Number of locum tenens by state
Locum tenens are healthcare providers that work on a short-term, contractual basis. These providers are important to healthcare because they can help fill critical roles when a provider leaves a facility, takes a vacation or goes on sabbatical. Locum tenens workers also offer extra support during peak seasons or public health emergencies.
As the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the U.S. in 2020, hospitals began to see increased rates of physician burnout and departure, exacerbating a physician shortage that had begun prior to COVID. As a result, demand for locum tenens increased dramatically and has shown no signs of slowing down. The increased utilization of locum tenens to fill physician vacancies shows up in hospital costs, with contract labor spending by hospitals and IDNs increasing by 9% between 2019-2021.
Definitive Healthcare predicts utilization of locum tenens physicians based on a proprietary algorithm that analyzes a physician’s recent billing activity and network affiliations. Organizations use this data for staffing planning.
Below, we rank all states’ 2022 locum tenens physician engagements, including the District of Columbia:
2022 state rankings by number of predicted locum tenens physicians
| Rank | State | Predicted Number of Locum Tenens Physicians |
| 1 | Texas | 8715 |
| 2 | California | 7765 |
| 3 | Ohio | 4809 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 4484 |
| 5 | Florida | 4442 |
| 6 | New York | 3640 |
| 7 | Michigan | 2736 |
| 8 | Georgia | 2446 |
| 9 | Illinois | 2198 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 2196 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 1906 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 1807 |
| 13 | New Jersey | 1752 |
| 14 | Louisiana | 1711 |
| 15 | Washington | 1680 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 1646 |
| 17 | Indiana | 1615 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 1441 |
| 19 | Maryland | 1308 |
| 20 | Missouri | 1270 |
| 21 | Colorado | 1181 |
| 22 | Virginia | 1154 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 1128 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 1089 |
| 25 | Arizona | 1057 |
| 26 | Alabama | 1011 |
| 27 | Oklahoma | 863 |
| 28 | Connecticut | 749 |
| 29 | West Virginia | 745 |
| 30 | Oregon | 663 |
| 31 | Mississippi | 591 |
| 32 | Utah | 585 |
| 33 | Maine | 563 |
| 34 | Iowa | 492 |
| 35 | Kansas | 473 |
| 36 | Nevada | 417 |
| 37 | Arkansas | 413 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 352 |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 344 |
| 40 | Delaware | 342 |
| 41 | Idaho | 291 |
| 42 | Nebraska | 262 |
| 43 | Washington D.C. | 221 |
| 44 | Hawaii | 165 |
| 45 | Montana | 147 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 137 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 112 |
| 48 | Vermont | 95 |
| 49 | North Dakota | 54 |
| 50 | Alaska | 42 |
| 51 | Wyoming | 38 |
Fig. 1 - Data is from the Definitive Healthcare PhysicianView Product. Data is predicted based on a proprietary algorithm that analyzes a physician’s recent billing activity and network affiliations. Accessed August 2022.
Which cities have the most locum tenens physicians?
The top 5 U.S. cities with the most locum tenens are: Houston (1,144), Los Angeles (742), New York (635), Dallas (631), and Chicago (612).
Top primary specialties of locum tenens
Currently, the three specialties in the U.S. with the most active locum tenens are family practice (13,222), internal medicine (12,325), and emergency medicine (6,349).
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