Surgical Assistant vs Surgical Technologist
Surgical Assistant has 2.5 times as many registry records as Surgical Technologist: 4,711 against 1,884. Each count is the NPPES records whose primary taxonomy is the specialty, so it measures how providers describe their main practice, not everyone trained in it.
Surgical Assistant: 4,711 records in 52 states
Surgical Technologist: 1,884 records in 48 states
By state, with records per 100,000 residents
| State | Surgical Assistant | Surgical Technologist | Per 100,000 (first) | Per 100,000 (second) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,118 | 366 | 3.7 | 1.2 |
| Florida | 987 | 135 | 4.4 | 0.6 |
| Georgia | 329 | 87 | 3.0 | 0.8 |
| Illinois | 271 | 131 | 2.2 | 1.0 |
| Tennessee | 122 | 218 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Virginia | 305 | 34 | 3.5 | 0.4 |
| Colorado | 176 | 88 | 3.0 | 1.5 |
| Indiana | 98 | 128 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Kentucky | 158 | 63 | 3.5 | 1.4 |
| Arizona | 110 | 65 | 1.5 | 0.9 |
| Wisconsin | 59 | 68 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Ohio | 69 | 36 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Maryland | 86 | 13 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| Louisiana | 65 | 32 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Nevada | 50 | 47 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| California | 45 | 46 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Idaho | 45 | 41 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| North Carolina | 58 | 20 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Oklahoma | 40 | 32 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| New York | 56 | 14 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Oregon | 48 | 22 | 1.1 | 0.5 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 34 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Mississippi | 47 | 5 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| Pennsylvania | 40 | 12 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| South Carolina | 40 | 10 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| New Mexico | 36 | 11 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| Missouri | 17 | 20 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Michigan | 20 | 8 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Alabama | 17 | 5 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| New Jersey | 14 | 8 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Washington | 3 | 19 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Iowa | 15 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Massachusetts | 14 | 4 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Nebraska | 10 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Utah | 14 | 4 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Arkansas | 9 | 8 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Kansas | 11 | 5 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Maine | 10 | 6 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| District of Columbia | 16 | 0 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
| Alaska | 13 | 2 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| Wyoming | 9 | 6 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Montana | 10 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
| New Hampshire | 8 | 3 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Delaware | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 5 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Source: CMS NPPES (NPPES files on CMS.gov), primary NUCC taxonomy by practice state; 2023 population estimates (census.gov).
Common questions
How many Surgical Assistant providers are there vs Surgical Technologist?
There are 4,711 Surgical Assistant and 1,884 Surgical Technologist records in the CMS NPPES registry, counted by primary taxonomy.
Which specialty is spread across more states?
Surgical Assistant has records in 52 states and territories, against 48.
Where is the data from?
Provider counts are from the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). Per-capita rates use 2023 Census population estimates.
Every figure on PlainDoctor is rendered directly from the federal CMS NPPES registry, Medicare Part D, MIPS, and Open Payments records, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of Aug 27, 2026.