HRSA Counties Indexed
5
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Hawaii
13 Medically Underserved Areas and 99 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Hawaii.
- MUAs
- 13
- Total HPSAs
- 99
- Primary care
- 33
- Mental health
- 33
- Dental
- 33
Lower-middle density verdict
Hawaii sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 5 counties carry 99 active shortage designations; Honolulu County has the largest county count at 42, while about 100.0% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 99
- Active HPSA designations
- 33
- Primary-care shortages
- 13
- Medically underserved areas
- 100.0%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Hawaii 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.
-
Honolulu County holds 42.4% of Hawaii's 99 active designations (42 of 99).
4 of 5 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
33.3% of Hawaii's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 33 primary care, 33 mental health, 33 dental (denominator 99).
-
Closing Hawaii's active designations would take about 103 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 43 primary care, 23 mental health, 36 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
HRSA state registry desk
Hawaii designation file stamps
- HPSA-VOL
- 99
- MUA-COUNT
- 13
- PC/MH/DH
- 33/33/33
- RANK
- 29/56
- DENSITY
- MID-LOW
- BOOK
- 5 counties
Lead discipline: primary-care. Photo-finish peer: Wyoming (97HPSAs).
Corpus placement
Where Hawaii sits among all 56 states and territories
At 6.8 designations per 100,000 residents, built from 99 active HPSA records over 1,455,271 people, Hawaii lands at rank 29 of 56, trailing the 7.3 median but still ahead of 48% of the field.
6 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
13
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
1,455,189
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
100.0%
Discipline Mix
33 / 33 / 33 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 100.0%
Hawaii Shortage Designations by Care Type
How Hawaii's 99 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Hawaii has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
Hawaii HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
33 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
33 designations
- Dental
Dental
33 designations
Hawaii 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 Hawaii
4 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Honolulu (14). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Honolulu (14) , Hawaii (10) , Maui (7) , Kauai (2) .
All counties in Hawaii, by total shortage volume
All 5Hawaii 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.
Medically Underserved Areas in Hawaii
All 13 MUA designations in Hawaii, lowest MUA Index first.
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| Low-Income Kauai County | 0.0 |
| Honolulu Governor Service Area | 0.0 |
| Pov - Kalihi-Palama Service Area | 0.0 |
| Hana Haiku Service Area | 0.0 |
| Waikiki Service Area | 0.0 |
| Honolulu Service Area | 55.3 |
| Koolau Loa Service Area | 56.8 |
| Low Inc - Maui Service Area | 57.4 |
| Honolulu Service Area | 59.0 |
| Low Inc - Island Of Lanai | 59.6 |
| Low Inc - Hawaii County | 61.2 |
| Molokai | 61.3 |
| Medicaid Eligible - Wahiawa East | 64.1 |
Lower-middle density reading for Hawaii
Hawaii sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 99 active records across 5 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 100.0% of residents live in a geographic shortage county. Use the county ranking below to see which localities drive that share.
Nationwide states with similar HRSA shortage footprints
Two peer sets for Hawaii: total active HPSA designations and Medically Underserved Area counts, ranked against every other state and territory.
Similar designation volume
Nearest total HPSA count (99 active here).
Similar MUA inventory
Nearest MUA count (13 here).
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Hawaii? ▼
Hawaii has 13 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 1,455,189 residents (100.0% 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 Hawaii have dental HPSA designations? ▼
4 Hawaii counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Honolulu (14), Hawaii (10), Maui (7), Kauai (2). Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in Hawaii? ▼
Yes. Hawaii has 99 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 33 in primary care, 33 in mental health, and 33 in dental care. About 100.0% of Hawaii 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 Hawaii'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 Hawaii's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Honolulu 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 Hawaii (HI) 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.