How many optometrists are there in the United States, by state?

Name: Optometrists by U.S. state, 2025
Creator: Profession Count
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

42,810

optometrists employed across 51 states and D.C. in May 2025, summing the state estimates for Optometrists (SOC 29-1041).

California has the most optometrists at 6,890, and District of Columbia the fewest at 50. The median state has 490. Per resident, Rhode Island leads with 22.8 optometrists per 100,000 people.

Optometrists by state, ranked

#	State	Optometrists (2025)	Per 100,000 residents	With a published email
1	California	6,890	17.4	36
2	Texas	4,110	14.1	69
3	New York	2,390	11.8	86
4	Florida	2,350	10.9	3,043
5	Pennsylvania	1,720	13.2	43
6	Illinois	1,540	12	41
7	Michigan	1,410	14	1,686
8	New Jersey	1,380	14.9	406
9	Ohio	1,300	11	57
10	North Carolina	1,140	10.9	33
11	Virginia	1,110	12.9	40
12	Arizona	1,080	15.1	22
13	Indiana	1,040	15.3	20
14	Massachusetts	950	13.5	20
15	Colorado	880	15.2	21
16	Georgia	870	8.1	72
17	Wisconsin	790	13.4	15
18	Maryland	780	12.6	18
19	Washington	760	9.9	12
20	Minnesota	710	12.4	11
21	Kansas	660	22.5	3
22	Tennessee	660	9.6	25
23	Missouri	630	10.2	10
24	Oklahoma	570	14.4	2
25	Oregon	560	13.2	4
26	Connecticut	490	13.6	9
27	South Carolina	480	9.4	24
28	Alabama	460	9.2	33
29	Iowa	450	14.1	3
30	Kentucky	430	9.5	11
31	Nevada	430	13.9	3
32	Utah	380	11.6	2
33	Nebraska	340	17.3	2
34	Arkansas	320	10.6	2
35	Louisiana	250	5.4	6
36	Rhode Island	250	22.8	3
37	Mississippi	240	8.1	9
38	Hawaii	230	15.8	3
39	New Hampshire	210	15.2	3
40	Delaware	190	19.2	5
41	South Dakota	190	21.4	2
42	Maine	180	13.2	1
43	Idaho	160	8.7	0
44	West Virginia	150	8.4	6
45	Montana	140	12.9	1
46	North Dakota	140	18	0
47	New Mexico	130	6.1	6
48	Vermont	90	14	0
49	Wyoming	90	15.6	3
50	Alaska	60	8.2	2
51	District of Columbia	50	7.3	3

Per capita

Headcount follows population, so the per-100,000 column is the fairer comparison between states. Top five: Rhode Island (22.8), Kansas (22.5), South Dakota (21.4), Delaware (19.2), North Dakota (18). Bottom five: Louisiana (5.4), New Mexico (6.1), District of Columbia (7.3), Mississippi (8.1), Georgia (8.1).

Published business emails

5,937 optometrists nationally have a business email address published on a licence register, a practice website or a professional directory, as counted by Email Lists USA's optometrists list on October 1, 2026. That is a count of people who publish a work address, not a measure of the profession's size, and it moves with each rebuild of that list.

State pages

6,890optometrists in California 4,110optometrists in Texas 2,390optometrists in New York 2,350optometrists in Florida 1,720optometrists in Pennsylvania 1,540optometrists in Illinois 1,410optometrists in Michigan 1,380optometrists in New Jersey 1,300optometrists in Ohio 1,140optometrists in North Carolina 1,110optometrists in Virginia 1,080optometrists in Arizona 1,040optometrists in Indiana 950optometrists in Massachusetts 880optometrists in Colorado 870optometrists in Georgia 790optometrists in Wisconsin 780optometrists in Maryland 760optometrists in Washington 710optometrists in Minnesota 660optometrists in Kansas 660optometrists in Tennessee 630optometrists in Missouri 570optometrists in Oklahoma 560optometrists in Oregon 490optometrists in Connecticut 480optometrists in South Carolina 460optometrists in Alabama 450optometrists in Iowa 430optometrists in Kentucky 430optometrists in Nevada 380optometrists in Utah 340optometrists in Nebraska 320optometrists in Arkansas 250optometrists in Louisiana 250optometrists in Rhode Island 240optometrists in Mississippi 230optometrists in Hawaii 210optometrists in New Hampshire 190optometrists in Delaware 190optometrists in South Dakota 180optometrists in Maine 160optometrists in Idaho 150optometrists in West Virginia 140optometrists in Montana 140optometrists in North Dakota 130optometrists in New Mexico 90optometrists in Vermont 90optometrists in Wyoming 60optometrists in Alaska 50optometrists in District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), via api.bls.gov v2, May 2025 estimates for occupation 29-1041 (Optometrists), one series per state (for example OEUS060000000000029104101 for California), read October 1, 2026. Per-capita denominators: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census resident population. The U.S. figure on this page is the sum of the published state estimates, not a separately published national total.