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Healthcare providers in Delaware: counts by specialty
How many healthcare providers work in Delaware? The federal NPPES registry listed 27,521 active NPIs with a practice address in the state as of the June 2026 snapshot, the 47th largest workforce among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The single largest specialty is Physical Therapist, and Wilmington is the city with the most records. The table below lists the 30 specialties with the most active providers and the share each one holds.
The 30 largest specialties in Delaware
| # | Specialty (primary taxonomy) | Active NPIs | % of state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical Therapist | 1,244 | 4.5% |
| 2 | Clinical Social Worker | 1,139 | 4.1% |
| 3 | Registered Nurse | 966 | 3.5% |
| 4 | Mental Health Counselor | 926 | 3.4% |
| 5 | Pharmacist | 859 | 3.1% |
| 6 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 834 | 3.0% |
| 7 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 755 | 2.7% |
| 8 | Family Medicine Physician | 752 | 2.7% |
| 9 | Internal Medicine Physician | 730 | 2.7% |
| 10 | Physician Assistant | 689 | 2.5% |
| 11 | Speech-Language Pathologist | 676 | 2.5% |
| 12 | School Registered Nurse | 601 | 2.2% |
| 13 | Nurse Practitioner | 594 | 2.2% |
| 14 | Addiction (Substance Use Disorder) Counselor | 553 | 2.0% |
| 15 | Occupational Therapist | 506 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Chiropractor | 443 | 1.6% |
| 17 | School Psychologist | 411 | 1.5% |
| 18 | Pediatrics Physician | 367 | 1.3% |
| 19 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner | 354 | 1.3% |
| 20 | General Practice Dentistry | 352 | 1.3% |
| 21 | Professional Counselor | 344 | 1.2% |
| 22 | Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist | 319 | 1.2% |
| 23 | Behavior Technician | 309 | 1.1% |
| 24 | Social Worker | 289 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Dentist | 280 | 1.0% |
| 26 | Registered Dietitian | 275 | 1.0% |
| 27 | Emergency Medicine Physician | 252 | 0.9% |
| 28 | Occupational Therapy Assistant | 239 | 0.9% |
| 29 | Optometrist | 235 | 0.9% |
| 30 | Specialist | 235 | 0.9% |
What the numbers show
Physical Therapist leads with 1,244 active records, 4.5% of everything the state has, or 1.1 times the volume of Clinical Social Worker, the runner up at 1,139. Registered Nurse rounds out the podium with 966. Together, the top 5 specialties account for 18.7% of Delaware's providers, and the 30 listed in the table cover 60.1% of the total. Overall, the state registry splits into 564 distinct taxonomies.
Geographically, active NPIs spread across 94 cities and towns in the state, but with heavy concentration: Wilmington (8,124), Newark (5,626) and Dover (3,005) post the largest volumes. Delaware holds 0.3% of all active US providers registered across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Source and method
Data: NPPES Data Dissemination file (National Plan and Provider Enumeration System), published by CMS as public domain data, snapshot of June 2026. Each provider is counted once, in the state and city of the Provider Business Practice Location, under the primary taxonomy declared in the NPI record itself. Only active NPI records are counted.
Important: an active NPI does not mean the professional is currently practicing, accepting new patients or even still working in the field; it only means the registration number remains valid. This page publishes aggregate counts only, never individual records.
Last updated: · Methodology and sources