US optometry practices from the federal provider register: fields, chain and group affiliation, and prices.
How many optometrists are in the US?
Optometrists held about 45,100 jobs in the United States in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a count that includes self-employed optometrists. The BLS employer survey (OEWS) counts 42,790 wage and salary jobs in May 2025, slightly lower because it leaves out the self-employed. The CMS NPPES register lists more, ~65,000 individual optometrist registrations in the file of 2026-09-14, and that is an upper bound because optometrists keep their numbers after they retire or move away.
Practices are a different count. BLS counted 21,493 private offices of optometrists in the fourth quarter of 2025 (QCEW, NAICS 621320). The CMS NPPES register lists ~56,000 registered practice addresses of optometrists and their organizations. It keeps stale and duplicate addresses and can include sites inside optical stores and physician offices, so it is an upper bound on practice locations.
Optometrists held about 45,100 jobs in 2025, according to BLS, a count that includes the self-employed.
45,100BLS counted 42,790 wage and salary jobs for optometrists in May 2025; the survey leaves out self-employed optometrists.
42,790BLS counted 21,493 private offices of optometrists in the fourth quarter of 2025, 10 more than a year earlier.
21,493The CMS NPPES file holds ~65,000 individual optometrist registrations, an upper bound because retired optometrists keep their numbers.
~65,000Those optometrists and their organizations list ~56,000 registered practice addresses, also an upper bound.
~56,000What counts as an optometrist or an optometry practice?
The figures on this page count jobs, establishments, registrations or addresses, so they don't contradict each other. Our own counts are rounded; the others are quoted exactly.
Optometrist jobs
What it counts: Jobs held by optometrists, including the self-employed
Latest figure: 45,100
Source and date: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025
Wage and salary jobs
What it counts: Jobs in occupation 29-1041 reported by employers; self-employed optometrists excluded
Latest figure: 42,790
Source and date: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Offices of optometrists
What it counts: Private worksites with employees covered by unemployment insurance, classed as offices of optometrists (NAICS 621320)
Latest figure: 21,493
Source and date: BLS QCEW, Q4 2025
Individual optometrist NPIs
What it counts: Individual National Provider Identifiers with an optometrist taxonomy (152W*) that are not deactivated; an upper bound
Latest figure: ~65,000
Source and date: CMS NPPES, 2026-09-14
Organization NPIs
What it counts: Organization NPIs with an optometrist taxonomy
Latest figure: ~38,000
Source and date: CMS NPPES, 2026-09-14
Registered practice addresses
What it counts: Distinct addresses (street + ZIP) of those NPIs; includes stale and duplicate addresses, so an upper bound
Latest figure: ~56,000
Source and date: CMS NPPES, 2026-09-14, our grouping
BLS gives each worksite one industry, based on its primary economic activity (BLS Handbook of Methods). So an optical store or another retailer where optometrists work is generally counted under retail, not under offices of optometrists.
Where optometrists work
Most optometrists work in optometry offices. BLS says 61% of optometrist jobs are in offices of optometrists, 14% in offices of physicians, 13% in retail trade, 5% are self-employed and 4% are in outpatient care centers.
The NPPES address count takes in all these settings, which is one reason it runs far above the BLS office count.
How many optometry addresses are in each state?
California has the most registered optometry addresses, 12% of the US total, followed by Texas, Florida and New York. The table counts addresses for every state and DC, with the rate per 100,000 residents and each state's share of the US.
| State | In the public register | Per 100,000 residents | Share of US total |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | ~6,500 | 16.6 | 12% |
| Texas | ~4,900 | 15.4 | 8.7% |
| Florida | ~3,600 | 15.3 | 6.4% |
| New York | ~3,500 | 17.4 | 6.2% |
| Pennsylvania | ~2,300 | 18.0 | 4.2% |
| Illinois | ~2,300 | 18.3 | 4.2% |
| Ohio | ~2,000 | 17.0 | 3.6% |
| Michigan | ~1,800 | 17.5 | 3.2% |
| New Jersey | ~1,600 | 16.8 | 2.9% |
| Georgia | ~1,500 | 13.6 | 2.7% |
| North Carolina | ~1,400 | 12.4 | 2.5% |
| Washington | ~1,300 | 16.7 | 2.4% |
| Indiana | ~1,300 | 18.6 | 2.3% |
| Virginia | ~1,300 | 14.5 | 2.3% |
| Colorado | ~1,200 | 20.6 | 2.2% |
| Massachusetts | ~1,200 | 16.7 | 2.1% |
| Arizona | ~1,200 | 15.6 | 2.1% |
| Tennessee | ~1,100 | 15.3 | 2% |
| Missouri | ~1,100 | 17.1 | 1.9% |
| Wisconsin | ~1,100 | 17.6 | 1.9% |
| Minnesota | ~1,000 | 17.4 | 1.8% |
| Maryland | ~1,000 | 16.0 | 1.8% |
| Alabama | ~880 | 17.0 | 1.6% |
| Oklahoma | ~800 | 19.3 | 1.4% |
| South Carolina | ~760 | 13.7 | 1.4% |
| Kentucky | ~710 | 15.5 | 1.3% |
| Oregon | ~700 | 16.4 | 1.3% |
| Connecticut | ~630 | 17.0 | 1.1% |
| Kansas | ~620 | 20.9 | 1.1% |
| Iowa | ~590 | 18.3 | 1.1% |
| Louisiana | ~530 | 11.5 | 0.94% |
| Utah | ~530 | 14.9 | 0.94% |
| Arkansas | ~520 | 16.7 | 0.93% |
| Nevada | ~510 | 15.6 | 0.91% |
| Mississippi | ~440 | 14.8 | 0.78% |
| Nebraska | ~420 | 20.9 | 0.75% |
| Idaho | ~350 | 17.3 | 0.63% |
| New Mexico | ~310 | 14.6 | 0.55% |
| Hawaii | ~310 | 21.4 | 0.55% |
| West Virginia | ~280 | 16.0 | 0.5% |
| Maine | ~230 | 16.3 | 0.41% |
| New Hampshire | ~230 | 16.1 | 0.41% |
| Montana | ~220 | 18.8 | 0.38% |
| South Dakota | ~190 | 20.3 | 0.34% |
| Rhode Island | ~190 | 17.0 | 0.34% |
| North Dakota | ~180 | 22.8 | 0.32% |
| Alaska | ~180 | 24.1 | 0.32% |
| Delaware | ~130 | 12.3 | 0.23% |
| Wyoming | ~120 | 20.7 | 0.22% |
| Vermont | ~110 | 16.6 | 0.19% |
| District of Columbia | ~100 | 15.0 | 0.19% |
Counts are rounded.
