June 2026 snapshot · published August 2026

The District of Columbia Mental Health Workforce

District of Columbia has 6,864 active mental-health providers registered at practice addresses in the state, or 989.6 per 100,000 residents. That ranks 1 of 51 nationally, against a US average of 433.5.

6,864

active providers

989.6

per 100,000 residents

#1

of 51 jurisdictions by density

Key findings

  • District of Columbia registers 989.6 active providers per 100,000 residents. That ranks 1 of 51 jurisdictions, above the national 433.5. #
  • District of Columbia has the state's highest registered density (969.8 per 100k). #
  • Social workers are the largest group at 41.8% of District of Columbia's registered workforce, compared with 30.4% nationally. #
  • 357 providers with a District of Columbia practice address first entered the NPI registry in 2025, versus 324 in 2019. These are registry entries, not licenses issued. #
  • 64% of District of Columbia 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. The same values appear in the table.

providers / 100k969.8+no rate published
CountyPopulationProvidersPer 100k
District of Columbia693,6456,727969.8

Provider-type mix vs the national picture

Each provider counts once under their primary taxonomy; the US share is printed beside each District of Columbia figure for comparison.

Social workers41.8% · 2,870 · US 30.4%
Counselors26.8% · 1,838 · US 43.9%
Psychologists18.8% · 1,289 · US 10.2%
Psychiatrists8.3% · 572 · US 4.6%
Psychiatric NPs3.4% · 233 · US 4.0%
Marriage & family therapists0.9% · 62 · US 6.8%

When District of Columbia'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.

18620102014201820227291292026

Practice-location size

This shows the share of District of Columbiaproviders at single- and multi-provider practice locations, grouped by normalized practice address. It's only a proxy, so see the limitations below.

Only provider at their location21.1% · 1,451
2–5 providers at the location14.6% · 1,002
6+ providers at the location64.3% · 4,411
Location unknown0.0% · 0

Get the numbers

County-level figures for all states (including District of Columbia) 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/dc-county-density.svg" alt="District of Columbia mental health providers per 100,000 residents by county" width="100%" /></a>
<p style="font-size:12px">"District of Columbia 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 District of Columbiapractice 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.

CE requirements for District of Columbia clinicians

#1 District of Columbia (989.6)#2 Alaska (942) →
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