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

National totals

What this specialty covers

A Psychiatrist specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders, emotional disorders, psychotic disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance-related disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders and adjustment disorders. Biologic, psychological, and social components of illnesses are explored and understood in treatment of the whole person. Tools used may include diagnostic laboratory tests, prescribed medications, evaluation and treatment of psychological and interpersonal problems with individuals and families, and intervention for coping with stress, crises, and other problems.

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For this specialty, 18,338 records, or 28.2%, carry the NPPES sole-proprietor flag. Because that field is self-reported and is an imperfect proxy for private practice, the share should not be interpreted as the percentage of psychiatry physicians who own or work in a private practice, or as a complete measure of employment arrangements.

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.
• - An NPI is an identifier, so an active record does not by itself establish that a provider is currently seeing patients or indicate clinical capacity.
• - Primary-taxonomy and state assignments may not capture every clinician who provides psychiatric care or every location where care is delivered.
• 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