Optician providers in the U.S.
6,972 NPPES records list optician as their primary taxonomy, about 2.0 per 100,000 residents; Kentucky and Connecticut have the most per resident. A registry record is not proof of an active practice.
What taxonomy code 156FX1800X means
156FX1800X is the National Uniform Claim Committee code for Technician/Technologist, Optician, in the grouping Eye and Vision Services Providers. 6,972 NPPES records list it as their primary taxonomy (file of Aug 9, 2026).
Opticians help fit eyeglasses and contact lenses, following prescriptions from Ophthalmologists and Optometrists. They also help customers decide which eyeglass frame or contact lenses to buy.
Source: NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy code set, definition as NUCC publishes it (nucc.org); counts from CMS NPPES.
Most per resident: the 8 highest
Source: CMS NPPES, primary taxonomy 156FX1800X by practice state, file of Aug 9, 2026; records per 100,000 residents, 2023 Census estimates.
Brooklyn has the most, 129
Source: CMS NPPES, primary taxonomy 156FX1800X by practice city, file of Aug 9, 2026.
All 51 by state
| State | Records | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 46 | 0.9 |
| Alaska | 32 | 4.4 |
| Arizona | 132 | 1.8 |
| Arkansas | 17 | 0.6 |
| California | 334 | 0.9 |
| Colorado | 66 | 1.1 |
| Connecticut | 240 | 6.6 |
| Delaware | 11 | 1.1 |
| District of Columbia | 7 | 1.0 |
| Florida | 654 | 2.9 |
| Georgia | 265 | 2.4 |
| Hawaii | 36 | 2.5 |
| Idaho | 12 | 0.6 |
| Illinois | 55 | 0.4 |
| Indiana | 21 | 0.3 |
| Iowa | 18 | 0.6 |
| Kansas | 24 | 0.8 |
| Kentucky | 304 | 6.7 |
| Louisiana | 28 | 0.6 |
| Maine | 16 | 1.1 |
| Maryland | 56 | 0.9 |
| Massachusetts | 295 | 4.2 |
| Michigan | 89 | 0.9 |
| Minnesota | 56 | 1.0 |
| Mississippi | 11 | 0.4 |
| Missouri | 27 | 0.4 |
| State | Records | Per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | 69 | 6.1 |
| Nebraska | 17 | 0.9 |
| Nevada | 54 | 1.7 |
| New Hampshire | 47 | 3.4 |
| New Jersey | 241 | 2.6 |
| New Mexico | 24 | 1.1 |
| New York | 1,141 | 5.8 |
| North Carolina | 124 | 1.1 |
| North Dakota | 12 | 1.5 |
| Ohio | 729 | 6.2 |
| Oklahoma | 23 | 0.6 |
| Oregon | 82 | 1.9 |
| Pennsylvania | 183 | 1.4 |
| Rhode Island | 26 | 2.4 |
| South Carolina | 247 | 4.6 |
| South Dakota | 18 | 2.0 |
| Tennessee | 52 | 0.7 |
| Texas | 286 | 0.9 |
| Utah | 12 | 0.4 |
| Vermont | 11 | 1.7 |
| Virginia | 219 | 2.5 |
| Washington | 146 | 1.9 |
| West Virginia | 16 | 0.9 |
| Wisconsin | 71 | 1.2 |
| Wyoming | 4 | 0.7 |
In federal data
- NUCC code156FX1800X · Technician/Technologist
- Size rank114th of 688 specialties by records (0.1% of all)
- In its family1st of 10 Technician/Technologist codes, 60.9% of the family
- Industry payments50 physicians paid $4K in 2024, $88 each on average
- Concentration7 states hold half of all records
Source: CMS NPPES; Medicare Part D Prescriber PUF; CMS Open Payments 2024. Presence in these files is not a quality judgment.
A sample of optician records
- Benjamin Ward, OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1629255484
- Beverly Harper, OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1942991096
- Corinne SullivanAnchorage, AK1982579900
- Mabelita CameroAnchorage, AK1265870141
- Melissa SpiresAnchorage, AK1265265441
- Virginia Shearer, LICENCED OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1740022201
- Jeff PowellAnchorage, AK1942357785
- Andrew FoxAnchorage, AK1538452925
- Sach Suitt, LDOAnchorage, AK1679866958
- William Abrams, LDOAnchorage, AK1083036909
- Michael Jay Dela CruzAnchorage, AK1982399077
- Ray Blackford, OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1780737882
- Carl Seutter, LDOAnchorage, AK1720284045
- Candelario Villanueva, DISPENSUNG OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1477722296
- Tammy Collings, OPTICIANAnchorage, AK1285962035
- Nicole BucyAnchorage, AK1689483273
Registry order, not a ranking. Search by name to find one provider.
Common questions
Where does the large Optician headcount concentrate?
6,972 Optician NPIs span 52 states; New York alone holds 1,141. Top metros include Brooklyn, NY; New York, NY; Miami, FL; Rochester, NY. Nationally this is 114th of 688 NUCC codes.
How large is Optician's Open Payments footprint?
CMS Open Payments 2024 lists 50 Optician physicians totaling $4K (92 payments; average $88, 426th of 470). Presence in Open Payments is not a quality judgment.
What does NUCC code 156FX1800X mean?
Optician is NUCC taxonomy 156FX1800X in the Technician/Technologist group. Counts are self-designated primary taxonomy at NPI enrollment, not board certification.
Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), file of Aug 9, 2026 (NPPES files on CMS.gov); NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy (nucc.org); Medicare Part D Prescriber PUF; CMS Open Payments 2024. Counts are self-designated primary taxonomy, not board certification.
Figures on PlainDoctor are read from the federal files each page names (CMS NPPES, Medicare Part D, MIPS, Open Payments; the HHS-OIG exclusion list only as counts) and from Census population estimates, with the file date shown beside them. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of Aug 9, 2026.