Shortage Areas - Primary Care

This dataset provides areas designated by HRSA as having shortages of primary care providers.

HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) develops shortage designation criteria and uses them to decide whether or not a geographic area or population group is a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), Medically Underserved Area (MUA), or Medically Underserved Population (MUP).

More than 34 federal programs depend on HPSA/MUA/MUP designations to determine eligibility or as a funding preference.

About 20 percent of the U.S. population resides in primary medical care HPSAs. HPSAs may have shortages of primary medical care, dental, or mental health providers; may be urban or rural areas; population groups; or medical or other public facilities.