Dentists per capita by state: residents per general dental practice in all 50 states

California has the most general dental practices for its population, with 2,870 residents per general practice. Delaware has the fewest, with 5,753. The US average is 3,858 residents per general dental practice. Those figures come from Dentagraphics' database of hand-verified dental practices, matched against Census Bureau American Community Survey population data.

A lower number means more competition: fewer residents for each practice. A higher number means each practice has more potential patients, though it doesn't guarantee demand. Income, age, insurance mix and how spread out people are all change the picture, and a state average hides big differences between its cities and counties.

Why practices, not dentists. Most "dentists per capita" figures count dentists, not offices. One practice can have several dentists, and some dentists teach, work part time or work in settings patients can't walk into. A dentist choosing a location competes with practices, so Dentagraphics counts active general dental practices, each checked by a person on our research team.

Residents per general dental practice, by state

Ranked from most competitive (fewest residents per practice) to least competitive.

Rank	State	Residents per general practice	General practices	Residents	Population growth	Median household income
1	California	2,870	13,744	39,444,919	-0.2%	$100,149
2	New Jersey	2,944	3,225	9,494,572	2.2%	$104,294
3	District of Columbia	3,136	224	702,405	1.9%	$109,707
4	Massachusetts	3,142	2,270	7,133,473	1.5%	$104,828
5	Illinois	3,301	3,850	12,707,929	-0.8%	$83,211
6	Connecticut	3,413	1,083	3,696,140	2.5%	$96,049
7	Washington	3,425	2,330	7,980,415	3.6%	$99,389
8	Oregon	3,547	1,208	4,284,612	1.1%	$85,220
9	Colorado	3,580	1,671	5,982,304	3.6%	$97,113
10	Hawaii	3,615	400	1,446,040	-0.6%	$100,745
11	Utah	3,619	971	3,513,631	7.4%	$96,658
12	Michigan	3,669	2,772	10,169,288	0.9%	$72,389
13	Virginia	3,684	2,401	8,844,098	2.5%	$92,090
14	Maryland	3,685	1,701	6,268,970	1.5%	$102,905
15	New Hampshire	3,701	383	1,417,293	2.9%	$99,782
16	Alaska	3,780	196	740,930	1.0%	$95,665
17	Wyoming	3,785	156	590,507	2.4%	$75,532
18	Montana	3,795	302	1,145,939	5.7%	$75,340
19	Florida	3,800	6,168	23,438,169	8.8%	$77,735
20	Idaho	3,839	525	2,015,670	9.6%	$81,166
21	New York	3,848	5,156	19,838,111	-1.8%	$85,820
22	Nevada	3,888	844	3,281,458	5.7%	$81,134
23	Texas	4,014	7,826	31,414,647	7.8%	$79,721
24	Nebraska	4,122	488	2,011,439	2.5%	$76,376
25	Arizona	4,160	1,832	7,622,026	6.6%	$81,486
26	Pennsylvania	4,279	3,064	13,110,331	0.8%	$77,545
27	Maine	4,293	329	1,412,288	3.7%	$76,442
28	Indiana	4,342	1,601	6,951,861	2.5%	$71,959
29	Vermont	4,428	147	650,935	1.2%	$82,730
30	Wisconsin	4,435	1,350	5,987,539	1.6%	$77,488
31	Oklahoma	4,472	921	4,118,517	4.0%	$66,148
32	North Carolina	4,486	2,478	11,116,436	6.5%	$73,958
33	Kansas	4,513	660	2,978,815	1.4%	$75,514
34	Minnesota	4,599	1,264	5,813,364	1.9%	$87,117
35	Ohio	4,622	2,580	11,925,796	1.1%	$72,212
36	South Carolina	4,664	1,185	5,526,670	8.0%	$72,350
37	North Dakota	4,754	168	798,691	2.5%	$77,871
38	Tennessee	4,762	1,528	7,276,341	5.3%	$71,997
39	Louisiana	4,888	942	4,604,772	-1.1%	$60,986
40	Georgia	4,902	2,293	11,239,182	4.9%	$79,991
41	Iowa	4,972	654	3,251,818	1.9%	$75,501
42	South Dakota	5,059	184	930,866	5.0%	$76,881
43	Missouri	5,069	1,238	6,274,927	1.9%	$71,589
44	Arkansas	5,146	604	3,108,391	3.2%	$62,106
45	Kentucky	5,190	887	4,603,890	2.2%	$64,526
46	Rhode Island	5,328	209	1,113,655	1.5%	$83,504
47	Mississippi	5,361	551	2,953,785	-0.3%	$59,127
48	New Mexico	5,468	391	2,137,874	1.0%	$67,816
49	Alabama	5,485	946	5,188,634	3.3%	$66,659
50	West Virginia	5,594	318	1,778,986	-0.8%	$60,798
51	Delaware	5,753	184	1,058,545	6.9%	$87,534

