11 Cities with The Fewest Doctors Per Capita in America

Having serious health issues might make you uncomfortable to reside in one of the cities with the fewest doctors per capita in America, as they may be miles away from where you live. It might be a better option for you to live in one of 11 cities with the most doctors per capita in America. As mentioned in our previous list, America will face a shortage of 90,000 physicians by 2025, with an increase in demand of about 17%. Throughout the country, the average per capita figure is 258.7 doctors per 100,000 people; the highest rate of 415.5 doctors per 100,000 people is in Massachusetts, whereas the lowest rate of 176.4 is in Mississippi.

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While you may be alarmed by the cities with the fewest doctors per capita, what is disturbing is that the United States is only one of three OECD countries to “not guarantee access to health care for its population”, according to a 2004 report. While most industrialized countries have provided universal healthcare for its citizens, the United States have yet to implement policies towards universal healthcare. This issue is extremely important given the fact that the country also had the highest rates of obesity, infant mortality, accidents, heart and lung disease, injuries, homicides and sexually transmitted diseases, among 17 industrialized countries, according to a report by the National Institutes of Health in 2013. This also comes at a time when Gallup, 2015, noted that there was an increase in the number of uninsured individuals living in the United States to 11.9%. While having health insurance ensures one that most, if not all expenses would be covered, a lot of uninsured individuals, especially senior citizens have resorted to selling their property, with some even declaring bankruptcy due to health costs.

As for the previous list of the cities with the most doctors per capita, to create this list, Insider Monkey obtained data from Dartmouth Health Atlas. We again looked at the hospital service areas and the number of doctors per 100,000 people.Additional data was also provided by the Association of American Medical College’s report. Below each city is the number of doctors per 100,000 people, and the doctor – population ratio, or how many people are served by a single doctor.

Without further ado, we bring you the list of cities with the fewest doctors per capita.