Insights / Shortage-area designations / Kentucky
Health professional shortage designations in Kentucky
Kentucky IDs aren't open jobs, so Kentucky recruiters shouldn't treat Kentucky labels as reqs.
Kentucky IDs are designations, not posts, and Kentucky managers should say that before the count.
Kentucky dental health leads with 257 designations, or 5.6 for every 100,000 Kentucky residents.
Kentucky mental health is smaller, with 221 designations, which is 4.8 on that Kentucky scale.
Each discipline
1Dental Health
- Designated HPSA IDs
- 257
- IDs per 100,000 residents
- 5.6
2Primary Care
- Designated HPSA IDs
- 256
- IDs per 100,000 residents
- 5.6
3Mental Health
- Designated HPSA IDs
- 221
- IDs per 100,000 residents
- 4.8
Ranked table
Swipe the table sideways. The same figures are in the blocks above.
| Rank | Discipline | Designated HPSA IDs | IDs per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dental Health | 257 | 5.6 |
| 2 | Primary Care | 256 | 5.6 |
| 3 | Mental Health | 221 | 4.8 |
Takeaways
- Kentucky primary care holds 256 designations, nearly matching Kentucky dental, and still not open jobs.
- Kentucky totals 734 distinct designations across three disciplines, and Kentucky areas overlap on purpose.
- Kentucky's combined rate is 16.0 on the same resident base, and Kentucky shouldn't add areas as people.
- Kentucky civilian population behind the rate is 4,590,525, which Kentucky uses because areas overlap.
For recruiters
- Brief Kentucky designations as labels, not as Kentucky jobs you can recruit into tomorrow.
- Name Kentucky mental health alone so Kentucky doesn't let dental swallow the smaller file.
- Add the Kentucky wage in the Hiring Pack.
FAQ
- Are these posted wages or open jobs?
- No. The table is a government survey or a designation file.
- What should a recruiter do first?
- Follow the recruiter note on this page.
Source: HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area detail files (primary care, dental, mental health), 2026-09-30.
Related hiring pages
Methodology
Counts are distinct HPSA IDs with status Designated in the HRSA primary-care, dental, and mental-health detail files, last modified 2026-09-30. Component rows that repeat an ID are counted once. Withdrawn and proposed rows are excluded. Population is not summed from the HPSA file, because shortage areas overlap. The per-resident count uses Census civilian population on July 1, 2025, which is 4,590,525 in Kentucky, divided into the ID count per 100,000 residents. Rural-status fields are not added in this table, because one ID can carry more than one rural status. Kentucky has 734 distinct designated IDs across the three disciplines, which is 16.0 per 100,000 civilian residents. Areas are ordered by that per-resident count. Kentucky is 8 of 51.
Sources
- HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area detail files (primary care, dental, mental health) · 2026-09-30
- Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, civilian population by age and sex · July 1, 2025
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