Mapping the Osteopathic Profession - American Osteopathic Association

Mapping the profession

Visualizing the osteopathic landscape

Access interactive maps showing the distribution of osteopathic physicians across the U.S.

To visually pinpoint the distribution of the osteopathic profession by practice location, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) partnered with the National Center for the Analysis of Healthcare Data (NCAHD) in 2025 to develop a series of maps that show the number of U.S. licensed osteopathic physicians, nationally and by state.

NCAHD utilized their physician workforce data (the 2025 Enhanced State Licensure [ESL]) with other demographic and political datasets within their Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping/analysis to generate national maps, a series of state maps and charts comparing the distribution of osteopathic physicians and allopathic physicians.

All U.S. osteopathic physicians

Active, licensed DOs practicing across the U.S.

Primary care physicians

DOs practicing in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics or ONMM

Non-primary care physicians

DOs practicing in non-primary care specialties and subspecialties

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*AOA Terms of Use apply.

This publication was made possible through primary funding support from the American Osteopathic Foundation (AOF). The AOF is proud to invest in initiatives that document, strengthen and advance the osteopathic profession and its contributions to healthcare across the United States.

Mapping scope & analysis

Examining primary care, specialty care, congressional districts and state growth trends

NCAHD created three sets of maps showing the distribution of all osteopathic physicians, primary care osteopathic physicians and non-primary care osteopathic physicians.

For each set of maps, a national map and 50 state maps plus the District of Columbia were created. The maps show osteopathic physicians by practice location with spatial analysis on their proximity relative to the federal definitions for USDA RUCA rural codes 6-10 and HRSA’s medically underserved areas/population (MUA/P). All maps compare the percentage of osteopathic physicians and allopathic physicians practicing in rural areas and medically underserved areas/populations.

For the primary care maps, the federal definition of primary care was used and included the following specialties: family medicine (including general practice), general internal medicine and general pediatrics. Osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine (ONMM) was also included in the count of primary care osteopathic physicians.

Each non-primary care state map includes a table of the top 10 osteopathic non-primary care specialties with the number of practicing specialists in each state.

A fourth set of maps shows osteopathic physicians by Congressional District for each state with spatial analysis of their proximity relative to the federal definitions for HRSA’s medically underserved areas/populations (MUA/P), while an additional set of charts shows the growth of the osteopathic profession by state with a trend analysis over time from 2008-2025.

Key results

Geographic distribution, specialty representation and growth trends across the U.S.

Based on the national map of all osteopathic physicians, 13% of all actively licensed physicians are osteopathic physicians. Generally, osteopathic physicians practice in rural areas at a slightly higher percentage rate than allopathic physicians. Osteopathic and allopathic physicians practice at a similar percentage rate in medically underserved areas.

Nationally, 11% of all osteopathic physicians practice in rural areas while 31% practice in medically underserved areas. Conversely, 7% of allopathic physicians practice in rural areas, with 29% practicing in medically underserved areas.
Nationally, 14% of all primary care osteopathic physicians practice in rural areas whereas 10% of primary care allopathic physicians practice in rural areas. Comparatively, 33% of both osteopathic and allopathic physicians practice in medically underserved areas.
Nationally, 9% of all non-primary care osteopathic physicians practice in rural areas, with 31% practicing in medically underserved areas and 6% of non-primary care allopathic physicians practice in rural areas, with 29% practice in medically underserved areas.

For the individual state maps, geographic context strongly affects state-level comparisons. The percentage of osteopathic physicians and allopathic physicians practicing in rural or MUA/P areas depends heavily on how extensive those designations are within each state. From 2008 to 2025, state-level growth of osteopathic physicians ranged dramatically (57% to 631%). The average growth rate was 223%, with a median of 199%.

Looking ahead

The growing role of osteopathic medicine in addressing U.S. physician shortages

The national and state maps demonstrate that osteopathic physicians play a critical and growing role in the U.S. healthcare system, particularly in rural communities, medically underserved areas and primary care settings. The findings provide strong evidence to support workforce planning and policy advocacy that will improve healthcare access and address geographic physician shortages.

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*AOA Terms of Use apply.

Methodology & criteria

Understanding RUCA codes and MUA/P federal designations

The map series identifies osteopathic physicians by practice location, showing their proximity relative to the following federal definitions:

USDA Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) rural codes 6-10.¹ RUCA codes 6-10 capture micropolitan low-commuting, small town and rural areas. These codes are widely used as a geographic definition of rurality.
Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) medically underserved area/population (MUA/P).² MUA/P incorporates four factors: Primary care physician-to-population ratio, poverty rate, percentage of population age 65+ and infant mortality rate. An MUA/P can be urban or rural, or a county, group of census tracts or a population group within a broader area.

Overlap of RUCA rural codes and MUA/P does occur. Many RUCA 6-10 areas have lower provider supply, experience geographic isolation or have higher poverty or older populations. These characteristics may make rural areas more likely to qualify as MUA/Ps.

Urban and suburban areas (RUCA codes 1-3) and micropolitan areas (RUCA codes 4-5) can have high-poverty, a lower primary care physician-to-population ratio and/or severe access barriers. These areas are often designated as MUA/P, even though they are clearly not rural.

