As of 2022, the number of licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia amounted to 1,062,460 physicians. At the time, the national population was roughly 333 million, which yielded a physician-to-population ratio of 313 licensed physicians per 100,000 population. The density of licensed U.S. physicians has steadily increased since 2010.

Health professionals, especially primary care physicians, are in high demand in many parts of the U.S. Some areas are experiencing health professional shortages. This map shows the ratio of population to primary care physicians in the U.S. Areas in dark red show where there are less primary care physicians per person.The data comes from County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measure the health of nearly all counties in the nation and rank them within states. The layer used in the map comes from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the full documentation for the layer can be found here.County data are suppressed if, for both years of available data, the population reported by agencies is less than 50% of the population reported in Census or less than 80% of agencies measuring crimes reported data.

As of 2023, roughly one in 15 active physicians in the United States were Hispanic (regardless of race). Asians were overrepresented, accounting for nearly one in 5 physicians in the U.S., while Asians made up just 6.3 percent of the total U.S. population.

As of 2018, the largest distribution of U.S. physicians was between the ages of 55 and 65 years old. At that time about ** percent of physicians fell within this age group. With just **** percent of all physicians, the smallest distribution of U.S. physicians was among those aged 35 years or younger. Data suggests that in the U.S. the average age of medical students is around 24 years old and the average age of matriculants is about **.

U.S. Physician demographics  

It is estimated that one of the best ways to combat aging population health needs is to increase the number of doctors practicing in the U.S. In general, the number of physicians in the U.S. has been on the rise. Every year about 20 thousand new physicians join the U.S. workforce. Despite an increase in the number of physicians the number of active physicians per 10,000 people has remained relatively stagnant in recent years. As of 2019, the specialty with the largest number of physicians was psychiatry, followed by surgery.

Physician compensation  

Physician compensation varies significantly between regions and genders. With graduates owing an average of ******* U.S. dollars in student loans upon graduation, equal compensation has become especially important. However, women in the medical industry make significantly less income than their male counterparts. As of 2019, female physicians earned between ** and ** thousand U.S. dollars less than male physicians. Regionally, there are also significant differences. As of 2018, physicians working in the North Central U.S. had higher annual compensation than those in other areas. Those working in the Northeast had the lowest annual compensation.

The number of physicians across the United States reveals significant variations, with California leading the pack at nearly ******* active doctors as of April 2025. This concentration of medical professionals in populous states highlights the ongoing challenge of ensuring adequate healthcare access nationwide. The stark contrast between California's physician count and Wyoming's mere ***** doctors underscores the need for targeted efforts to address healthcare workforce shortages in less populated areas. Primary care and specialist distribution California leads also in both primary care physicians and specialists, accounting for over ** percent of each category nationally. This concentration of medical expertise in California reflects broader trends, with New York and Texas following as the states with the highest numbers of active primary care physicians. The distribution of specialists also mirrors national patterns, with psychiatry, surgery, and anaesthesiology among the most common specialties. Physician burnout While the number of physicians continues to grow, physician burnout remains a significant issue. There are large variations in rates of burnout depending on a physician's gender and specialty. For example, burnout is disproportionally high among women, affecting ** percent of female physicians and ** percent of male physicians. Meanwhile, emergency medicine physicians reported the highest levels of burnout among specialists, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to support the individual needs of doctors depending on their different circumstances.

Data on visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments and hospital emergency departments by selected population characteristics. Please refer to the PDF or Excel version of this table in the HUS 2019 Data Finder (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2019.htm) for critical information about measures, definitions, and changes over time. Note that the data file available here has more recent years of data than what is shown in the PDF or Excel version. Data for 2017 physician office visits are not available. SOURCE: NCHS, National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. For more information on the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, see the corresponding Appendix entries at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus17_appendix.pdf.

The CMS Program Statistics - Medicare Physician, Non-Physician Practitioner and Supplier tables provide use and payment data for physicians, other practitioners, limited-licensed practitioners, and durable medical equipment, prosthetic, and orthotic (DMEPOS) suppliers.

For additional information on enrollment, providers, and Medicare use and payment, visit the CMS Program Statistics page.

