Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile

Medically Underserved Areas in Georgia

168 Medically Underserved Areas and 376 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Georgia.

MUAs: 168
Total HPSAs: 376
Primary care: 188
Mental health: 79
Dental: 109

Lowest-density verdict

Relative to other states and territories, Georgia is in the lowest-density quarter for active designations per resident. Current HRSA Data Warehouse records show 376 designations across 159 counties; Fulton County has the largest county count at 18; about 15.4% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.

376
Active HPSA designations: 188
Primary-care shortages: 168
Medically underserved areas: 15.4%
Residents in a shortage county

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Georgia 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.

Closing Georgia's active designations would take about 550 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 318 primary care, 102 mental health, 130 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
50% of Georgia's active designations are primary care.

Discipline mix from state aggregates: 188 primary care, 79 mental health, 109 dental (denominator 376).
Fulton County holds 4.8% of Georgia's 376 active designations (18 of 376).

146 of 159 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.

HRSA state registry desk

Georgia designation file stamps

HPSA-VOL: 376
MUA-COUNT: 168
PC/MH/DH: 188/79/109
RANK: 49/56
DENSITY: LIGHT
BOOK: 159 counties

Lead discipline: primary-care. Photo-finish peer: Tennessee (385HPSAs).

Corpus placement

Where Georgia sits among all 56 states and territories

Rank 49 of 56 puts Georgia in the corpus's lighter tier: 13% of states and territories designate more per capita. The underlying count is 376 active HPSA designations for 10,711,908 residents, or 3.5 per 100,000 against a 7.3 median.

41 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

168

Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas

1,644,691

% Residents in Geographic Shortage

15.4%

HRSA Counties Indexed

159

with HPSA / MUA coverage

Discipline Mix

188 / 79 / 109 PC/MH/D

Primary care · Mental health · Dental

% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 15.4%

Georgia 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 Georgia

77 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Fulton (6). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Fulton (6) , DeKalb (5) , Jefferson (4) , Chatham (3) , Colquitt (3) , Glynn (3) , Mitchell (3) , Stewart (3) , Crisp (2) , Dade (2) , Fannin (2) , Habersham (2) , Johnson (2) , Liberty (2) , Muscogee (2) , Peach (2) , Richmond (2) , Seminole (2) , Ware (2) , Atkinson (1) ; plus 57 more in the table below.

Primary-care HPSA counties in Georgia

119 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by DeKalb (6). Full list: DeKalb (6) , Fulton (6) , Jefferson (4) , Mitchell (4) , Tattnall (4) , Bibb (3) , Calhoun (3) , Chatham (3) , Colquitt (3) , Dodge (3) , Glynn (3) , Johnson (3) , Macon (3) , Muscogee (3) , Pulaski (3) , Stewart (3) , Ware (3) , Baldwin (2) , Chattooga (2) , Clarke (2) ; plus 99 more in the table below.

Mental-health HPSA counties in Georgia

106 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Fulton (6). Full list: Fulton (6) , DeKalb (5) , Chatham (4) , Colquitt (4) , Jefferson (4) , Glynn (3) , Mitchell (3) , Richmond (3) , Stewart (3) , Bibb (2) , Calhoun (2) , Candler (2) , Clarke (2) , Dougherty (2) , Early (2) , Emanuel (2) , Forsyth (2) , Greene (2) , Gwinnett (2) , Habersham (2) ; plus 86 more in the table below.

All counties in Georgia, by total shortage volume

The 40 counties with the most active HPSA designations, of 159 in Georgia. Columns split 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	Fulton	18	6	6	6	MUA
2	DeKalb	16	6	5	5	MUA
3	Jefferson	12	4	4	4	MUA
4	Chatham	10	3	4	3	MUA
5	Colquitt	10	3	4	3	MUA
6	Mitchell	10	4	3	3	MUA
7	Glynn	9	3	3	3	MUA
8	Stewart	9	3	3	3	MUA
9	Johnson	7	3	2	2	MUA
10	Muscogee	7	3	2	2	MUA
11	Richmond	7	2	3	2	MUA
12	Bibb	6	3	2	1	MUA
13	Calhoun	6	3	2	1	MUA
14	Habersham	6	2	2	2	MUA
15	Peach	6	2	2	2	MUA
16	Seminole	6	2	2	2	MUA
17	Tattnall	6	4	2	0	MUA
18	Ware	6	3	1	2	MUA
19	Clarke	5	2	2	1	MUA
20	Crisp	5	2	1	2	MUA
21	Dade	5	2	1	2	MUA
22	Dougherty	5	2	2	1	MUA
23	Early	5	2	2	1	MUA
24	Emanuel	5	2	2	1	MUA
25	Fannin	5	2	1	2	MUA
26	Gwinnett	5	2	2	1	MUA
27	Irwin	5	2	2	1	MUA
28	Liberty	5	1	2	2	MUA
29	Macon	5	3	1	1	MUA
30	Miller	5	2	2	1	MUA
31	Pulaski	5	3	1	1	MUA
32	Rabun	5	2	2	1	MUA
33	Wayne	5	2	2	1	MUA
34	Worth	5	2	2	1	MUA
35	Candler	4	1	2	1	MUA
36	Chattooga	4	2	1	1	MUA
37	Cobb	4	2	1	1	MUA
38	Dodge	4	3	0	1	MUA
39	Forsyth	4	1	2	1	MUA
40	Greene	4	1	2	1	MUA

Medically Underserved Areas in Georgia

Georgia carries 168 medically underserved designations covering 149 of the 159 Georgia counties on record here: 153 designated as an underserved area and 15 as an underserved population within an otherwise adequately served area. A lower Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) means greater measured need.

1 Med Ind - Southeast Gainesville Service Area 0.0
2 Gwinnett Governor 0.0
3 Quitman County 27.5
4 Calhoun County 29.6
5 Hancock County 29.7
6 Crawford County 29.9
7 Clinch County 30.6
8 Dooly County 31.2
9 Pike County 31.5
10 Wheeler County 35.6

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

Lowest-density reading for Georgia

Relative to other states and territories, Georgia is in the lowest-density quarter (376 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 159 indexed counties on this page before treating today's low state rank as a settled access verdict. About 15.4% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.

Nationwide states with similar HRSA shortage footprints

Two peer sets for Georgia: total active HPSA designations and Medically Underserved Area counts, ranked against every other state and territory.

Similar designation volume

Nearest total HPSA count (376 active here).

Tennessee 385 HPSAs · 99 MUAs Indiana 366 HPSAs · 88 MUAs Mississippi 388 HPSAs · 91 MUAs Arkansas 391 HPSAs · 92 MUAs

Similar MUA inventory

Nearest MUA count (168 here).

Illinois 176 MUAs · 731 HPSAs Pennsylvania 156 MUAs · 402 HPSAs Ohio 137 MUAs · 495 HPSAs New York 132 MUAs · 560 HPSAs

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Georgia? ▼

Georgia has 168 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 1,644,691 residents (15.4% 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 Georgia have dental HPSA designations? ▼

77 Georgia counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Fulton (6), DeKalb (5), Jefferson (4), Chatham (3), Colquitt (3), Glynn (3), Mitchell (3), Stewart (3), Crisp (2), Dade (2), Fannin (2), Habersham (2), Johnson (2), Liberty (2), Muscogee (2), Peach (2), Richmond (2), Seminole (2), Ware (2), Atkinson (1); plus 57 more on the table below. 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 Georgia'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 Georgia's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
Fulton 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 Georgia (GA) 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.