Arizona Physician Shortage Facts

Physician supply lags behind patient demand nationally and across Arizona. As supply falls, patients wait longer to see a doctor, and doctors burn out.


The U.S. is projected to have 120,000 too few doctors nationally.

  • Nearly 40% of American physicians will reach retirement age.
  • The United States will face a shortage of over 120,000 physicians.
  • 34.3% of Arizona physicians are within retirement range right now.

Arizona is projected to be short 8,280 doctors.

  • Primary care alone is projected to be short 1,941 providers.

Overall, Arizona ranks in the bottom half of states for primary care and physician availability.

AZ-ranking-stats

Every county in Arizona is a partial health professional shortage area (HPSAs).

  • Low-income citizens are disproportionately affected by these shortages.
  • HPSA designations indicate areas where there are 3,500 or more patients for every one provider.
AZ-HPSAs

Arizona’s physician-to-patient ratio is 15 percent worse than the national average:

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