California has the most areas facing shortages of dental professionals of all U.S. states, according to a new ranking from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The ranking is based on a quarterly summary of designated Health Professional Shortage Area statistics published Sept. 30 by HHS, the Bureau of Health Workforce, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. The HPSA designation is given to areas where the population-to-provider ratio for primary care is at least 4,000 to 1.
In total, there are 6,487 areas with a dental care HPSA designation in the U.S.
Here's how each state and Washington, D.C., stacks up:
Note: The list includes ties.
1.California — 473 areas with an HPSA designation
2. Missouri — 314
3. Texas — 302
4. Alaska — 298
5. Florida — 256
6. Michigan — 243
7. Arizona — 208
Illinois — 208
8. North Carolina — 190
9. Kansas — 182
10. Georgia — 181
11. Washington — 173
12. Minnesota — 171
13. Oklahoma — 164
14. Pennsylvania — 153
15. Louisiana — 148
16. Tennessee — 146
17. Mississippi — 145
Ohio — 145
18. Kentucky — 140
19. New York — 132
20. Iowa — 131
21. Oregon — 129
22. Montana — 123
23. Wisconsin — 111
24. Indiana — 104
West Virginia — 104
25. Colorado — 100
26. New Mexico — 98
27. Virginia — 97
28. Idaho — 94
29. South Carolina — 90
30. Arkansas — 85
31. Alabama — 81
Maine — 81
32. South Dakota — 71
33. Nebraska — 68
34. Nevada — 67
35. North Dakota — 66
36. Utah — 62
37. Massachusetts — 56
38. Maryland — 42
39. Connecticut — 38
40. New Jersey — 35
41. Hawaii — 33
42. Wyoming — 31
43. New Hampshire — 22
44. Rhode Island — 14
Vermont — 14
45. Washington, D.C. — 12
46. Delaware — 10