2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Austin, by the numbers
How many dentists the 2,550,637 people of the Austin metro have, where they cluster, which specialties run thin, and who is joining the workforce.
Part of the Metro Dental Reports 2026 by Pete Johnson, founder of dentalist.ai. Sources: federal NPPES registry, CMS Open Payments and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Dentist access
44th of 50
70.3 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
21st of 50
17.5 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
1,794
Registered dentists
1,748
Practice addresses
20.8%
Specialists
5
Counties
Key findings
- Austin has 1,794 registered dentists for 2,550,637 residents: 70.3 per 100,000 people, 12% below the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 44th of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Travis County has 84.1 dentists per 100,000 residents; Caldwell County has 34.3. That is a 2.5x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 5,716 children here (17.5 per 100,000 kids, 17% above the national rate).
- 113 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 4.4 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 42.3% of Austin's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 44.6% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $560,000 in total. For most it was small: 67% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $70 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 87% of the money.
Dentists per person, county by county
Every county in the metro, largest first. Rates for counties under 50,000 people swing on a handful of dentists, so read those loosely.
| County | Population | Dentists | Per 100k | Pediatric per 100k kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis County | 1,363,767 | 1,147 | 84.1 | 20.9 |
| Williamson County | 727,480 | 452 | 62.1 | 13 |
| Hays County | 292,029 | 136 | 46.6 | 18.7 |
| Bastrop County | 114,931 | 41 | 35.7 | 16.8 |
| Caldwell County | 52,430 | 18 | 34.3 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Austin rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 95 | 17.5 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 110 | 4.3 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 53 | 2.1 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 49 | 1.9 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 42 | 1.6 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 25 | 1 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
42.3%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
113
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
6.3%
Share of all dentists (U.S.: 7.5%)
A dentist keeps one NPI for life, so most new NPIs belong to dentists early in their careers. By that measure Austin ranks 49th of the 50 largest metros for new dentists per resident.
Industry payments to dentists
Drug, device and dental supply companies must report what they pay dentists to CMS Open Payments. In 2025, 800 Austin dentists (44.6%) received at least one payment, $560,123 in all. 67% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 87% of the dollars. A payment does not mean anything improper, and you can look up your own dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
| Company | Paid to Austin dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $289,235 |
| Envista Holdings | $74,723 |
| Convergent Dental | $66,761 |
| Straumann USA | $18,022 |
| A-dec | $18,020 |
Where Austin's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Austin1,037 dentists
- Round Rock154 dentists
- Cedar Park101 dentists
- Georgetown101 dentists
- Pflugerville52 dentists
- San Marcos46 dentists
- Kyle46 dentists
- Bastrop33 dentists
- Lakeway29 dentists
- Leander26 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Austin area?
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area has 1,794 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 70.3 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,422 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Austin has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Caldwell County has the fewest: 34.3 dentists per 100,000 people. Travis County has the most, at 84.1.
How many pediatric dentists does Austin have?
95 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 5,716 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Austin get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 44.6% of Austin's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $560,000 in total. 67% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metropolitan statistical area (OMB 2023 delineation). Dentists are individual NPI registrations with a dental taxonomy in the NPPES registry (October 2026), with deactivated NPIs removed; counts are registry-based, not licensure-based, and can include dentists who have retired. Practices are placed in a county by ZIP code. Population: Census Vintage 2024 estimates. Industry payments: CMS Open Payments, general payments, program year 2025. Full methodology on the report index.
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