State provider profile · CMS NPPES
Kentucky Doctors & Healthcare Providers
Every CMS NPPES-registered provider in Kentucky — actual federal records by specialty, city, and Medicare participation, with no composite score or editorial opinion on top.
- 85,231
- Providers
- 528
- Specialties
- 30+
- Cities (10+ NPIs)
- 27th
- of 56 by size
The state in one line
Kentucky has 85,231 CMS-registered healthcare providers — the 27th-largest provider base of 56 U.S. jurisdictions, led by Family Nurse Practitioner.
- 85,231
- NPPES-registered providers
- 27th
- of 56 jurisdictions
- Top 48%
- by provider count
- 5.9%
- Family Nurse Practitioner (largest specialty)
Where Kentucky ranks among all U.S. states
Provider count vs every U.S. state, DC and territory — CMS NPPES
85,231 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
85,231 providers across 528 specialties
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 Kentucky. 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.
Kentucky at a glance
Diverse specialty mixTop specialties in Kentucky
Distribution by primary NUCC taxonomy — 528 specialties total
- Top specialty: Family Nurse Practitioner
- 5,006
- 5.9% of Kentucky's 85,231 providers
| # | Specialty | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 5,006 |
| 2 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 4,443 |
| 3 | Pharmacist | 4,120 |
| 4 | Mental Health Counselor | 3,927 |
| 5 | Clinical Social Worker | 3,481 |
| 6 | Physical Therapist | 3,122 |
| 7 | Speech-Language Pathologist | 2,792 |
| 8 | Case Manager/Care Coordinator | 2,657 |
| 9 | Behavior Technician | 2,345 |
| 10 | Occupational Therapist | 2,214 |
| 11 | Nurse Practitioner | 1,883 |
| 12 | Counselor | 1,869 |
| 13 | Family Medicine Physician | 1,867 |
| 14 | Peer Specialist | 1,821 |
| 15 | Internal Medicine Physician | 1,794 |
| 16 | Professional Counselor | 1,735 |
| 17 | Social Worker | 1,729 |
| 18 | Community Health Worker | 1,698 |
| 19 | Physician Assistant | 1,603 |
| 20 | General Practice Dentistry | 1,488 |
Which cities in Kentucky have the most providers?
Top cities in Kentucky by provider count
Active CMS NPPES-registered providers by primary practice city
- Louisville
Louisville
21,494 providers
- Lexington
Lexington
13,675 providers
- Prestonsburg 3,158
Prestonsburg
3,158 providers
- Bowling Green 2,786
Bowling Green
2,786 providers
- Paducah 1,870
Paducah
1,870 providers
- Owensboro 1,851
Owensboro
1,851 providers
- Elizabethtown 1,738
Elizabethtown
1,738 providers
- Ashland 1,604
Ashland
1,604 providers
- Corbin 1,511
Corbin
1,511 providers
- Somerset 1,426
Somerset
1,426 providers
What this shows Louisville leads Kentucky'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 | Louisville | 21,494 |
| 2 | Lexington | 13,675 |
| 3 | Prestonsburg | 3,158 |
| 4 | Bowling Green | 2,786 |
| 5 | Paducah | 1,870 |
| 6 | Owensboro | 1,851 |
| 7 | Elizabethtown | 1,738 |
| 8 | Ashland | 1,604 |
| 9 | Corbin | 1,511 |
| 10 | Somerset | 1,426 |
| 11 | Louisa | 1,321 |
| 12 | Fort Campbell | 1,278 |
| 13 | Florence | 1,202 |
| 14 | Edgewood | 1,144 |
| 15 | Hazard | 1,082 |
| 16 | Richmond | 1,024 |
| 17 | Pikeville | 998 |
| 18 | Hopkinsville | 954 |
| 19 | Madisonville | 670 |
| 20 | Shelbyville | 665 |
| 21 | Morehead | 664 |
| 22 | London | 650 |
| 23 | Covington | 648 |
| 24 | Frankfort | 638 |
| 25 | Georgetown | 625 |
| 26 | Glasgow | 573 |
| 27 | Danville | 530 |
| 28 | Henderson | 518 |
| 29 | Murray | 505 |
| 30 | Nicholasville | 476 |
Nearby States
Other high-volume states in the CMS NPPES registry for side-by-side context.
License & disciplinary context — Kentucky
Aggregate state medical board disciplinary action statistics for Kentucky licensees, sourced from the state medical board annual report and cross-checked against the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).
View Kentucky disciplinary trends →Using the Kentucky data
Kentucky has 85,231 active registered providers — here is how to act on that.
- Narrow by specialty first: Kentucky'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 Kentucky'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 Kentucky
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