Greater Bridgeport (4) , Lower Connecticut River Valley (4) , Naugatuck Valley (4) , New Haven (4) , Southeastern Connecticut (4) , Northwest Hills (3) , South Central Connecticut (3) , Fairfield (2) , Hartford (2) , New London (2) , Tolland (1) , Windham (1) .

All counties in Connecticut, by total shortage volume

All 17Connecticut counties, ranked by active HPSA designations across primary care, mental health, and dental. On a narrow screen, this list keeps each county’s total and MUA status visible; the care-type split is available on wider screens.

#	County	Designations	Primary Care	Mental Health	Dental	MUA
1	Capitol	32	12	9	11	-
2	Southeastern Connecticut	17	7	4	6	-
3	Western Connecticut	16	6	5	5	-
4	Naugatuck Valley	12	4	4	4	-
5	Greater Bridgeport	10	3	4	3	-
6	South Central Connecticut	9	3	3	3	-
7	Lower Connecticut River Valley	8	2	4	2	-
8	Northwest Hills	7	2	3	2	-
9	Fairfield	4	1	2	1	-
10	New Haven	4	0	4	0	-
11	Hartford	2	0	2	0	-
12	New London	2	0	2	0	-
13	Northeastern Connecticut	1	1	0	0	-
14	Tolland	1	0	1	0	-
15	Windham	1	0	1	0	-
16	Litchfield	0	0	0	0	-
17	Middlesex	0	0	0	0	-

Medically Underserved Areas in Connecticut

Connecticut carries 29 medically underserved designations covering 1 of the 17 Connecticut counties on record here: 19 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 Windam Governor Service Area 0.0
2 New Haven Governor Service Area 0.0
3 Hartford Service Area 39.1
4 Low Inc - Central Torrington Service Area 41.1
5 Low Inc - N. Central New Britain Service Area 41.6
6 Hartford Service Area 46.8
7 Low Inc - S. Norwalk Service Area 46.8
8 Low Inc - West Haven Service Area 47.1
9 New London Service Area 47.7
10 Low Inc - Rockville Service Area 47.8

The 10 lowest-IMU designations on record for Connecticut, from the HRSA shortage-designation file. IMU scores the service area, not any individual practice or hospital.

Lowest-density reading for Connecticut

Relative to other states and territories, Connecticut is in the lowest-density quarter (117 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 17 indexed counties on this page before treating today's low state rank as a settled access verdict. About 5.8% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Connecticut? ▼

Connecticut has 29 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 208,383 residents (5.8% 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 Connecticut have dental HPSA designations? ▼

9 Connecticut counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Capitol (11), Southeastern Connecticut (6), Western Connecticut (5), Naugatuck Valley (4), Greater Bridgeport (3), South Central Connecticut (3), Lower Connecticut River Valley (2), Northwest Hills (2), Fairfield (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 Connecticut'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 Connecticut's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
Capitol 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.

Compiled by PlainHealthAccess, Health Shortage Data Publisher · January 1, 2026

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Verify with CMS →

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 Connecticut (CT) 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.