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Acupuncture workforce · 2023 state comparison

How many acupuncturists does each state have per person?

Population predicts part of the story. Dividing active state licenses by residents reveals a much wider difference in how concentrated the licensed acupuncture workforce is across the country.

The short answer: bigger states have more licensees, but population is not the whole story.

California and New York lead in raw license counts. Once population is included, smaller western states and Hawaii move to the top.

Highest countCalifornia

7,317 active licenses

Highest per capitaHawaii

53.0 per 100,000 residents

Combined rate10.6

per 100,000 across states with counts

Hawaii53.0
New Mexico40.2
Oregon37.4
Vermont35.7
Colorado27.7

Active state licenses per 100,000 residents. The combined 48-jurisdiction rate is 10.6.

Explore the data

Select a state. Change the measure.

Color shows the selected measure relative to the highest state. Choose any tile for its full comparison.

Tile map: approximate position, equal-size states. D.C. is shown separately. Dashed tiles have no comparable count.

HI

State snapshot

Hawaii

Population
1,435,138
Active licenses
761
Per 100,000
53.0

By total licenses#14

By licenses per capita#1

Hawaii rises 13 places when population is included.

Per-capita ranking changes what “a large acupuncture market” means.

Raw totals describe the size of a licensed workforce. Rates describe its concentration relative to the state population. You need both views.

Largest licensed workforces

  1. California7,317
  2. New York5,024
  3. Florida2,644
  4. Colorado1,626
  5. Oregon1,582

Highest license density

  1. Hawaii53.0
  2. New Mexico40.2
  3. Oregon37.4
  4. Vermont35.7
  5. Colorado27.7

California accounts for more than one in five state licenses in the study, yet ranks tenth per capita at about 18.8 per 100,000. Hawaii has only 761 licenses but ranks first because its population is much smaller. Texas illustrates the reverse: 1,179 licenses make it a top-ten state by count, but its rate is about 3.9.

Every state, ranked by licensed acupuncturists per 100,000 residents.

The population and license vintages both refer to 2023. Rates are calculated as active licenses ÷ resident population × 100,000.

States and Washington, D.C., ranked by active acupuncture licenses per 100,000 residents
RankState2023 populationActive licensesPer 100,000
1Hawaii1,435,13876153.0
2New Mexico2,114,37185040.2
3Oregon4,233,3581,58237.4
4Vermont647,46423135.7
5Colorado5,877,6101,62627.7
6New York19,571,2165,02425.7
7Washington7,812,8801,56920.1
8Maryland6,180,2531,22819.9
9District of Columbia678,97213319.6
10California38,965,1937,31718.8
11Maine1,395,72224917.8
12Montana1,132,81217915.8
13Massachusetts7,001,3991,05315.0
14Connecticut3,617,17652814.6
15Alaska733,40610514.3
16Rhode Island1,095,96215514.1
17New Jersey9,290,8411,19812.9
18Florida22,610,7262,64411.7
19Minnesota5,737,91565211.4
20Wyoming584,0576411.0
21New Hampshire1,402,05414610.4
22Idaho1,964,7261839.3
23Arizona7,431,3446588.9
24Virginia8,715,6985986.9
25Illinois†12,549,6898136.5
26Pennsylvania12,961,6838316.4
27Utah3,417,7342186.4
28North Carolina10,835,4916295.8
29Texas30,503,3011,1793.9
30Nevada3,194,1761083.4
31Tennessee7,126,4892193.1
32Nebraska1,978,379582.9
33West Virginia1,770,071512.9
34South Carolina5,373,5551512.8
35Ohio11,785,9353122.6
36Georgia11,029,2272902.6
37Kansas2,940,546732.5
38Michigan10,037,2612492.5
39Missouri6,196,1561372.2
40Kentucky4,526,154992.2
41North Dakota†783,926162.0
42Louisiana4,573,749801.7
43Indiana6,862,1991141.7
44Iowa3,207,004431.3
45Arkansas3,067,732391.3
46Delaware1,031,890131.3
47Wisconsin5,910,955550.9
48Mississippi†2,939,690140.5

† The study labels the Illinois, Mississippi and North Dakota counts unverified. Wisconsin's 55-license figure is also a known data-quality question because a 2018 source reported 449.

Not ranked: Alabama, Oklahoma, South Dakota. The study reported no practice act and no comparable count for these jurisdictions.

Use the rate to ask better market questions—not to skip local research.

A high rate may mean an established market

Patients may know acupuncture, referral networks may exist and training or professional communities may be stronger. It may also mean more nearby alternatives for a patient.

A low rate is not automatically an opening

It could signal underserved patients, or simply lower demand, restrictive rules, weak insurance coverage, rural geography or a count that needs checking.

The state average hides the real service area

A practitioner in one metro does not make care accessible statewide. Compare the city, commuting radius and specialty you would actually serve.

Confirm who is actually practicing

Search the board roster, then check which practices are open, accepting patients and offering similar care. A license record is not the same as local capacity.

Method and limits.

This is a reproducible comparison of two published datasets, not a forecast of demand or practice success.

  • The numerator is the early-2023 active-license count in Fan et al., collected from state boards in February and verified in April 2023.
  • The denominator is the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 resident population estimate from its Vintage 2023 release.
  • A practitioner with licenses in multiple states is counted in every applicable state. Inactive-in-practice people may still hold an active license.
  • Illinois, Mississippi and North Dakota were confirmed by phone and labeled unverified by the study. Wisconsin's large change from an older source remains unresolved.
  • Alabama, Oklahoma and South Dakota are excluded from the ranking because the study reported no practice act and no comparable count—not because the rate is zero.
  • Rates are rounded to one decimal place. The combined rate uses only the 48 jurisdictions with a published count.

Sources: Fan et al., Journal of Integrative Medicine (2024), U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2023 state population estimates.

Frequently asked

Acupuncture workforce data, questions answered.

Which state has the most licensed acupuncturists per capita?

Hawaii, at about 53.0 active licenses per 100,000 residents in this comparison. New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Colorado follow. This is license density, not proof that all of those licensees are actively treating patients.

Which state has the most licensed acupuncturists overall?

California, with 7,317 active licenses in the study's early-2023 count. Its much larger population puts it tenth by licenses per 100,000 residents rather than first.

Does a low rate mean a state needs more acupuncturists?

Not by itself. A low rate could reflect unmet demand, low demand, different licensing rules, cross-border care, an incomplete count or other local conditions. Test a city and patient population directly before treating the state rate as an opportunity signal.

Are these practicing acupuncturists or licenses?

Licenses. The source counted active state licenses, and one practitioner licensed in multiple states appears in each state. A license count can also include someone who is not currently seeing patients in that state.

Why are Alabama, Oklahoma and South Dakota not ranked?

The source reported no acupuncture practice act in those states at the start of 2023 and did not publish a comparable license count. That does not establish that acupuncture is allowed, prohibited or unregulated there; consult the state-specific licensing research and the relevant authority.

Can I use this to choose where to open a practice?

Use it as a first screen, not a decision. Then examine the city or commuting area, patient need, referral relationships, prices, rent, payer mix, licensing requirements and how many listed practitioners are actually accepting patients.

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