Below is the list of tables:

MDCR PHYSSUPP 1. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, Cost Sharing, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Type of Entitlement, Yearly Trend
MDCR PHYSSUPP 2. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, Cost Sharing, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Demographic Characteristics and Medicare-Medicaid Enrollment Status
MDCR PHYSSUPP 3. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, Cost Sharing, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Area of Residence
MDCR PHYSSUPP 4. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Type of Service
MDCR PHYSSUPP 5. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Place of Service
MDCR PHYSSUPP 6. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization, Program Payments, and Balance Billing for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Physician Specialty
MDCR PHYSSUPP 7. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization and Program Payments for Original Medicare Beneficiaries, by Berenson-Eggers Type of Service (BETOS) Classification

Demographics of participant physicians.

New Mexico Family Practice Physicians 2013. Results of a gravity model analysis (population / physician ratio for census tracts) using infogroup physician (family practice) and both Esri Demographic (2015 Population) and GPS (2013 Population) data. More information at http://www.unm.edu/~lspear/health_stuff.html.

Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.022 Ratio in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.030 Ratio for 2012. Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.040 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.055 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 0.008 Ratio in 2010. Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tanzania – Table TZ.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Physician demographics.

Turkey TR: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 1.749 Ratio in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.755 Ratio for 2013. Turkey TR: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.700 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.755 Ratio in 2013 and a record low of 0.300 Ratio in 1964. Turkey TR: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Turkey – Table TR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

The number of male physicians outnumbers female physicians in the U.S. in most specialties. The only major exceptions are found in pediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, although female physicians do slightly outnumber males in a few other specialties. As of 2021, there were around 68,400 male family medicine/general practice physicians compared to 50,000 women in this specialty. Physicians in the U.S. Both the number of doctors and rate of doctors in the U.S. have increased over the years. As of 2021, there were around 946,800 active doctors of medicine in the U.S. This was around 29.9 physicians per 10,000 civilian population. In 1995, this rate stood at 24.2 physicians per 10,000 population. Physicians by state The states with the highest overall number of active physicians are California, New York, Texas, and Florida. However, the states with the highest rate of physicians per 10,000 civilian population include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland. The District of Columbia has the highest rate of physicians by a large margin, with around 74.6 physicians per 10,000 population. The state with the highest annual compensation for physicians is Oklahoma, where physicians earn an annual average of 337,000 dollars.

The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), collects data on visits to physician offices to describe patterns of ambulatory care delivery in the United States. As part of NAMCS, the Physician Induction Interview collects information about practice characteristics at physician offices. Partway through the 2020 NAMCS, NCHS added questions to the Physician Induction Interview to assess physician experiences related to COVID-19 in office-based settings. The data include nationally representative estimates of experiences related to COVID-19 among office-based physicians in the United States, including: shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the past 3 months; the ability to test for COVID-19 in the past 3 months; providers testing positive for COVID-19 in the past 3 months; turning away COVID-19 patients in the past 3 months; and telemedicine or telehealth technology use before and after March 2020. Estimates were derived from interviews with physicians in periods 3 and 4 of 2020 NAMCS and periods 1 through 4 of 2021 NAMCS, which occurred between December 15, 2020 and May 6, 2022. The data are considered preliminary, and the results may change with the final data release.

Introduction

Male and Female Doctors Statistics: Doctors play an essential role in the medical industry. Male and female doctors play critical roles in providing different healthcare services in medicine.

Historically, men have significantly dominated the medical profession. However, there has been a considerable growth in the number of female doctors over the years, as more women seek professions in medicine.

The distribution of male and female doctors across different specializations and geographic locations can vary significantly.

Key factors such as personal preferences, cultural norms, work-life balance considerations, etc., may influence the choices made by male and female doctors regarding their work environment as well as location.

This table contains 267456 series, with data for years 2000 - 2000 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (199 items: Canada; Health and Community Services Eastern Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group D); Health and Community Services St. John's Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group H); Newfoundland and Labrador ...) Age group (14 items: Total; 12 years and over; 12-19 years; 15-19 years; 12-14 years ...) Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...) Contact with medical doctors (4 items: Total population for the variable contact with medical doctors; Contact with medical doctors in past 12 months; Contact with medical doctors; not stated; No contact with medical doctors in past 12 months ...) Characteristics (8 items: Number of persons; Low 95% confidence interval - number of persons; High 95% confidence interval - number of persons; Coefficient of variation for number of persons ...).

