HRSA Counties Indexed
14
with HPSA / MUA coverage
Medically underserved areas & HPSA profile
Medically Underserved Areas in Vermont
24 Medically Underserved Areas and 42 active HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area designations across Vermont.
- MUAs
- 24
- Total HPSAs
- 42
- Primary care
- 16
- Mental health
- 12
- Dental
- 14
Lower-middle density verdict
Vermont sits in the lower-middle quarter by active designations per resident. According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, its 14 counties carry 42 active shortage designations; Orange County has the largest county count at 7, while about 19.6% of residents live in a geographic shortage county.
- 42
- Active HPSA designations
- 16
- Primary-care shortages
- 24
- Medically underserved areas
- 19.6%
- Residents in a shortage county
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for Vermont 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.
-
Orange County holds 16.7% of Vermont's 42 active designations (7 of 42).
13 of 14 counties in this profile carry at least one active record; the remainder are zero-active on this release.
-
38.1% of Vermont's active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from state aggregates: 16 primary care, 12 mental health, 14 dental (denominator 42).
-
Closing Vermont's active designations would take about 3.1 additional clinician FTEs, led by primary care.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id across the state: 2.4 primary care, 0.7 dental. Federal gap estimate, not a practising-clinician headcount.
Corpus placement
Where Vermont sits among all 56 states and territories
Vermont carries 42 active HPSA designations for a population of 643,077, which is 6.5 per 100,000 residents, ranking it 31 of 56 and above 45% of states and territories, against a median of 7.3.
6 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
24
Residents in Geographic Shortage Areas
125,742
% Residents in Geographic Shortage
19.6%
Discipline Mix
16 / 12 / 14 PC/MH/D
Primary care · Mental health · Dental
% Residents in Geographic Shortage-Designated Counties 19.6%
Vermont Shortage Designations by Care Type
How Vermont's 42 active HRSA designations split across the three provider categories. According to KFF's May 2026 tracker, Vermont has adopted ACA Medicaid expansion. That policy context does not measure provider supply, appointment availability, or care quality.
Vermont HPSA designations by type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations, by provider category.
- Primary care
Primary care
16 designations
- Dental
Dental
14 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
12 designations
Vermont 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 Vermont
11 counties with at least one active dental designation ; led by Bennington (2). Full list (designation count in parentheses): Bennington (2) , Franklin (2) , Orange (2) , Addison (1) , Caledonia (1) , Chittenden (1) , Essex (1) , Lamoille (1) , Rutland (1) , Washington (1) , Windsor (1) .
Primary-care HPSA counties in Vermont
13 counties with at least one active primary-care designation ; led by Orange (3). Full list: Orange (3) , Bennington (2) , Franklin (2) , Addison (1) , Caledonia (1) , Chittenden (1) , Essex (1) , Grand Isle (1) , Lamoille (1) , Rutland (1) , Washington (1) , Windham (1) , Windsor (1) .
Mental-health HPSA counties in Vermont
10 counties with at least one active mental-health designation ; led by Franklin (2). Full list: Franklin (2) , Orange (2) , Addison (1) , Bennington (1) , Caledonia (1) , Chittenden (1) , Lamoille (1) , Rutland (1) , Washington (1) , Windsor (1) .
All counties in Vermont, by total shortage volume
All 14Vermont counties, ranked by active HPSA designations across primary care, mental health, and dental.
| # | County | Designations | Primary Care | Mental Health | Dental | MUA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orange | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | MUA |
| 2 | Franklin | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 3 | Bennington | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | MUA |
| 4 | Addison | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 5 | Caledonia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 6 | Chittenden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 7 | Lamoille | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 8 | Rutland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 9 | Washington | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 10 | Windsor | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | MUA |
| 11 | Essex | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | MUA |
| 12 | Grand Isle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
| 13 | Windham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
| 14 | Orleans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MUA |
Medically Underserved Areas in Vermont
All 24 MUA designations in Vermont, lowest MUA Index first.
| Name | MUA Index |
|---|---|
| Governor Topsham Town Service Area | 0.0 |
| Brownington Town - County | 0.0 |
| Governor East Haven Town Service Area | 0.0 |
| Governor Groton Town Service Area | 0.0 |
| Residents - St. Johnsbury Service Area | 0.0 |
| Morgan Town Service Area | 27.6 |
| Glover Town Service Area | 42.3 |
| Tunbridge Town - County | 46.8 |
| Med Ind - Morristown Service Area | 51.0 |
| Weston Town - County | 52.0 |
| Wolcott Town - County | 53.7 |
| Craftsbury Town Service Area | 53.7 |
| Hardwick Town Service Area | 53.7 |
| Charleston Town - County | 55.1 |
| Brighton Town Service Area | 55.1 |
| Brookline Town Service Area | 55.3 |
| Orwell Town Service Area | 57.2 |
| Old North End Service Area | 58.0 |
| Ludlow Town Service Area | 58.1 |
| Barnet Town Service Area | 58.7 |
| Franklin/grand Isle Service Area | 61.2 |
| Low Inc-Arlington | 61.4 |
| Low Income - Castleton (gov) | 70.7 |
| Bristol Gov Excep | 76.8 |
Lower-middle density reading for Vermont
Vermont sits below the national mid-pack by designations per resident with 42 active records across 14 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 19.6% 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 Vermont? ▼
Vermont has 24 Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). About 125,742 residents (19.6% 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 Vermont have dental HPSA designations? ▼
11 Vermont counties carry at least one active dental Health Professional Shortage Area in the current HRSA release: Bennington (2), Franklin (2), Orange (2), Addison (1), Caledonia (1), Chittenden (1), Essex (1), Lamoille (1), Rutland (1), Washington (1), Windsor (1). Counts are designated dental HPSA records per county, not a dentist headcount.
Are there doctor shortages in Vermont? ▼
Yes. Vermont has 42 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 16 in primary care, 12 in mental health, and 14 in dental care. About 19.6% of Vermont 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 Vermont'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 Vermont's primary-care shortage record with every other state before drawing conclusions from a raw total; population and geography affect designation counts. Compare states
- Orange 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 Vermont (VT) 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.