Neurological Surgery Physician: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

A neurological surgeon provides the operative and non-operative management (i.e., prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, critical care, and rehabilitation) of disorders of the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their supporting structures and vascular supply; the evaluation and treatment of pathological processes which modify function or activity of the nervous system; and the operative and non-operative management of pain. A neurological surgeon treats patients with disorders of the nervous system; disorders of the brain, meninges, skull, and their blood supply, including the extracranial carotid and vertebral arteries; disorders of the pituitary gland; disorders of the spinal cord, meninges, and vertebral column, including those which may require treatment by spinal fusion or instrumentation; and disorders of the cranial and spinal nerves throughout th

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For neurological surgery, the sole-proprietor share describes NPPES records in which the registrant has self-reported that designation, not all surgeons who work outside a hospital or health system. The 13.9% share, based on 1,542 flagged records, is therefore an imperfect proxy for private practice because it may not capture group ownership, employment arrangements, organization NPIs, or updates to the field.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• - These figures describe active NPI records with a primary taxonomy, not patient volume, clinical activity, or practice size.
• - An NPI's first-enumeration year does not establish when a provider began practicing neurological surgery, and state counts reflect NPI reporting rather than service availability.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions