Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile

Medically Underserved Areas in Puerto Rico

72 Medically Underserved Areas and 215 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Puerto Rico.

MUAs: 72
Total HPSAs: 215
Primary care: 42
Mental health: 74
Dental: 99

Lower-middle density verdict

Puerto Rico sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 78 counties carry 215 active shortage designations; San Juan County has the largest county count at 8, while about 0.3% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.

215
Active HPSA designations: 42
Primary-care shortages: 72
Medically underserved areas: 0.3%
Residents in a shortage county

Key findings

What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Puerto Rico 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.

San Juan County holds 3.7% of Puerto Rico's 215 active designations (8 of 215).

77 of 78 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
46% of Puerto Rico's active designations are dental.

Discipline mix from state aggregates: 42 primary care, 74 mental health, 99 dental (denominator 215).
Closing Puerto Rico's active designations would take about 506 additional clinician FTEs, led by dental.

HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 137 primary care, 71 mental health, 298 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.

Corpus placement

Where Puerto Rico sits among all 56 states and territories

Puerto Rico carries 215 active HPSA designations for a population of 3,285,874, which is 6.5 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 30 of 56 and above 46% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.

1 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

8,249

% Residents in Geographic Shortage

0.3%

HRSA Counties Indexed

with HPSA / MUA coverage

Discipline Mix

42 / 74 / 99 PC/MH/D

Primary care · Mental health · Dental

% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 0.3%

Puerto Rico Shortage Designations by Care Type

How Puerto Rico's 215 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Puerto Rico has not adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.

Dental

99
Mental health

74
Primary care

42

Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico

77 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Caguas (3). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Caguas (3) , San Juan (3) , Adjuntas (2) , Arroyo (2) , Barceloneta (2) , Bayamon (2) , Camuy (2) , Canovanas (2) , Ciales (2) , Cidra (2) , Florida (2) , Guaynabo (2) , Hatillo (2) , Lares (2) , Mayaguez (2) , Morovis (2) , Naranjito (2) , Patillas (2) , Ponce (2) , Rincon (2) ; plus 57 more in the table below.

Primary-care HPSA counties in Puerto Rico

37 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by San Juan (3). Full list: San Juan (3) , Arroyo (2) , Caguas (2) , Patillas (2) , Adjuntas (1) , Aguas Buenas (1) , Barceloneta (1) , Bayamon (1) , Camuy (1) , Canovanas (1) , Catano (1) , Ciales (1) , Cidra (1) , Culebra (1) , Florida (1) , Guaynabo (1) , Hatillo (1) , Jayuya (1) , Lares (1) , Las Marias (1) ; plus 17 more in the table below.

Mental-health HPSA counties in Puerto Rico

63 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Adjuntas (2). Full list: Adjuntas (2) , Arroyo (2) , Caguas (2) , Camuy (2) , Ciales (2) , Florida (2) , Hatillo (2) , Lares (2) , Patillas (2) , Rincon (2) , San Juan (2) , Aguada (1) , Aguadilla (1) , Aguas Buenas (1) , Aibonito (1) , Anasco (1) , Arecibo (1) , Barceloneta (1) , Barranquitas (1) , Bayamon (1) ; plus 43 more in the table below.

All counties in Puerto Rico, by total shortage volume

The 40 counties with the most active HPSA designations, of 78 in Puerto Rico. 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	San Juan	8	3	2	3	MUA
2	Caguas	7	2	2	3	MUA
3	Arroyo	6	2	2	2	MUA
4	Patillas	6	2	2	2	MUA
5	Adjuntas	5	1	2	2	MUA
6	Camuy	5	1	2	2	MUA
7	Ciales	5	1	2	2	MUA
8	Florida	5	1	2	2	MUA
9	Hatillo	5	1	2	2	MUA
10	Lares	5	1	2	2	MUA
11	Rincon	5	1	2	2	MUA
12	Barceloneta	4	1	1	2	MUA
13	Bayamon	4	1	1	2	MUA
14	Canovanas	4	1	1	2	MUA
15	Cidra	4	1	1	2	MUA
16	Guaynabo	4	1	1	2	-
17	Mayaguez	4	1	1	2	MUA
18	Morovis	4	1	1	2	-
19	Naranjito	4	1	1	2	MUA
20	Ponce	4	1	1	2	MUA
21	Aguas Buenas	3	1	1	1	MUA
22	Jayuya	3	1	1	1	MUA
23	Las Marias	3	1	1	1	MUA
24	Loiza	3	1	1	1	MUA
25	Luquillo	3	1	1	1	MUA
26	Maricao	3	1	1	1	MUA
27	Maunabo	3	1	1	1	MUA
28	Moca	3	1	1	1	MUA
29	Naguabo	3	1	1	1	MUA
30	Orocovis	3	1	1	1	MUA
31	Santa Isabel	3	1	1	1	MUA
32	Vieques	3	1	1	1	MUA
33	Villalba	3	1	1	1	MUA
34	Aguada	2	0	1	1	MUA
35	Aguadilla	2	0	1	1	MUA
36	Aibonito	2	0	1	1	MUA
37	Anasco	2	0	1	1	MUA
38	Arecibo	2	0	1	1	MUA
39	Barranquitas	2	0	1	1	MUA
40	Cabo Rojo	2	0	1	1	MUA

Medically Underserved Areas in Puerto Rico

Showing 30 of 72 MUA designations (lowest MUA Index first, i.e. most underserved).

Name	Type	Designation Date
Yauco	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Yabucoa	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Villalba	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Vieques	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Vega Baja	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Vega Alta	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Utuado	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Trujillo Alto	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Toa Baja	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Toa Alta	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Santa Isabel	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
San Sebastian	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
San Lorenzo	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
San Juan	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
San German	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Salinas	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Sabana Grabde	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Rio Grande	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Rincon	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Quebradillas	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Ponce	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Penuelas	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Patillas	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Orocovis	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Naranjito	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Moca	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Mayaguez	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Maunabo	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Maricao	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01
Manati	Medically Underserved Area	1978-11-01

Lower-middle density reading for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 215 active records across 78 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 0.3% 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

What counts as a high HPSA score

National score distribution by discipline: where a bare score sits among primary-care, dental, and mental-health designations.

Reading Healthcare Shortage Designations

How to compare HRSA shortage records by state without treating them as personal care outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Puerto Rico? ▼

Puerto Rico has 72 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 8,249 residents (0.3% 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 Puerto Rico have dental HPSA designations? ▼

77 Puerto Rico counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Caguas (3), San Juan (3), Adjuntas (2), Arroyo (2), Barceloneta (2), Bayamon (2), Camuy (2), Canovanas (2), Ciales (2), Cidra (2), Florida (2), Guaynabo (2), Hatillo (2), Lares (2), Mayaguez (2), Morovis (2), Naranjito (2), Patillas (2), Ponce (2), Rincon (2); plus 57 more on the table below. Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.

Are there doctor shortages in Puerto Rico? ▼

Yes. Puerto Rico has 215 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 42 in primary care, 74 in mental health, and 99 in dental care. About 0.3% of Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico'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 Puerto Rico's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
San Juan 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 Puerto Rico (PR) 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.