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Healthcare providers in Rhode Island: counts by specialty
How many healthcare providers work in Rhode Island? The federal NPPES registry listed 31,662 active NPIs with a practice address in the state as of the June 2026 snapshot, the 45th largest workforce among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The single largest specialty is Clinical Social Worker, and Providence 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 Rhode Island
| # | Specialty (primary taxonomy) | Active NPIs | % of state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clinical Social Worker | 2,660 | 8.4% |
| 2 | Mental Health Counselor | 1,612 | 5.1% |
| 3 | Physical Therapist | 1,354 | 4.3% |
| 4 | Internal Medicine Physician | 1,243 | 3.9% |
| 5 | Pharmacist | 1,008 | 3.2% |
| 6 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 913 | 2.9% |
| 7 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 828 | 2.6% |
| 8 | Registered Nurse | 810 | 2.6% |
| 9 | Speech-Language Pathologist | 671 | 2.1% |
| 10 | Physician Assistant | 663 | 2.1% |
| 11 | Addiction (Substance Use Disorder) Counselor | 584 | 1.8% |
| 12 | Clinical Psychologist | 577 | 1.8% |
| 13 | Behavior Technician | 574 | 1.8% |
| 14 | Family Medicine Physician | 555 | 1.8% |
| 15 | General Practice Dentistry | 486 | 1.5% |
| 16 | Occupational Therapist | 482 | 1.5% |
| 17 | Counselor | 440 | 1.4% |
| 18 | Psychiatry Physician | 434 | 1.4% |
| 19 | Emergency Medicine Physician | 423 | 1.3% |
| 20 | Registered Dietitian | 412 | 1.3% |
| 21 | Nurse Practitioner | 404 | 1.3% |
| 22 | Pediatrics Physician | 386 | 1.2% |
| 23 | Optometrist | 377 | 1.2% |
| 24 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner | 349 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Dentist | 348 | 1.1% |
| 26 | Behavior Analyst | 340 | 1.1% |
| 27 | Chiropractor | 338 | 1.1% |
| 28 | Social Worker | 308 | 1.0% |
| 29 | Psychologist | 292 | 0.9% |
| 30 | Specialist | 262 | 0.8% |
What the numbers show
Clinical Social Worker leads with 2,660 active records, 8.4% of everything the state has, or 1.7 times the volume of Mental Health Counselor, the runner up at 1,612. Physical Therapist rounds out the podium with 1,354. Together, the top 5 specialties account for 24.9% of Rhode Island's providers, and the 30 listed in the table cover 63.6% of the total. Overall, the state registry splits into 554 distinct taxonomies.
Geographically, active NPIs spread across 135 cities and towns in the state, but with heavy concentration: Providence (10,834), Warwick (3,412) and Cranston (1,805) post the largest volumes. Rhode Island 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