June 2026 snapshot · published August 2026

The North Carolina Mental Health Workforce

North Carolina has 44,456 active mental-health providers registered at practice addresses in the state, or 397 per 100,000 residents. That ranks 32 of 51 nationally, against a US average of 433.5.

44,456

active providers

397

per 100,000 residents

#32

of 51 jurisdictions by density

Key findings

  • North Carolina registers 397 active providers per 100,000 residents. That ranks 32 of 51 jurisdictions, below the national 433.5. #
  • Buncombe County has the state's highest registered density (1080.3 per 100k); 3 of North Carolina's 100 counties have fewer than 3 registered providers. #
  • Counselors are the largest group at 42.6% of North Carolina's registered workforce, compared with 43.9% nationally. #
  • 2,689 providers with a North Carolina practice address first entered the NPI registry in 2025, versus 2,027 in 2019. These are registry entries, not licenses issued. #
  • 54% of North Carolina 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.

providers / 100k49–137.8137.8–180180–266.3266.3–350.2350.2+no rate published
CountyPopulationProvidersPer 100k
Wake County1,257,2356,392508.4
Mecklenburg County1,233,3836,079492.8
Durham County347,2403,124899.7
Buncombe County277,4172,9971080.3
Guilford County562,2342,374422.2
Cumberland County338,4732,029599.4
Forsyth County401,7181,793446.4
New Hanover County245,9591,780723.7
Orange County152,4981,444947.1
Cabarrus County249,7251,001401
Pitt County182,936991541.8
Gaston County246,558844342.3
Onslow County217,175736339
Iredell County211,798622293.8
Catawba County170,172525308.2
Rowan County155,096495319.4
Union County267,674455170.2
Henderson County122,375418342
Johnston County256,448416162.3
Alamance County186,177415223
Wayne County122,278411335.9
Robeson County119,941403335.9
Craven County105,025389370.5
Moore County110,619365330.1
Burke County88,655359405
Watauga County54,786335610.6
Haywood County63,369295465.5
Davidson County180,182290160.8
Granville County61,421287467.6
Brunswick County174,702264150.9
Jackson County45,039262580.8
Chatham County85,111252296.4
Randolph County149,516239159.7
Cleveland County103,325220213
Wilson County81,150220270.8
Harnett County150,137211140.7
Nash County99,365206207.1
Wilkes County66,233176266.3
Carteret County70,469171242
Lee County70,258171242.7
Rockingham County94,195170180
Stanly County68,830167242.1
Rutherford County65,745164249.2
Pender County72,111161222.6
Hoke County56,939147258.4
Vance County42,638144337
Franklin County82,037139170
Pasquotank County42,201134317.5
Lincoln County98,654127128.8
Transylvania County34,211126368.9
Richmond County42,041125297.5
Caldwell County81,105125153.5
Surry County72,287120165.4
Beaufort County44,670118264.1
McDowell County45,198110242.6
Lenoir County55,837109195.2
Dare County38,24596251
Scotland County33,32296287.5
Macon County39,23295241.6
Columbus County50,48793183.8
Halifax County46,53487188
Avery County18,11083458.1
Madison County22,55358255.6
Person County40,63657139.9
Ashe County27,51455200.1
Cherokee County30,83055177.3
Hertford County19,01554285
Yadkin County38,32553137.4
Duplin County51,57153101.8
Yancey County19,08452274.8
Sampson County61,5045284.4
Polk County20,53352251.8
Alexander County36,95851137.3
Davie County45,85549107.3
Swain County14,02449350.2
Edgecombe County49,1214897.8
Currituck County33,15840120.6
Stokes County46,1264085.8
Montgomery County26,40336137.8
Bladen County30,00734112.1
Alleghany County11,47932278.8
Martin County21,60132147.5
Warren County18,89829153
Caswell County22,56326113.4
Chowan County14,08225174.9
Anson County21,75823105.8
Pamlico County12,75822169.7
Mitchell County15,06221139.2
Clay County12,23920166.1
Northampton County16,49119115.3
Greene County20,7001782.1
Washington County10,63816149.1
Bertie County17,0861585.4
Perquimans County13,4901184.3
Graham County8,1909109.9
Camden County11,315653
Jones County9,575549
Hyde County4,5542n/a
Tyrrell County3,5372n/a
Gates County10,2341n/a

Provider-type mix vs the national picture

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

Counselors42.6% · 18,935 · US 43.9%
Social workers36.4% · 16,200 · US 30.4%
Psychologists9.3% · 4,130 · US 10.2%
Psychiatrists4.6% · 2,040 · US 4.6%
Psychiatric NPs3.6% · 1,600 · US 4.0%
Marriage & family therapists3.5% · 1,551 · US 6.8%

When North Carolina'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.

1,35920102014201820222,6891,0902026

Practice-location size

This shows the share of North Carolinaproviders 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 location27.3% · 12,143
2–5 providers at the location18.7% · 8,334
6+ providers at the location53.9% · 23,975
Location unknown0.0% · 4

Get the numbers

County-level figures for all states (including North Carolina) 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).

county-density.csv ↓state-density.csv ↓all downloads →

Use this chart

Download SVGDownload PNG
<a href="https://www.certification.app/data/mental-health-workforce"><img src="https://www.certification.app/data/mental-health-workforce/charts/nc-county-density.svg" alt="North Carolina mental health providers per 100,000 residents by county" width="100%" /></a>
<p style="font-size:12px">"North Carolina 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 North Carolinapractice 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 North Carolina clinicians

North Carolina LPC CE requirements →North Carolina LMFT CE requirements →North Carolina LCSW CE requirements →North Carolina Psychologist CE requirements →North Carolina Addiction Counselor CE requirements →North Carolina PMHNP CE requirements →
← #31 Hawaii (397)#32 North Carolina (397)#33 Pennsylvania (386.8) →
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