The Alaska Mental Health Workforce
Alaska has 6,945 active mental-health providers registered at practice addresses in the state, or 942 per 100,000 residents. That ranks 2 of 51 nationally, against a US average of 433.5.
6,945
active providers
942
per 100,000 residents
#2
of 51 jurisdictions by density
Key findings
- Alaska registers 942 active providers per 100,000 residents. That ranks 2 of 51 jurisdictions, above the national 433.5. #
- Sitka City and Borough has the state's highest registered density (3185.5 per 100k); 3 of Alaska's 30 counties have fewer than 3 registered providers. #
- Counselors are the largest group at 73.3% of Alaska's registered workforce, compared with 43.9% nationally. #
- 366 providers with a Alaska practice address first entered the NPI registry in 2025, versus 667 in 2019. These are registry entries, not licenses issued. #
- 73% of Alaska providers share a registered practice location with six or more in-scope providers. #
Providers per 100,000 by county
Providers are allocated to counties from their practice ZIP code. For 3 counties with under 3 allocated providers or under 1,000 residents, we show the count but no per-100k rate, because numbers that small don't make a reliable rate. The same values appear in the table.
| County | Population | Providers | Per 100k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Municipality | 287,155 | 2,817 | 981 |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough | 93,972 | 976 | 1038.6 |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 118,666 | 667 | 562.1 |
| Bethel Census Area | 18,391 | 532 | 2892.7 |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough | 61,951 | 384 | 619.8 |
| Juneau City and Borough | 31,609 | 381 | 1205.4 |
| Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 13,549 | 306 | 2258.5 |
| Sitka City and Borough | 8,319 | 265 | 3185.5 |
| Nome Census Area | 9,830 | 110 | 1119 |
| Northwest Arctic Borough | 7,095 | 101 | 1423.5 |
| Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area | 5,777 | 74 | 1280.9 |
| Dillingham Census Area | 4,483 | 64 | 1427.6 |
| Kodiak Island Borough | 12,387 | 63 | 508.6 |
| Wrangell City and Borough | 2,007 | 62 | 3089.2 |
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | 7,270 | 21 | 288.9 |
| Chugach Census Area | 6,553 | 18 | 274.7 |
| Petersburg Borough | 3,394 | 15 | 442 |
| Haines Borough | 2,068 | 13 | 628.6 |
| North Slope Borough | 10,582 | 13 | 122.9 |
| Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | 5,028 | 12 | 238.7 |
| Aleutians West Census Area | 5,240 | 10 | 190.8 |
| Kusilvak Census Area | 7,932 | 8 | 100.9 |
| Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | 2,271 | 6 | 264.2 |
| Lake and Peninsula Borough | 1,357 | 5 | 368.5 |
| Aleutians East Borough | 3,479 | 4 | 115 |
| Copper River Census Area | 2,666 | 4 | 150 |
| Skagway Municipality | 1,104 | 3 | 271.7 |
| Yakutat City and Borough | 672 | 2 | n/a |
| Bristol Bay Borough | 847 | 0 | n/a |
| Denali Borough | 1,616 | 0 | n/a |
Provider-type mix vs the national picture
Each provider counts once under their primary taxonomy; the US share is printed beside each Alaska figure for comparison.
When Alaska's providers entered the registry
This chart shows active providers by the year they entered the NPI registry. Registry entry is not licensure. Clinicians typically register when they start billing, so this measures registrations, not the workforce itself. 2026 is a partial year.
Practice-location size
This shows the share of Alaskaproviders at single- and multi-provider practice locations, grouped by normalized practice address. It's only a proxy, so see the limitations below.
Get the numbers
County-level figures for all states (including Alaska) are in the county CSV; state totals and mix are in their own files. Everything is CC BY 4.0, so cite certification.app, "US Mental Health Workforce" (June 2026 NPPES snapshot).
Use this chart
<a href="https://www.certification.app/data/mental-health-workforce"><img src="https://www.certification.app/data/mental-health-workforce/charts/ak-county-density.svg" alt="Alaska mental health providers per 100,000 residents by county" width="100%" /></a> <p style="font-size:12px">"Alaska mental health providers per 100k by county, June 2026 snapshot" by <a href="https://www.certification.app/data/mental-health-workforce">certification.app</a>, CC BY 4.0</p>
Reading these numbers
Counts are NPPES registrations at Alaskapractice addresses. They are headcounts, not FTEs or license tallies. Telehealth and multi-state practice don't show up, a self-designated taxonomy isn't license verification, and the registry lags behind moves and retirements. The methodology page has the details.