HRSA Counties Indexed
14
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Massachusetts
46 Medically Underserved Areas and 171 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Massachusetts.
- MUAs
- 46
- Total HPSAs
- 171
- Primary care
- 64
- Mental health
- 52
- Dental
- 55
Lowest-density verdict
Relative to other states and territories, Massachusetts is in the lowest-density quarter for active designations per resident. Current HRSA Data Warehouse records show 171 designations across 14 counties; Suffolk County has the largest county count at 54; about 24.5% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 171
- Active HPSA designations
- 64
- Primary-care shortages
- 46
- Medically underserved areas
- 24.5%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Massachusetts 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.
-
37.4% of Massachusetts's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 64 primary care, 52 mental health, 55 dental (denominator 171).
-
Suffolk County holds 31.6% of Massachusetts's 171 active designations (54 of 171).
14 of 14 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
Closing Massachusetts's active designations would take about 113 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 67 primary care, 23 mental health, 24 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
HRSA state registry desk
Massachusetts designation file stamps
- HPSA-VOL
- 171
- MUA-COUNT
- 46
- PC/MH/DH
- 64/52/55
- RANK
- 54/56
- DENSITY
- LIGHT
- BOOK
- 14 counties
Lead discipline: primary-care. Photo-finish peer: Nevada (173HPSAs).
Corpus placement
Where Massachusetts sits among all 56 states and territories
Rank 54 of 56 puts Massachusetts in the corpus's lighter tier: 4% of states and territories designate more per capita. The underlying count is 171 active HPSA designations for 7,029,917 residents, or 2.4 per 100,000 against a 7.3 median.
7 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
46
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
1,725,154
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
24.5%
Discipline Mix
64 / 52 / 55 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 24.5%
Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts
13 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Suffolk (20). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Suffolk (20) , Worcester (6) , Berkshire (5) , Barnstable (4) , Bristol (3) , Essex (3) , Hampden (3) , Plymouth (3) , Dukes (2) , Franklin (2) , Middlesex (2) , Hampshire (1) , Norfolk (1) .
Primary-care HPSA counties in Massachusetts
14 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Suffolk (17). Full list: Suffolk (17) , Worcester (8) , Berkshire (7) , Essex (6) , Hampden (6) , Barnstable (4) , Bristol (4) , Dukes (3) , Franklin (3) , Middlesex (3) , Hampshire (2) , Plymouth (2) , Nantucket (1) , Norfolk (1) .
Mental-health HPSA counties in Massachusetts
13 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Suffolk (17). Full list: Suffolk (17) , Worcester (6) , Barnstable (4) , Berkshire (4) , Bristol (4) , Essex (4) , Hampden (4) , Middlesex (3) , Dukes (2) , Plymouth (2) , Franklin (1) , Hampshire (1) , Norfolk (1) .
All counties in Massachusetts, by total shortage volume
All 14Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts
Massachusetts carries 46 medically underserved designations covering 13 of the 14 Massachusetts counties on record here: 42 designated as an underserved area and 4 as an underserved population within an otherwise adequately served area. A lower Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) means greater measured need.
- 1 Med Ind - Athol-Orange Service Area 0.0
- 2 Low Inc - Central Franklin Service Area 0.0
- 3 Suffolk Service Area 36.2
- 4 Suffolk Service Area 39.4
- 5 Downtown Brockton Service Area 43.6
- 6 Berkshire Service Area 46.3
- 7 Suffolk Service Area 46.8
- 8 Suffolk Service Area 49.6
- 9 Barnstable Service Area 51.1
- 10 Suffolk Service Area 51.3
The 10 lowest-IMU designations on record for Massachusetts, from the HRSA shortage-designation file. IMU scores the service area, not any individual practice or hospital.
Lowest-density reading for Massachusetts
Relative to other states and territories, Massachusetts is in the lowest-density quarter (171 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 14 indexed counties on this page before treating today's low state rank as a settled access verdict. About 24.5% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
Nationwide states with similar HRSA shortage footprints
Two peer sets for Massachusetts: total active HPSA designations and Medically Underserved Area counts, ranked against every other state and territory.
Similar designation volume
Nearest total HPSA count (171 active here).
Similar MUA inventory
Nearest MUA count (46 here).
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Massachusetts? ▼
Massachusetts has 46 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 1,725,154 residents (24.5% 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 Massachusetts have dental HPSA designations? ▼
13 Massachusetts counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Suffolk (20), Worcester (6), Berkshire (5), Barnstable (4), Bristol (3), Essex (3), Hampden (3), Plymouth (3), Dukes (2), Franklin (2), Middlesex (2), Hampshire (1), Norfolk (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 Massachusetts'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 Massachusetts's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Suffolk 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 Massachusetts (MA) 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.