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The 25 Best US Cities for Doula Access, 2026
Which American cities give expecting families the best shot at great doula support? We scored every city over 50,000 people on two things at once: how many doulas it has per resident, and how happy their clients are (median Google rating). These 25 cities — across 12 states — came out on top. (Local reporters: “Sarasota ranks #1 nationally” is yours to run with; cite with a link.)
The ranking
| # | City | Listed doulas | Per 100k | Median rating | Score |
| 1 | Sarasota, FL | 18 | 31.2 | 5 ★ | 155.8 |
| 2 | La Mesa, CA | 15 | 24.7 | 5 ★ | 123.4 |
| 3 | Summerville, SC | 12 | 22.8 | 5 ★ | 114 |
| 4 | Bothell, WA | 11 | 21.2 | 5 ★ | 106.2 |
| 5 | Bowie, MD | 12 | 20.5 | 5 ★ | 102.7 |
| 6 | Santa Cruz, CA | 12 | 19.2 | 5 ★ | 95.9 |
| 7 | Novato, CA | 10 | 19.1 | 5 ★ | 95.6 |
| 8 | Aliso Viejo, CA | 8 | 15.9 | 5 ★ | 79.3 |
| 9 | Asheville, NC | 14 | 14.7 | 5 ★ | 73.7 |
| 10 | Frederick, MD | 13 | 14.5 | 5 ★ | 72.6 |
| 11 | Lauderhill, FL | 11 | 14.4 | 5 ★ | 71.8 |
| 12 | West Sacramento, CA | 8 | 14.3 | 5 ★ | 71.4 |
| 13 | Longmont, CO | 14 | 14 | 5 ★ | 70.1 |
| 14 | Duluth, MN | 12 | 13.6 | 5 ★ | 68.2 |
| 15 | Watsonville, CA | 7 | 13.6 | 5 ★ | 68.2 |
| 16 | Santee, CA | 8 | 13.5 | 5 ★ | 67.7 |
| 17 | Normal, IL | 7 | 13.1 | 5 ★ | 65.7 |
| 18 | Bryan, TX | 12 | 13.1 | 5 ★ | 65.5 |
| 19 | North Port, FL | 12 | 12.9 | 5 ★ | 64.6 |
| 20 | Ocala, FL | 9 | 12.8 | 5 ★ | 64.1 |
| 21 | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | 8 | 12.6 | 5 ★ | 63.2 |
| 22 | Bellingham, WA | 12 | 12.5 | 5 ★ | 62.6 |
| 23 | Olympia, WA | 7 | 12.4 | 5 ★ | 62.2 |
| 24 | Wilmington, DE | 9 | 12.3 | 5 ★ | 61.5 |
| 25 | Smyrna, GA | 7 | 12.2 | 5 ★ | 61.2 |
What stands out
Sarasota, Florida leads the country with 18 listed doulas for about 58k residents — 31.2 per 100,000 people, several times the national rate. And the quality bar is high everywhere on this list: every one of these cities has a median client rating of 5★ or better, a reminder that doula work earns extraordinary reviews — families don't forget the person who supported their birth.
Cite this data
This dataset is free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:
Methodology
Cities with at least 50,000 residents (US Census 2024 estimates) and at least 3 listed doulas qualify. Each city's score = listed doulas per 100,000 residents × median Google rating of its rated doulas. Counts come from our continuously maintained national directory of 9,002 doula practices — listed practices, not individual practitioners, so every count is a floor. Ratings are client-written Google reviews, location-level.