Researchers have long understood that place has an influence on health. Access to care is one of the social determinants of health, which are the nonmedical factors that impact health outcomes. While we typically think of this in the context of physical health, access to care also matters for mental health.
Each year, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute publishes its County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program report to track various dimensions of health and outcomes in the US. This interactive map from Esri uses the 2022 and 2024 data to show the state of mental healthcare access and how it’s improving.
The map opens with a view of the 2024 data about mental health providers per 100,000 people by state. It uses color and labels to indicate the rate of providers relative to the population. States in turquoise have more mental health providers per 100,000 people, while states in fuchsia have a lower ratio. The map is centered around the 2022 average—282 providers per 100,000 people—to facilitate comparisons between 2022 and 2024. You can click any place for information about the number of providers and the share of adults who have 14 or more poor mental health days per month.
At the state level, Massachusetts leads with 737 mental health providers per 100,000 people. Overall, the West Coast and the Northeast have better access to mental health providers, while the Southeast has less access. When you zoom in to see counties, you can find evidence of an urban-rural trend. Counties that include or are near metro areas tend to have more access to mental health providers than their rural counterparts. Among counties, Floyd County, Kentucky, leads with 3,408 mental health providers per 100,000 people.
While many states and counties fall below the national average, it’s clear that access to mental healthcare is improving. You can toggle on the 2022 data, which uses the same breakdown by color that the 2024 data uses. Every US state shows more mental health providers per 100,000 people in the 2024 data than in the 2022 data. In that time, the rate of mental health providers per 100,000 people has risen by 13% across the US.
More to Explore
- Get an overview of mental health in the US through maps.
- Discover more maps based on the County Health Rankings.
- Learn about the linkages between proximity to green space and mental health.