These are register counts from the CMS NPPES file of 2026-09-14, rounded. Rates use US Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2025. States are assigned by the address on the record, which can be out of date.
Which states have the most optometry addresses per resident?
Alaska has the most registered optometry addresses per resident, at 24.1 per 100,000, followed by North Dakota (22.8) and Hawaii (21.4). Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming come next. Louisiana has the fewest (11.5), then Delaware (12.3) and North Carolina (12.4). We haven't tested why the rates differ, and a state's rate also depends on how many stale records its optometrists left in the register.
Optometrists by specialty
Almost every optometrist in the register names no specialty. Corneal and contact management is the largest named specialty, followed by vision therapy, pediatrics and low vision rehabilitation.
| Specialty | Individuals |
|---|---|
| Optometrist, no specialty given | ~62,000 |
| Corneal and Contact Management Optometrist | ~1,200 |
| Vision Therapy Optometrist | ~350 |
| Pediatric Optometrist | ~260 |
| Low Vision Rehabilitation Optometrist | ~230 |
| Occupational Vision Optometrist | ~90 |
| Sports Vision Optometrist | ~30 |
Counts are rounded.
The table counts individual optometrists by the specialty they flagged as primary. A specialty code in NPPES is the optometrist's own choice, not a certification.
How current is the NPPES data?
Many optometrist records are old. A record's "last update date" is when the optometrist or CMS last changed it, not when anyone checked it.
- Median record age: 8.4 years before the file date.
- Updated in the last 5 years: 35% of the records.
- Addresses with recent activity: ~24,000 of the ~56,000 registered practice addresses have an NPI updated or added in the last 5 years. That isn't a floor on open practices, since many open offices have no record touched in that time.
- New registrations: ~2,500 optometrist NPIs were issued in the 12 months before the file date.
What these numbers don't show
Whether a particular address is open. Address counts come from registrations. We have not visited or called them.
Optometrists in retail, in the BLS office count. Optical stores and big-box retailers where optometrists work are generally counted under retail; BLS puts 13% of optometrist jobs in retail trade.
Practices without employees. QCEW counts worksites with paid employees, so an optometrist practicing alone is missing from it.
Who owns a practice. NPPES has no ownership or chain field, so it can't separate private equity groups, chains and independents.
Opticians and ophthalmologists. Every count on this page is of optometrists, their offices or their addresses.
LimitsDownload the data
optometrists-register-2026-10.csvCSVCC BY 4.02026-10-04
nodilist.com, "How many optometrists are in the US?", register counts from the CMS NPPES file of 14 September 2026 with BLS figures, https://nodilist.com/optometrists/how-many-optometrists/.
- optometrists-register-2026-10.csv: registered optometry practice addresses for the US and each state and DC, with the rate per 100,000 residents, the share of the US and the rank.
The CSV holds exact values; the tables on this page round them. It is licensed under CC BY 4.0. You can reuse it, including commercially, if you credit nodilist.com and link to this page.
Looking for optometry practice contacts?
The optometrist email list is built from the same register and the practices' own websites, one row per office, with the source and last-verified date on every email. Its page has the register counts by state, the columns and the prices. You can order it nationwide or by state.
Optometrist email listSources
- BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Optometrists, Work Environment (2025 employment, page modified 2026-08-27), https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/optometrists.htm (accessed 2026-10-03)
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-1041 Optometrists, national employment (series OEUN000000000000029104101), https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v1/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000029104101 (accessed 2026-10-03)
- BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 Q4, NAICS 621320 Offices of optometrists, private establishments and employment, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/4/industry/621320.csv (accessed 2026-10-03)
- BLS, Handbook of Methods, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: Concepts (establishment, industry by primary economic activity, coverage), https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cew/concepts.htm (accessed 2026-10-04)
- CMS, NPPES Data Dissemination V.2, file of 2026-09-14, taxonomy codes 152W*, https://download.cms.gov/nppes/NPI_Files.html (accessed 2026-10-03)
- US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 state population estimates (July 1, 2025), via FRED, for the rates per 100,000 residents (accessed 2026-10-03)