Source: Dentagraphics state pages, hand-verified active general dental practices; Census Bureau American Community Survey data, cross-referenced against multiple commercial data sources. US average: 3,858 residents per general practice. Each state name links to its full dental demographics page, with specialty practice counts, age, income and the counties inside it.

What the state numbers show

The most competitive states are coastal and high-income. California, New Jersey, Washington DC, Massachusetts and Illinois all have fewer than 3,400 residents per general practice. Most of them also have median household incomes above $100,000, so practices cluster where patients can pay.

The least competitive states are mostly in the South and the middle of the country. Delaware, West Virginia, Alabama, New Mexico, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Kentucky all have more than 5,100 residents per general practice. Lower incomes explain part of that in some of them, but not all: Delaware ($87,534) and Rhode Island ($83,504) have incomes above the US median.

Some fast-growing states still have room. Several states pair strong population growth with more residents per practice than the US average:

State	Residents per general practice	Population growth
South Carolina	4,664	8.0%
Delaware	5,753	6.9%
North Carolina	4,486	6.5%
Tennessee	4,762	5.3%
South Dakota	5,059	5.0%
Georgia	4,902	4.9%

Fast-growing states that are already near or below the US average include Idaho (3,839, 9.6% growth), Florida (3,800, 8.8%), Texas (4,014, 7.8%) and Utah (3,619, 7.4%). Growth there is real, but dentists are moving in too.

Why a state number is only the first step

A state average is useful for narrowing a search, especially if you're relocating. It is not enough to pick a location. Within any state, the spread between the most and least crowded areas is far larger than the spread between states. In the San Antonio metro alone, counties range from 3,094 residents per general practice (Kendall) to 7,025 (Medina).

A sensible order of work:

Use the state table to shortlist two or three states that fit your licensing, family and lifestyle needs.
Compare metros and counties inside those states. Our ranking of the 25 largest metros and the county pages linked from each state page do this.
Look at specific areas around a site, usually within a 5 mile radius or a short drive time, where the real competition is.
Check the practices themselves. Online directories list closed offices, duplicate listings and dentists who moved. A count is only as good as the list behind it.

For how to do the last two steps, see our guide to dental practice site selection.

How Dentagraphics counts dental practices

Dentagraphics tracks 118,330 dental practices that have been verified by hand. Every practice is checked by a person on our research team and rechecked every year; 97% have been rechecked in the last 12 months. Between checks, our system flags possible changes, such as a practice marked closed on Google, a changed website, a broken phone number or a likely change in ownership, and a person reviews every flag. Read more about how Dentagraphics verifies dental practices.

Population, income and age come from Census Bureau American Community Survey data, cross-referenced against multiple commercial data sources.

Frequently asked questions

Which state has the most dentists per capita? By practices, California: 2,870 residents per general dental practice, the lowest ratio of any state. New Jersey (2,944) and Washington DC (3,136) follow.

Which state has the fewest dentists per capita? Delaware, with 5,753 residents per general dental practice. West Virginia (5,594) and Alabama (5,485) are next.

What is the average number of people per dental practice in the US? About 3,858 residents per general dental practice, based on hand-verified active practices.

Is a state with more residents per practice a better place to open? Not automatically. More residents per practice means less competition on paper, but income, insurance mix, age and growth decide whether those residents become patients. Use the state ratio to narrow your search, then compare counties and specific sites.

Does this count specialists? No. This ranking counts general dental practices only. Each state's page also shows specialty practice counts, which vary much more by specialty.

How often are these numbers updated? The practice counts come from Dentagraphics' live database, which is rechecked every year with a person reviewing every flagged change. The figures on this page were taken from our state pages in October 2026.