MO · Healthcare shortage profile
St. Louis County, MO
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing St. Louis County's active designations would take about 95 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Population 1,004,125.
- Active HPSAs
- 11
- Population
- 1,004,125
- Peak shortage score
- 20.0
- MUA Index
- 53.7
Heavy-burden verdict
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, St. Louis County ranks among the most underserved counties in the country - 11 active HPSA designations, more than 84% of the 3,289 real US counties, with primary care the deepest gap.
- 11
- Active HPSA designations
- 5
- Primary-care shortages
- 20
- Peak severity score (of 26)
- Top 16%
- US counties by volume
Dense ZCTA lattice over St. Louis County
St. Louis County intersects 47 Census ZCTAs, above the 15-ZIP dense-tercile cut. Shortage designations still attach at the county (or smaller HPSA) grain; the ZIP list is geography, not a second severity score.
Largest land-share ZCTAs in this county
35 additional ZCTAs intersect this county in the crosswalk (ordered by land share).
Source: Census ZCTA–county relationship file joined to this portal's county FIPS set. As of 2026-08-15.
Key findings
What the HRSA Data Warehouse does not surface for St. Louis County, MO 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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Peak HPSA score 20.0 clears HRSA's 17-point high-priority line.
Scores at or above 17 on the 0–25/26 scales open NHSC placement priority for the matching provider type; eligibility still follows the designated area, not the county boundary alone.
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Closing St. Louis County's active designations would take about 95 additional clinician FTEs, with primary care the largest gap.
HRSA providers_needed summed once per HPSA id (no double-count across status rows): 61 primary care, 9.8 mental health, 23 dental. This is the federal gap estimate, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
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45.5% of St. Louis County's 11 active designations are primary care.
Discipline mix from designated HPSA records only: 5 primary care, 3 mental health, 3 dental (denominator 11).
Corpus placement
Active-designation volume placement
According to current HRSA Data Warehouse records, St. Louis County carries 11 active designations, above 84% of real US counties. Use the state peer line below before treating the national percentile as a local access verdict.
State peer position. St. Louis County falls in the upper half of MO counties by active-designation volume, at rank 38 of 115. Ties share a rank.
Computed from current designated HPSA rows for every five-digit county FIPS. See the placement methodology.
Healthcare shortage designations from HRSA. FIPS: 29189. Population: 1,004,125.
Medically Underserved Area
Peak severity scores
Current designated records only. Scores range 0–25 (primary/mental health), 0–26 (dental). Higher = greater need. What counts as a high score?
Highest-severity HPSA designations
All 11 active (designated) HPSAs in St. Louis County, ranked by HRSA shortage score.
| Name | Type | Score |
|---|---|---|
| LI - Jennings | primary_care | 20.0 |
| LI - South Central St Louis | primary_care | 20.0 |
| LI - Central St Louis | primary_care | 20.0 |
| LI - West Central St. Louis | dental | 19.0 |
| LI - Berkeley/Ferguson/Jennings/Bridgeton | mental_health | 18.0 |
| LI - Kinloch/Berkeley/Bridgeton | primary_care | 17.0 |
| St. Louis County, Missouri | primary_care | 17.0 |
| St. Louis County, Missouri | mental_health | 16.0 |
| LI - St. Louis City Mhca 24-25 | mental_health | 15.0 |
| St. Louis County, Missouri | dental | 15.0 |
| St. Charles City | dental | 11.0 |
Heavy-burden reading for St. Louis County
The clinician FTE gap is the sharpest number here: closing St. Louis County's active designations would take about 95 additional FTEs on HRSA's providers_needed estimate. Primary care is where St. Louis County is stretched thinnest: HRSA scores it 20.0 of 25, the county's highest severity reading and past the 17-point line HRSA uses to open National Health Service Corps placement and enhanced Medicare reimbursement. Mental health reads 18.0 of 25; Dental care reads 19.0 of 26. The county also sits inside a Medically Underserved Area, indexed at 53.7, and the lower the index, the greater the measured need.
Volume places St. Louis County above 84% of real US counties (11 active designations: 5 primary care, 3 mental health, 3 dental). Peak severity on the current designated set is 20.0. The table on this page lists the highest-severity records first so a reader can see which named facilities, geographies, or population groups drive that burden without treating the county total as a personal appointment forecast.
