HRSA Counties Indexed
29
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Utah
22 Medically Underserved Areas and 180 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Utah.
- MUAs
- 22
- Total HPSAs
- 180
- Primary care
- 61
- Mental health
- 61
- Dental
- 58
Lower-middle density verdict
Utah sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 29 counties carry 180 active shortage designations; San Juan County has the largest county count at 29, while about 60.7% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 180
- Active HPSA designations
- 61
- Primary-care shortages
- 22
- Medically underserved areas
- 60.7%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Utah on its own pages , computed from the retained designation mirror as of 2026-08-03. Each line carries its own denominator so it can be quoted as it stands.
-
San Juan County holds 16.1% of Utah's 180 active designations (29 of 180).
29 of 29 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
33.9% of Utah's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 61 primary care, 61 mental health, 58 dental (denominator 180).
-
Closing Utah's active designations would take about 164 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 79 primary care, 60 mental health, 25 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where Utah sits among all 56 states and territories
Utah carries 180 active HPSA designations for a population of 3,271,616, which is 5.5 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 36 of 56 and above 36% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
26 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
22
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
1,987,315
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
60.7%
Discipline Mix
61 / 61 / 58 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 60.7%
Utah Shortage Designations by Care Type
How Utah's 180 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Utah has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
Utah HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
61 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
61 designations
- Dental
Dental
58 designations
Utah 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 Utah
26 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by San Juan (9). Full list (designation count in parentheses): San Juan (9) , Washington (6) , Salt Lake (5) , Garfield (3) , Iron (3) , Sanpete (3) , Sevier (3) , Emery (2) , Millard (2) , Piute (2) , Tooele (2) , Uintah (2) , Wayne (2) , Weber (2) , Beaver (1) , Box Elder (1) , Cache (1) , Carbon (1) , Daggett (1) , Davis (1) ; plus 6 more in the table below.
Primary-care HPSA counties in Utah
25 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by San Juan (10). Full list: San Juan (10) , Salt Lake (6) , Washington (6) , Garfield (3) , Iron (3) , Sanpete (3) , Sevier (3) , Tooele (3) , Box Elder (2) , Carbon (2) , Emery (2) , Piute (2) , Uintah (2) , Wayne (2) , Weber (2) , Cache (1) , Daggett (1) , Davis (1) , Duchesne (1) , Grand (1) ; plus 5 more in the table below.
Mental-health HPSA counties in Utah
29 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by San Juan (10). Full list: San Juan (10) , Washington (7) , Salt Lake (6) , Weber (5) , Sevier (4) , Davis (3) , Garfield (3) , Iron (3) , Sanpete (3) , Tooele (3) , Utah (3) , Box Elder (2) , Cache (2) , Carbon (2) , Emery (2) , Millard (2) , Piute (2) , Uintah (2) , Wayne (2) , Beaver (1) ; plus 9 more in the table below.
All counties in Utah, by total shortage volume
All 29Utah counties, ranked by active HPSA designations across primary care, mental health, and dental.
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Juan | 29 | 10 | 10 | 9 | MUA |
| 2 | Washington | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | MUA |
| 3 | Salt Lake | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | MUA |
| 4 | Sevier | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | MUA |
| 5 | Garfield | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 6 | Iron | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - |
| 7 | Sanpete | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MUA |
| 8 | Weber | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | MUA |
| 9 | Tooele | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 10 | Emery | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 11 | Piute | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 12 | Uintah | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 13 | Wayne | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 14 | Box Elder | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 15 | Carbon | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | MUA |
| 16 | Davis | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | MUA |
| 17 | Millard | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 18 | Utah | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | MUA |
| 19 | Cache | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 20 | Daggett | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 21 | Duchesne | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 22 | Grand | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 23 | Kane | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 24 | Rich | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 25 | Beaver | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 26 | Juab | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 27 | Morgan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 28 | Summit | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 29 | Wasatch | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
Medically Underserved Areas in Utah
All 22 MUA designations in Utah, lowest MUA Index first.
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| Low Inc - Grand County | 0.0 |
| Poverty & Migrant Population | 0.0 |
| San Juan Service Area | 41.0 |
| Piute | 45.1 |
| Low Inc - Davis Service Area | 52.2 |
| West Juab Service Area | 52.6 |
| East Carbon Service Area | 53.0 |
| Enterprise Service Area | 54.7 |
| Low Income - Salt Lake Service Area | 54.7 |
| Sanpete | 54.9 |
| Wayne Service Area | 57.7 |
| Kane Service Area | 57.7 |
| Emery Service Area | 58.0 |
| Weber Service Area | 58.5 |
| Dixie Service Area | 58.8 |
| Daggett Service Area | 58.8 |
| Low Inc - Sevier County | 60.1 |
| Low-income Of Garfield Co. | 60.2 |
| Rich County | 60.5 |
| Glendale Service Area | 61.3 |
| Uintah Service Area | 61.3 |
| Midvale Service Area | 61.3 |
Lower-middle density reading for Utah
Utah sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 180 active records across 29 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 60.7% 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 Utah? ▼
Utah has 22 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 1,987,315 residents (60.7% 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 Utah have dental HPSA designations? ▼
26 Utah counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: San Juan (9), Washington (6), Salt Lake (5), Garfield (3), Iron (3), Sanpete (3), Sevier (3), Emery (2), Millard (2), Piute (2), Tooele (2), Uintah (2), Wayne (2), Weber (2), Beaver (1), Box Elder (1), Cache (1), Carbon (1), Daggett (1), Davis (1); plus 6 more on the table below. Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in Utah? ▼
Yes. Utah has 180 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 61 in primary care, 61 in mental health, and 58 in dental care. About 60.7% of Utah 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 Utah'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 Utah'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.
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 Utah (UT) 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.