The Rhode Island Mental Health Workforce
Rhode Island has 7,061 active mental-health providers registered at practice addresses in the state, or 633.5 per 100,000 residents. That ranks 10 of 51 nationally, against a US average of 433.5.
7,061
active providers
633.5
per 100,000 residents
#10
of 51 jurisdictions by density
Key findings
- Rhode Island registers 633.5 active providers per 100,000 residents. That ranks 10 of 51 jurisdictions, above the national 433.5. #
- Providence County has the state's highest registered density (709.2 per 100k). #
- Social workers are the largest group at 38.4% of Rhode Island's registered workforce (US: 30.4%). #
- 392 providers with a Rhode Island practice address first entered the NPI registry in 2025, versus 238 in 2019. These are registry entries, not licenses issued. #
- 65% of Rhode Island 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.
| County | Population | Providers | Per 100k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence County | 678,179 | 4,810 | 709.2 |
| Kent County | 173,495 | 1,017 | 586 |
| Washington County | 129,795 | 631 | 485.8 |
| Newport County | 83,051 | 425 | 511.7 |
| Bristol County | 50,001 | 170 | 340 |
Provider-type mix vs the national picture
Each provider counts once under their primary taxonomy; the US share is printed beside each Rhode Island figure for comparison.
When Rhode Island's providers entered the registry
Active providers by NPI registry-entry year. 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
Share of Rhode Island providers at single- vs multi-provider practice locations, by normalized practice address. This is a proxy; see the limitations below.
Get the numbers
County-level figures for all states (including Rhode Island) 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/ri-county-density.svg" alt="Rhode Island mental health providers per 100,000 residents by county" width="100%" /></a> <p style="font-size:12px">"Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island practice addresses. They are headcounts, not FTEs or license tallies. Telehealth and multi-state practice are invisible; taxonomy self-designation is not license verification; the registry lags moves and retirements. Details: methodology.