Data sources

How ESL data compares to AOA reporting

When comparing the data from the NCAHD maps to the numbers reported in AOA’s annual Osteopathic Medical Profession (OMP) report, key differences in how the data is aggregated and analyzed impact the numbers reported. These differences explain why viewers will not see a 1:1 correlation in the numbers published between these two datasets.

NCAHD’s ESL, obtained from state medical licensing boards, identifies and reports on all osteopathic and allopathic physicians with an active medical license. For physicians with multiple licenses, information from each medical licensing board is used to determine a physician’s primary practice location.

In the OMP report, AOA’s definition of active in practice uses the osteopathic physician’s age (under age 65) and excludes those that have reported themselves as retired or not in practice. Osteopathic physician counts per state are based on the preferred mailing address (which can be either a practice or home address). AOA’s total osteopathic physician counts include all living osteopathic physicians, some of which no longer maintain medical licensure.

Footnotes

¹ The USDA, Economic Research Service’s (ERS) Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes are a classification scheme allowing for flexible, sub-county delineation of rural and urban areas throughout the United States and its territories. Read more.

² HRSA’s Medically Underserved Areas (MUA) are geographic regions identified by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) where residents face significant barriers to accessing primary care services HRSA also designates Medically Underserved Populations (MUP), which apply the same criteria to specific underserved groups within a community, such as low-income residents or migrant workers. Read more.

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

The American Osteopathic Association (“AOA”) has produced, in partnership with the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s National Center for the Analysis of Healthcare Data (“NCAHD”), a series of maps (“Maps”) that visualize the distribution of licensed U.S. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DO/DOs), with some providing comparison statistics of U.S. licensed Medical Doctors (MD/MDs).

Within the Maps, users will find maps that display:

All DOs, national and by state
All DOs in primary care, national and by state
- Primary care is defined as family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM)
All DOs not in primary care, national and by state
- The top ten non-primary care specialties practiced by DOs are shared on each map
All DOs by 119th Congressional Districts, by state only
DO growth trends, from 2008–2025, by state only

Except for the DO growth trends series, the Maps also identify the practice locations of DOs in proximity to the following federal definitions:

USDA Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) rural codes 6-10
Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) medically underserved area/population (MUA/P)

The Maps are owned by the AOA. By accessing, viewing, downloading or otherwise using the Maps, users of the Maps (each, a “User”) hereby agree to be bound by the Terms of Use in this document.

Use of the Maps is subject to these Terms of Use and any additional restrictions or conditions communicated by the AOA. The AOA reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use at any time, and any such modifications shall be effective upon posting; continued use of the Maps following such modifications constitutes User’s acceptance of the revised Terms of Use. The Maps and its visual products are proprietary to the AOA and may not be copied, duplicated, distributed, transferred, published, disclosed or otherwise exploited except as expressly permitted by these Terms of Use or with the AOA’s prior written consent.

Each Map must be used in its entirety and may not be altered, modified, adapted or revised. Components of the individual maps, including data, statistics and visual displays may not be extracted, copied, republished, redistributed or otherwise used separately from the applicable Map. To the extent that the User wishes to use a portion or extract portions from the Maps on a stand-alone basis or as part of other projects, User may only do so upon the express written consent of the AOA.
The Maps may not be used in connection with any communication which, in the sole discretion of the AOA, would tend to mislead, misinform or deceive or which may be distasteful in content or presentation. Neither the AOA’s name nor any of its marks may appear in any such User communications. AOA is not responsible for claims made by User based on the Maps. Notwithstanding any AOA approval, User will defend, indemnify and hold the AOA harmless against any damage or claim of damage, costs and fees, including reasonable attorney fees, arising in any way from the use of the Maps.
The AOA has taken reasonable measures to ensure that the information contained within the Maps are reliable, however, by using the Maps, User accepts that the information provided is “AS IS.” AOA makes no express or implied warranty regarding the accuracy, content, completeness, reliability, operability or legality of information shared, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement of proprietary rights. The AOA disclaims any and all warranties, whether express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the information contained in the Maps. In no event shall the AOA be liable to the User or anyone else for any decision made or action taken by the User in reliance on the data in the Maps.
It is expressly understood and agreed that the AOA’s rights, including, but not limited to, common law and statutory rights of literary property and copyright in the Maps, the data contained therein, and any derivative works thereof, are not assigned or released as a result of sharing the Maps, but are reserved and retained by the AOA.
For any breach of the Maps’ Terms of Use, User will be liable to the AOA for all damages including consequential damages and to the fullest extent of the law (plus reasonable attorney fees, court costs and expenses) and loss of income. User acknowledges that unauthorized use of the Maps may cause irreparable harm to the AOA for which monetary damages may be an inadequate remedy, and the AOA shall therefore be entitled to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity.
These Terms of Use shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. Any disputes arising under or in connection with these Terms of Use shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois and User hereby consents to such jurisdiction and venue.
The AOA reserves the right to suspend, limit or terminate any User’s access to the Maps at any time, with or without notice, for any actual or suspected violation of these Terms of Use or for any other reason in the AOA’s discretion.