Top 10 US States by Population — Healthcare Data Overview

This page ranks the 10 most populous US states (US Census Bureau ACS 2022 5-year estimates) and surfaces the healthcare data we publish for each: the number of NPI-registered providers in the NPPES, the total Open Payments industry transfers attributed to those providers, and the Medicare submitted charges they report. The 10 states combined cover 179,936,948 residents; California leads with 39,029,342. Population is a stable, demographic-driven ordering — rankings here do not reflect care quality, patient outcomes, or per-capita access. Use the providers-per-100k column to compare healthcare workforce density across states.

Data source: CMS Open Payments + Medicare Part B Coverage: 2022 ACS 5Y Providers analyzed: 3,826,861
$9,228,390,880
Total Industry Payments
Across all providers in this analysis
3,826,861
Providers Analyzed
With at least one payment on record
Context: Industry payments to physicians are legally required to be disclosed under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Receiving payments does not imply wrongdoing. Payments may reflect consulting expertise, research participation, or speaking engagements. This data is provided to support transparency, not to render clinical judgments.

Top 10 US States — Providers, Medicare, and Open Payments

CMS Open Payments
# Rank · State Population (ACS 2022) Providers (NPPES) Providers / 100k Open Payments total Medicare submitted
1 1. California (CA) 39,029,342 943,538 2,418 $2,221,377,869 $30,374,117,843
2 2. Texas (TX) 30,029,572 423,054 1,409 $1,291,562,770 $21,816,536,731
3 3. Florida (FL) 22,244,823 461,685 2,076 $1,303,500,907 $26,274,364,534
4 4. New York (NY) 19,677,151 538,574 2,737 $1,241,539,617 $23,057,557,601
5 5. Pennsylvania (PA) 12,972,008 257,192 1,983 $650,910,747 $10,564,911,279
6 6. Illinois (IL) 12,582,032 236,785 1,882 $612,077,340 $11,904,938,446
7 7. Ohio (OH) 11,756,058 327,678 2,787 $556,769,454 $7,391,768,137
8 8. Georgia (GA) 10,912,876 165,373 1,515 $406,381,468 $7,716,520,299
9 9. North Carolina (NC) 10,698,973 194,435 1,817 $523,154,443 $7,958,147,529
10 10. Michigan (MI) 10,034,113 278,547 2,776 $421,116,267 $5,696,901,228

Payment intensity by state

CMS Open Payments

Dividing each state's Open Payments total by its NPPES provider count, Texas leads the top 10 with $3,053 per provider. Population rank and payment intensity diverge: a larger state is not automatically a higher-payment state per provider.

Open Payments per provider by state (top 10 by population)

State Payments per provider Open Payments total Providers (NPPES)
Texas $3,053 $1,291,562,770 423,054
Florida $2,823 $1,303,500,907 461,685
North Carolina $2,691 $523,154,443 194,435
Illinois $2,585 $612,077,340 236,785
Pennsylvania $2,531 $650,910,747 257,192
Georgia $2,457 $406,381,468 165,373
California $2,354 $2,221,377,869 943,538
New York $2,305 $1,241,539,617 538,574
Ohio $1,699 $556,769,454 327,678
Michigan $1,512 $421,116,267 278,547
Methodology Ranking by total state population from the US Census Bureau ACS 2022 5-year estimates (table B01003). Provider counts come from the NPPES extract. Open Payments totals are summed from the CMS Open Payments general-payments dataset, joined on NPI. Medicare submitted charges are summed from the CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners Public Use File (procedures table), joined on NPI. "Providers / 100k" is computed as 100,000 × providers ÷ population and reflects healthcare workforce density relative to state size. State board license verification, malpractice history, and patient outcomes are not represented in this analysis.
Data Disclaimer — Data sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), Open Payments program, Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data, and Provider Enrollment & Certification data (PECOS). Published under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This website is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by CMS, HHS, or the U.S. Government. Data may contain errors as reported to CMS by providers and reporting entities. Payments from industry are legal and do not indicate wrongdoing. Medicare data reflects only patients aged 65+ or those with qualifying disabilities. For corrections, contact CMS directly. This information does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as the sole basis for choosing a healthcare provider. Procedure descriptions use plain language and do not reference CPT® codes, which are copyrighted by the American Medical Association. Full methodology → · Report a data error → · Privacy policy →