ACS study: 15 million Americans live in a county with no general surgeon

An unprecedented new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons maps the surgeon supply across 12 surgical specialties, U.S. county by U.S. county, with a companion interactive data visualization available to the public.

Highlights from the study, which was a collaborative effort between the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina:

• Of 3,144 U.S. counties, 951 (30%) had no identified surgeon in any of the 12 surgical specialties; those counties are home to 9.6 million people.
• 1,180 U.S. counties had no general surgeon, “representing 15.1 million people lacking access to surgical care.”
• 434 critical access hospitals are located in U.S. counties with no identified full-time surgeon.
• The analysis identified 201,394 surgeons practicing in the U.S. as of April 2025, which equates to 59.2 surgeons per 100,000 people.

The ACS notes that previous studies “examined one specialty at a time, used different data sources, or reported only national and state totals.”

“Mapping the surgical workforce is the first step to crafting a thoughtful growth strategy,” stated ACS Executive Director and CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS. “These data will help guide investments in surgical training and support for surgeons in underserved communities, with the goal of improving patients' access to care.”

Dive much more deeply into the study data here. Access the free, publicly available ACS Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool is here.