There are nearly 6,100 total primary care health professional shortage area designations in the United States, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's most recent report.
HPSA designations are used to identify areas and population groups within the country that are experiencing a shortage of primary medical, dental and mental health professionals. HPSAs are designated for primary medical care by computing the population to provider ratio which must be at least 3,500 to 1 (or 3,000 to 1 if there are unusually high needs in the community).
Read the full report on Becker's Hospital Review.