Demographics of study respondents by physician specialty (N = 285).

This is a random sampling of the 2022 public data set hosted by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services at:

https://data.cms.gov/provider-summary-by-type-of-service/medicare-physician-other-practitioners/medicare-physician-other-practitioners-by-provider-and-service

The complete data set for 2022 can be found there. This random sampling has 292,663 rows and 29 columns. The full set hosted at the link above is about 3GB in size with 9,755,427 rows and 29 columns. The 29 columns are:

1. National Provider Identifier (Rndrng_NPI)
2. Last Name/Organization Name of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Last_Org_Name)
3. First Name of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_First_Name)
4. Middle Initial of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_MI)
5. Credentials of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Crdntls)
6. Gender of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Gndr)
7. Entity Type of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Ent_Cd)
8. Street Address 1 of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_St1)
9. Street Address 2 of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_St2)
10. City of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_City)
11. State Abbreviation of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_State_Abrvtn)
12. State FIPS Code of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_State_FIPS)
13. Zip Code of the Provide (Rndrng_Prvdr_Zip5)
14. RUCA Code of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_RUCA)
15. RUCA Description (Rndrng_Prvdr_RUCA_Desc)
16. Country Code of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Cntry)
17. Provider Type of the Provider (Rndrng_Prvdr_Type)
18. Medicare Participation Indicator (Rndrng_Prvdr_Mdcr_Prtcptg_Ind)
19. HCPCS Code (HCPCS_Cd)
20. HCPCS Description (HCPCS_Desc)
21. HCPCS Drug Indicator (HCPCS_Drug_Ind)
22. Place of Service (Place_Of_Srvc)
23. Number of Medicare Beneficiaries (Tot_Benes)
24. Number of Services (Tot_Srvcs)
25. Number of Distinct Medicare Beneficiary/Per Day Services (Tot_Bene_Day_Srvcs)
26. Average Submitted Charge Amount (Avg_Sbmtd_Chrg)
27. Average Medicare Allowed Amount (Avg_Mdcr_Alowd_Amt)
28. Average Medicare Payment Amount (Avg_Mdcr_Pymt_Amt)
29. Average Medicare Standardized Payment Amount (Avg_Mdcr_Stdzd_Amt)

A brief description of each these columns can be found here:

https://data.cms.gov/resources/medicare-physician-other-practitioners-by-provider-and-service-data-dictionary

A full description of the data is in the 27-page document, "Medicare Fee-For-Service Provider Utilization & Payment Data Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File: A Methodological Overview" which can be found here:

www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/medicare-provider-charge-data/downloads/medicare-physician-and-other-supplier-puf-methodology.pdf

This data set is similar to the one posted by Tamil Selvan here https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/tamilsel/healthcare-providers-data. That data's origin is unclear, however it is very likely from same source. It has different header text and may be from one of the earlier years.

The CMS Program Statistics – Medicare Advantage, Physician, Non-Physician Practitioner and Supplier tables provide utilization data for physician, non-physician practitioners, and suppliers, by Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. For additional information on enrollment, providers, and Medicare use and payment, visit the CMS Program Statistics page. Below is the list of tables: MDCR PHYSSUPP MA 1. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries, by Type of Entitlement, Yearly Trend MDCR PHYSSUPP MA 2. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries, by Demographic Characteristics and Medicare-Medicaid Enrollment Status MDCR PHYSSUPP MA 3. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries, by Area of Residence MDCR PHYSSUPP MA 4. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries, by Place of Service MDCR PHYSSUPP MA 5. Medicare Physicians, Non-Physician Practitioners, and Suppliers: Utilization for Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries, by Restructured BETOS Classification System

Data sources: World Health Organization [5]; World Health Organization [6]; Mullan et al. [7]; Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research [8]; University of Copenhagen and World Health Organization [9]; Redi-Med Data [10]; United States Census Bureau [11].aCirca 1970, 1969–1976; circa 2010, 2003–2012.