St. Louis County falls in the upper half of MO counties by active-designation volume, at rank 38 of 115. Heavy-burden counties are where NHSC placement, Community Health Center grant geography, and related federal instruments concentrate; eligibility still follows the designated area and provider type, not the county boundary alone.
St. Louis County designations by care type
Active Health Professional Shortage Area designations in the county, by provider category (high-priority disciplines emphasized).
- Primary care
Primary care
5 designations
- Mental health
Mental health
3 designations
- Dental
Dental
3 designations
Heavy-volume FTE gap in St. Louis County
Signature reading: HRSA providers_needed sums to about 95 FTE across St. Louis County's active designations (once per HPSA id), a federal gap estimate, not practising headcount.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) + Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/P) HPSA primary-care, mental-health, and dental designations for St. Louis County, MO · 2026 HRSA designation data updated quarterly; HPSA scores 0-25 (primary/mental) and 0-26 (dental); higher = greater shortage severity. Coverage tiers from U.S. Census ACS PUMS + KFF state tracker.
Acting on a heavy-burden county
St. Louis County's shortage designations unlock specific federal programs and comparisons, here is how to act on them.
- St. Louis County's 11 active designations make providers here eligible for National Health Service Corps loan repayment, estimate the award and service terms. NHSC estimator
- See how the county's primary care burden compares with the rest of MO before you draw conclusions from a single score. MO overview
- Check whether an area clears HRSA's 3,500:1 population-to-provider threshold with the provider-to-population ratio behind an HPSA score. HPSA score lookup
HPSA scores describe shortage severity within HRSA's designation criteria, not the availability of any individual provider. For a specific appointment, contact a provider or your insurer; use HRSA's current tools to verify a designation.
Counties With a Similar Primary Care Shortage Score
Other U.S. counties whose active HRSA primary-care HPSA score is closest to St. Louis County's 20.0. This compares the designation score only, not local appointment availability or care quality. Start with Clark County, OH and Franklin County, OH.
Showing 6 of 2932 counties nationally with an active designation this severe.
Counties with a matching designation count to St. Louis County's 11
One peer set for this FTE-led county: nearest active designation count to 11 - the inventory behind the ~95 FTE published need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does St. Louis County's MUA standing sit beside its HPSA records?
- Yes - St. Louis County carries an MUA designation (index 53.7; lower = greater measured need) in addition to its HPSA rows. MUA and HPSA are separate HRSA tracks; both can open different federal pathways.
- Where is the largest clinician FTE gap inside St. Louis County?
- Id-de-duped providers_needed across active HPSAs totals ~95 FTE, with primary care the largest slice (61). "LI - Jennings" is the highest-scored active row (score 20.0; primary care; 42,754 people in the service area; ~14 FTE still needed on the record; designated 05/12/2026). This is HRSA's published gap, not a headcount of practising clinicians.
- Which named designations drive St. Louis County's FTE reading?
- Active names on this release include "LI - Jennings", "LI - South Central St Louis", "LI - Central St Louis" and "LI - West Central St. Louis". Discipline counts: 5 primary care, 3 mental health, 3 dental across 11 designated rows.
- Do St. Louis County's FTE gaps unlock federal programs?
- Yes where an ACTIVE designation exists, NHSC, CHC grants, Medicare bonus and J-1 waivers follow the designated geography and provider type. A published FTE gap without an active row does not, by itself, open those pathways.
- How does St. Louis County's FTE burden compare inside MO?
- 11 active designations and ~95 FTE published need. St. Louis County falls in the upper half of MO counties by active-designation volume, at rank 38 of 115. Score-nearest counties on this release include Clark County, OH and Franklin County, OH.
Source: HRSA Data Warehouse. FIPS: 29189. This county’s designations come from BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_PC.csv (primary care) , BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_MH.csv (mental health) and BCD_HPSA_FCT_DET_DH.csv (dental) — download the normalized export on our open data page. PlainHealthAccess is not affiliated with HRSA or any government agency.
HRSA Data Warehouse HPSA + MUA/P records for FIPS 29189 (St. Louis County, MO), vintage 2026-08-15. Active designation count 11; peak score 20.0; signature 95 FTE gap. This profile is reference material, not professional advice; see methodology.