HRSA Counties Indexed
3
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Virgin Islands
3 Medically Underserved Areas and 15 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Virgin Islands.
- MUAs
- 3
- Total HPSAs
- 15
- Primary care
- 5
- Mental health
- 5
- Dental
- 5
Highest-density verdict
Current HRSA Data Warehouse records put Virgin Islands in the highest-density quarter of states and territories. It carries 15 active shortage designations across 3 counties; St. Croix County has the largest county count at 6. About 100.0% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 15
- Active HPSA designations
- 5
- Primary-care shortages
- 3
- Medically underserved areas
- 100.0%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Virgin Islands 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.
-
St. Croix County holds 40% of Virgin Islands's 15 active designations (6 of 15).
3 of 3 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
33.3% of Virgin Islands's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 5 primary care, 5 mental health, 5 dental (denominator 15).
-
Closing Virgin Islands's active designations would take about 16 additional clinician FTEs, led by mental health.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 3.8 primary care, 6.2 mental health, 5.9 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where Virgin Islands sits among all 56 states and territories
Virgin Islands carries 15 active HPSA designations for a population of 87,146, which is 17.2 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 7 of 56 and above 88% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
9 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.
Snapshot comparison
Change since the previous HRSA snapshot
Between Jun 2, 2026 and Jul 25, 2026, the number of active stable HPSA IDs recorded for Virgin Islands changed from 15 to 15 (0).
- IDs added
- 0
- IDs absent now
- 0
- Newly designated
- 0
- No longer designated
- 0
Among IDs present in both snapshots, scores rose for 0 and fell for 0; recorded providers needed rose for 0 and fell for 0. These are changes in published designation records, not evidence of cause, care quality, or patient outcomes. See the national comparison and limitations.
Medically Underserved Areas
3
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
87,146
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
100.0%
Discipline Mix
5 / 5 / 5 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 100.0%
Virgin Islands Shortage Designations by Care Type
How Virgin Islands's 15 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Virgin Islands has not adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
Virgin Islands HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
5 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
5 designations
- Dental
Dental
5 designations
Virgin Islands 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 Virgin Islands
3 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by St. Croix (2). Full list (designation count in parentheses): St. Croix (2) , St. Thomas (2) , St. John (1) .
Primary-care HPSA counties in Virgin Islands
3 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by St. Croix (2). Full list: St. Croix (2) , St. Thomas (2) , St. John (1) .
Mental-health HPSA counties in Virgin Islands
3 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by St. Croix (2). Full list: St. Croix (2) , St. Thomas (2) , St. John (1) .
All counties in Virgin Islands, by total shortage volume
All 3Virgin Islands 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.
| # | County | Designations | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Croix | 6 | MUA |
| 2 | St. Thomas | 6 | MUA |
| 3 | St. John | 3 | MUA |
Medically Underserved Areas in Virgin Islands
All 3 MUA designations in Virgin Islands, lowest MUA Index first.
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| St. John County | 41.0 |
| St. Croix | 43.7 |
| St. Thomas County | 62.0 |
High-density reading for Virgin Islands
At 15 active designations (5 primary care / 5 mental health / 5 dental), Virgin Islands sits in the top quarter of the state and territory corpus by designations per resident. That volume is where NHSC placements, FQHC operating geography, and related federal instruments concentrate; eligibility still follows the designated area and provider type, not the state boundary alone.
St. Croix County leads the in-state table with 6 active records; open that county profile before treating the state total as evenly spread. About 100.0% of residents live in a geographic shortage county; facility and population-group designations cover additional residents counted separately.
Learn More About Healthcare Shortages
Explore more Virgin Islands shortage data
Dig deeper into the federal shortage designations behind Virgin Islands's numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Medically Underserved Areas are in Virgin Islands? ▼
Virgin Islands has 3 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 87,146 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 Virgin Islands have dental HPSA designations? ▼
3 Virgin Islands counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: St. Croix (2), St. Thomas (2), St. John (1). Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in Virgin Islands? ▼
Yes. Virgin Islands has 15 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 5 in primary care, 5 in mental health, and 5 in dental care. About 100.0% of Virgin Islands 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.
What are HPSAs? ▼
Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are federal designations by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) identifying communities with insufficient healthcare providers. HPSAs are categorized into three types: primary care, mental health, and dental. In Virgin Islands, there are 15 designated HPSAs and 3 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs).
What federal programs address healthcare shortages in Virgin Islands? ▼
HRSA shortage designations in Virgin Islands unlock eligibility for over 30 federal programs, including National Health Service Corps (NHSC) loan repayment and scholarships, Community Health Center (FQHC) funding, Medicare bonus payments (10% for physicians in HPSAs), J-1 visa waiver programs for international medical graduates, and Rural Health Clinic certification. These programs direct billions of dollars annually toward underserved communities.
How does Virgin Islands compare to other states in HRSA shortage designations? ▼
Virgin Islands has 15 total HPSA designations and 3 Medically Underserved Areas. With 100.0% of residents in counties carrying a geographic shortage designation, you can compare the recorded HRSA designations and scores with other states on our national rankings pages for primary care, mental health, and dental care.
How often is Virgin Islands HPSA data updated? ▼
HRSA publishes HPSA designation changes through the Data Warehouse on a rolling basis. This page reports the portal's stated HRSA source vintage after a verified refresh; use HRSA's official tools when a current designation status matters.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse Not affiliated with HRSA
Choose the next comparison
Use Virgin Islands'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 Virgin Islands's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- St. Croix 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 Virgin Islands (VI) 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.