State provider profile · CMS NPPES
California Doctors & Healthcare Providers
Every CMS NPPES-registered provider in California - actual federal records by specialty, city, and Medicare participation, with no composite score or editorial opinion on top.
- 937,423
- Providers
- 669
- Specialties
- 30+
- Cities (10+ NPIs)
- 1st
- of 56 by size
The state in one line
California has 937,423 CMS-registered healthcare providers, the 1st-largest provider base of 56 U.S. jurisdictions, led by Behavior Technician.
- 937,423
- NPPES-registered providers
- 1st
- of 56 jurisdictions
- Top 2%
- by provider count
- 17.3%
- Behavior Technician (largest specialty)
Where California ranks among all U.S. states
Provider count vs every U.S. state, DC and territory, CMS NPPES
937,423 Top 2% higher than 98% of 56 jurisdictions
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more jurisdictions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CMS National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) · 2026
937,423 providers across 669 specialties
What's distinctive here
The specialties California has more, and fewer, of than the nation
Relative to its size, California has about 4.6× the national share of rehabilitation practitioners and only 0.23× the share of professional counselors. These gaps reflect how each state licenses and classifies professions, not how much care is available.
More common in California
Less common in California
- Professional Counselor 0.23×
- Physical Therapy Assistant 0.44×
- Speech-Language Pathologist 0.44×
- Occupational Therapist 0.50×
- Massage Therapist 0.51×
Each multiple is California's share of that specialty divided by its national share, among specialties with at least 3,000 providers in-state. Source: CMS NPPES, current release.
How to read this directory
This count includes every individual clinician, physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, therapists, and psychologists, with a current active National Provider Identifier on file with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a primary practice address in California. Organizations such as hospitals, group practices, and pharmacies carry their own separate NPPES records and are deliberately not included in this individual-provider total, and each clinician is counted once under their registered primary taxonomy. Every figure is drawn from the federal National Provider Identifier Registry (CMS NPPES) - more than 7 million providers, maintained since May 2007, with 2023 Medicare Part D data, and, according to CMS, can be searched, compared, and traced in our methodology.
Important: this is a directory of public CMS government data, not a quality ranking, a review aggregator, or medical advice. NPPES records are self-reported and refreshed monthly, so a listed address or phone number can lag reality; always call the office to confirm location, insurance acceptance, and new-patient availability before booking. Verify licensure and disciplinary history, which are not shown here, through the NPI Registry and your state medical board.
California at a glance
Typical distributionTop specialties in California
Distribution by primary NUCC taxonomy - 669 specialties total
- Top specialty: Behavior Technician
- 162,290
- 17.3% of California's 937,423 providers
| # | Specialty | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Behavior Technician | 162,290 |
| 2 | Marriage & Family Therapist | 51,414 |
| 3 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 46,496 |
| 4 | Mental Health Counselor | 36,093 |
| 5 | Pharmacist | 32,376 |
| 6 | Clinical Social Worker | 29,138 |
| 7 | Addiction (Substance Use Disorder) Counselor | 28,661 |
| 8 | Case Manager/Care Coordinator | 26,242 |
| 9 | Physical Therapist | 21,951 |
| 10 | Internal Medicine Physician | 20,046 |
| 11 | Behavior Analyst | 19,103 |
| 12 | General Practice Dentistry | 17,539 |
| 13 | Counselor | 17,448 |
| 14 | Family Medicine Physician | 15,933 |
| 15 | Registered Nurse | 15,601 |
| 16 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 15,115 |
| 17 | Dentist | 14,698 |
| 18 | Physician Assistant | 13,402 |
| 19 | Community Health Worker | 12,536 |
| 20 | Chiropractor | 11,464 |
Which cities in California have the most providers?
Top cities in California by provider count
Active CMS NPPES-registered providers by primary practice city
- Los Angeles
Los Angeles
67,148 providers
- San Diego
San Diego
51,322 providers
- San Francisco
San Francisco
36,790 providers
- Sacramento
Sacramento
32,149 providers
- San Jose 20,410
San Jose
20,410 providers
- Fresno 18,585
Fresno
18,585 providers
- Oakland 18,012
Oakland
18,012 providers
- Monrovia 15,779
Monrovia
15,779 providers
- Riverside 13,204
Riverside
13,204 providers
- Long Beach 13,201
Long Beach
13,201 providers
What this shows Los Angeles leads California's 30+ reporting cities; provider supply concentrates in the largest metros, so a statewide total understates rural access gaps.
Full city breakdown with each city's share of the state total:
| # | City | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 67,148 |
| 2 | San Diego | 51,322 |
| 3 | San Francisco | 36,790 |
| 4 | Sacramento | 32,149 |
| 5 | San Jose | 20,410 |
| 6 | Fresno | 18,585 |
| 7 | Oakland | 18,012 |
| 8 | Monrovia | 15,779 |
| 9 | Riverside | 13,204 |
| 10 | Long Beach | 13,201 |
| 11 | Orange | 12,496 |
| 12 | Bakersfield | 11,016 |
| 13 | Pasadena | 10,326 |
| 14 | Stockton | 9,242 |
| 15 | Anaheim | 8,820 |
| 16 | Concord | 8,701 |
| 17 | Santa Ana | 8,679 |
| 18 | Modesto | 8,636 |
| 19 | Torrance | 8,594 |
| 20 | Irvine | 7,457 |
| 21 | Palo Alto | 7,373 |
| 22 | Santa Rosa | 6,707 |
| 23 | Walnut Creek | 5,972 |
| 24 | San Bernardino | 5,419 |
| 25 | Stanford | 5,375 |
| 26 | Santa Barbara | 5,220 |
| 27 | Fullerton | 5,202 |
| 28 | Roseville | 5,125 |
| 29 | Ontario | 5,079 |
| 30 | Santa Monica | 5,035 |
Nearby States
Other high-volume states in the CMS NPPES registry for side-by-side context.
License & disciplinary context - California
Aggregate state medical board disciplinary action statistics for California licensees, sourced from the Medical Board of California annual report and cross-checked against the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).
View California disciplinary trends →Using the California data
California has 937,423 active registered providers, here is how to act on that.
- Narrow by specialty first: California's provider mix differs from the national distribution, and the per-specialty pages show who actually practices here. Browse specialties
- Verify any shortlisted provider's federal record and license before booking, registration alone is not a quality signal. NPI lookup
- Check California's disciplinary-action trends to understand the state board's enforcement context. Board actions
Counts reflect CMS NPPES registrations, which can lag retirements and relocations. PlainDoctor does not rate, rank, or recommend providers.
Explore California
Frequently Asked Questions
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Provider data from CMS NPPES (download.cms.gov/nppes); specialty mix by NUCC Health Care Provider Taxonomy. PlainDoctor does not rate or rank providers. Methodology · About