2026 metro dental report
Dental care in Minneapolis-St. Paul, by the numbers
How many dentists the 3,757,952 people of the Minneapolis-St. Paul 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
21st of 50
87.9 dentists per 100k residents (U.S.: 80.2)
Pediatric access
43rd of 50
11.2 pediatric dentists per 100k children (U.S.: 14.9)
3,304
Registered dentists
2,148
Practice addresses
17.8%
Specialists
15
Counties
Key findings
- Minneapolis-St. Paul has 3,304 registered dentists for 3,757,952 residents: 87.9 per 100,000 people, 10% above the national rate of 80.2. That ranks 21st of the 50 largest U.S. metros.
- Where you live inside the metro matters. Hennepin County, MN has 114.7 dentists per 100,000 residents; Chisago County, MN has 38.9. That is a 2.9x gap within one metro area.
- There is one pediatric dentist for every 8,892 children here (11.2 per 100,000 kids, 25% below the national rate).
- 253 dentists now practicing here received their NPI in 2023 to 2025, 6.7 per 100,000 residents (national: 6).
- 38.4% of Minneapolis-St. Paul's registered dentists are women, against 35.8% nationally.
- In 2025, 36.2% of the metro's dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company, $1.0 million in total. For most it was small: 65% received nothing but meals, and the typical recipient got $67 for the year. The top 10% of recipients took 90% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hennepin County, MN | 1,273,334 | 1,460 | 114.7 | 16.3 |
| Ramsey County, MN | 542,015 | 560 | 103.3 | 17.9 |
| Dakota County, MN | 453,156 | 371 | 81.9 | 12.2 |
| Anoka County, MN | 376,840 | 289 | 76.7 | 4.6 |
| Washington County, MN | 283,960 | 225 | 79.2 | 7.5 |
| Scott County, MN | 157,206 | 76 | 48.3 | 5.1 |
| Wright County, MN | 154,593 | 66 | 42.7 | 0 |
| Carver County, MN | 112,628 | 60 | 53.3 | 3.7 |
| Sherburne County, MN | 103,059 | 49 | 47.5 | 0 |
| St. Croix County, WI | 97,954 | 54 | 55.1 | 22.3 |
| Chisago County, MN | 59,105 | 23 | 38.9 | 0 |
| Isanti County, MN | 43,687 | 24 | 54.9 | 0 |
| Pierce County, WI | 43,380 | 20 | 46.1 | 0 |
| Le Sueur County, MN | 29,458 | 16 | 54.3 | 0 |
| Mille Lacs County, MN | 27,577 | 11 | 39.9 | 0 |
Specialists
Dentists whose primary registered specialty is one of the six below, with the national rate for comparison.
| Specialty | Dentists | Minneapolis-St. Paul rate | U.S. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pediatric dentists | 96 | 11.2 per 100k children | 14.9 |
| Orthodontists | 154 | 4.1 per 100k residents | 4 |
| Oral surgeons | 115 | 3.1 per 100k residents | 2.7 |
| Periodontists | 70 | 1.9 per 100k residents | 1.9 |
| Endodontists | 86 | 2.3 per 100k residents | 2 |
| Prosthodontists | 67 | 1.8 per 100k residents | 1.1 |
Who is practicing
38.4%
Women (U.S.: 35.8%)
253
New NPIs, 2023 to 2025
7.7%
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 Minneapolis-St. Paul ranks 24th 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, 1,196 Minneapolis-St. Paul dentists (36.2%) received at least one payment, $1,036,645 in all. 65% of them received only meals; the top 10% of recipients took 90% 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul dentists, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Align Technology | $587,767 |
| Solventum | $206,382 |
| Septodont | $43,973 |
| Straumann USA | $21,239 |
| Dentsply Sirona | $20,271 |
Where Minneapolis-St. Paul's dentists practice
The cities in the metro with the most registered dentists. Each links to the practices there.
- Minneapolis, MN616 dentists
- Saint Paul, MN280 dentists
- Edina, MN142 dentists
- Woodbury, MN94 dentists
- Eagan, MN81 dentists
- Maple Grove, MN78 dentists
- Coon Rapids, MN75 dentists
- Burnsville, MN74 dentists
- Maplewood, MN73 dentists
- Plymouth, MN70 dentists
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area?
The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area has 3,304 dentists registered in the federal NPI registry, about 87.9 per 100,000 residents, or one for every 1,137 people. The U.S. rate is 80.2 per 100,000.
Which part of Minneapolis-St. Paul has the fewest dentists per person?
Among counties with at least 50,000 residents, Chisago County, MN has the fewest: 38.9 dentists per 100,000 people. Hennepin County, MN has the most, at 114.7.
How many pediatric dentists does Minneapolis-St. Paul have?
96 dentists in the metro register pediatric dentistry as their primary specialty, roughly one for every 8,892 children. Nationally the figure is one for every 6,705 children.
Do dentists in Minneapolis-St. Paul get paid by dental companies?
Federal Open Payments data shows 36.2% of Minneapolis-St. Paul's registered dentists received at least one payment from a drug, device or dental supply company in 2025, $1.0 million in total. 65% of those recipients received only meals. You can look up any individual dentist at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov.
Metro = the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 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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