Original Med Radar research

The 2026 U.S. Independent Medical Practice & Med Spa Growth Report

Published September 21, 2026 · Data as of September 21, 2026 · Free to cite with attribution

Med Radar maintains a normalized warehouse of 1,044,777 U.S. and Canadian medical practice records built from public registry data and verified public practice websites. This report publishes what that warehouse shows about where independent medical practices, clinics and aesthetic businesses are being registered — which specialties are expanding fastest, which states and metros carry the most new registrations, and how the solo-provider and organization split actually breaks down.

Key findings

• Nurse-practitioner-led practices are the fastest-growing category by a wide margin. 42.2% of the 27,235 nurse practitioner practice records were registered in the last two years — roughly double the next-fastest category and six times the rate seen in dentistry.
• Maryland is the most active state for new registrations. 20.6% of its 26,258 records are two years old or newer, ahead of Nevada (12.4%), Colorado (11.6%), Florida (11.5%) and Arizona (11.4%).
• Sun Belt metros lead on newness, not the largest metros. Baltimore (16.8%), Miami (14.5%) and Las Vegas (14.2%) carry roughly double the new-registration share of New York (7.2%) and Dallas (6.9%).
• The market is almost exactly split between individuals and organizations. 518,192 records are tied to an individual provider and 526,585 to an organization — 49.6% versus 50.4%. Wisconsin (64.3%) and Minnesota (62.1%) remain the most solo-provider-heavy states.
• Aesthetic businesses are young. Of 2,529 businesses whose registered name signals med spa or aesthetic services, 653 — 25.8% — were registered in the last two years, and Florida leads every state with 318.
• Dentistry dominates raw volume. At 373,657 records it accounts for more than a third of everything tracked, but only 7.0% of it is new — a mature, saturated category compared with clinics and nurse-led practices.

Fastest-growing specialties

Ranked by the share of records registered within the last two years. Only specialties with at least 3,000 tracked U.S. records are included.

Largest specialties by tracked practices

States with the most new practice registrations

Ranked by share of records registered in the last two years. States with fewer than 5,000 tracked records are excluded so small samples do not distort the ranking.

States with the most tracked practices

Cities with the most tracked practices

Independent providers versus organizations

Registry data distinguishes records filed by an individual provider from records filed by an organization. That split is the closest reliable public signal for independent versus corporate structure, though an individual record can still sit inside a larger group and an organization record can be a single-owner practice. States below have at least 10,000 tracked records.

Med spa and aesthetic business concentration

2,529 tracked businesses carry an aesthetic or med spa signal in their registered business name (med spa, medspa, aesthetics, laser, rejuvenation, and similar). This undercounts the category — many aesthetic practices register under a physician's name — but it is a consistent, reproducible measure across states.

Registration age curve

U.S. records by registration age. The spike at 19–20 years reflects the national provider identifier rollout, when most existing practices registered at once — not a wave of new openings. Everything under five years is the meaningful growth signal.

Methodology

• Source. The Med Radar practice warehouse: 1,044,777 normalized records (1,043,836 U.S., 941 Canada) built from the public national provider registry, open mapping data and publicly reachable practice websites. No paid data vendor, purchased list or scraped social platform is involved.
• Snapshot date. All figures were computed on September 21, 2026.
• Deduplication. Records are normalized and deduplicated on identifier, normalized business name, phone and street address before counting.
• "New" is a registration signal. It means the registry record is 0–2 years old. It is not a verified opening date, and a practice can re-register after a move, restructure or ownership change.
• Scope. Med Radar focuses on independently operated practices and excludes several categories by design, including pediatrics, large hospital systems, chiropractic, therapy assistant, pharmacy and home health records. Totals should be read as coverage of the tracked universe, not the full U.S. provider population.
• Limitations. Coverage is uneven by state and far thinner in Canada. Website, email and social evidence exists for a minority of records and is only attached when the page itself proves the match. No figure here is projected, modelled or seasonally adjusted.

Citation and reuse

Journalists, analysts and bloggers may reproduce any table or figure on this page free of charge with attribution and a link back to this report. No permission request is needed.

Med Radar, "The 2026 U.S. Independent Medical Practice & Med Spa Growth Report," September 21, 2026. https://medradaralma.com/2026-medical-practice-growth-report

Need a cut we have not published — a specific state, metro, specialty or time window? Ask through the contact page and we will run it against the same warehouse.

Why this matters for healthcare sales teams

The growth in these tables is concentrated in categories that buy differently from hospital systems: nurse-practitioner-led clinics, independent primary care, psychiatry and aesthetic businesses, largely in Sun Belt metros. Med Radar exists to make that universe searchable — by specialty, city, ZIP or radius — so field teams can see recently registered practices, physician practices and med spa accounts in one map and plan a territory around them.