HRSA Counties Indexed
10
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in New Hampshire
17 Medically Underserved Areas and 64 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across New Hampshire.
- MUAs
- 17
- Total HPSAs
- 64
- Primary care
- 23
- Mental health
- 20
- Dental
- 21
Lower-middle density verdict
New Hampshire sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 10 counties carry 64 active shortage designations; Coos County has the largest county count at 20, while about 77.2% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 64
- Active HPSA designations
- 23
- Primary-care shortages
- 17
- Medically underserved areas
- 77.2%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for New Hampshire 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.
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Coos County holds 31.3% of New Hampshire's 64 active designations (20 of 64).
10 of 10 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
35.9% of New Hampshire's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 23 primary care, 20 mental health, 21 dental (denominator 64).
-
Closing New Hampshire's active designations would take about 19 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 9 primary care, 4.3 mental health, 6 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where New Hampshire sits among all 56 states and territories
New Hampshire carries 64 active HPSA designations for a population of 1,377,529, which is 4.6 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 42 of 56 and above 25% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
4 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
17
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
1,063,353
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
77.2%
Discipline Mix
23 / 20 / 21 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 77.2%
New Hampshire Shortage Designations by Care Type
How New Hampshire's 64 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, New Hampshire has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
New Hampshire HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
23 designations
- Dental
Dental
21 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
20 designations
New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire
7 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Coos (6). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Coos (6) , Grafton (5) , Hillsborough (3) , Carroll (2) , Merrimack (2) , Rockingham (1) , Sullivan (1) .
Primary-care HPSA counties in New Hampshire
10 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Coos (7). Full list: Coos (7) , Grafton (5) , Hillsborough (4) , Carroll (3) , Merrimack (2) , Sullivan (2) , Belknap (1) , Cheshire (1) , Rockingham (1) , Strafford (1) .
Mental-health HPSA counties in New Hampshire
7 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Coos (7). Full list: Coos (7) , Grafton (5) , Carroll (3) , Hillsborough (3) , Merrimack (2) , Belknap (1) , Rockingham (1) .
All counties in New Hampshire, by total shortage volume
All 10New Hampshire counties, ranked by active HPSA designations across primary care, mental health, and dental.
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coos | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | MUA |
| 2 | Grafton | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | MUA |
| 3 | Hillsborough | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 4 | Carroll | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | MUA |
| 5 | Merrimack | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 6 | Rockingham | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 7 | Sullivan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | MUA |
| 8 | Belknap | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | MUA |
| 9 | Cheshire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
| 10 | Strafford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
Medically Underserved Areas in New Hampshire
All 17 MUA designations in New Hampshire, lowest MUA Index first.
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| Greater Falls Service Area | 0.0 |
| Bath Governor Service Area | 0.0 |
| Bethlehem Governor Service Area | 0.0 |
| Coos Service Area | 0.0 |
| Grafton Service Area | 0.0 |
| Hillsborough Service Area | 43.2 |
| Low Inc - Franklin Service Area | 48.4 |
| Carroll Service Area | 48.7 |
| Strafford Service Area | 50.1 |
| Low Inc - Newport Service Area | 51.5 |
| Low Inc - Plymouth Service Area | 54.4 |
| Candia Service Area | 55.4 |
| LI - Keene Service Area | 57.0 |
| East Manchester | 59.3 |
| Low Inc - East Nashua Service Area | 60.7 |
| West Manchester E-Mup | 64.1 |
| Laconia | 68.5 |
Lower-middle density reading for New Hampshire
New Hampshire sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 64 active records across 10 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 77.2% of residents live in a geographic shortage county. Use the county ranking below to see which localities drive that share.
Learn More About Healthcare Shortages
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in New Hampshire? ▼
New Hampshire has 17 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 1,063,353 residents (77.2% 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 New Hampshire have dental HPSA designations? ▼
7 New Hampshire counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Coos (6), Grafton (5), Hillsborough (3), Carroll (2), Merrimack (2), Rockingham (1), Sullivan (1). Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in New Hampshire? ▼
Yes. New Hampshire has 64 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 23 in primary care, 20 in mental health, and 21 in dental care. About 77.2% of New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire'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 New Hampshire's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Coos 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 New Hampshire (NH) 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.