SAMHSA Treatment Facility Type Distribution
PlainRecovery catalogues the facility-type distribution across the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, refreshed automatically with every SAMHSA data release.
Research period:
What this data is (and isn't)
This breaks down how many SAMHSA-listed facilities offer each treatment-type capability, it is not a quality, safety, or outcomes score, none of which SAMHSA's survey collects. A larger count for a capability just means more facilities report offering it, not that any one facility or type is "better." This is not a personalized recommendation about where to seek treatment. Talk to a doctor or licensed counselor about your situation, or call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7).
Research question
How are the 17,974 facilities in the SAMHSA treatment directory distributed across facility-type categories (substance abuse only, mental health only, both), and what does the distribution tell us about the structure of the US behavioral health treatment landscape?
Methodology
This ranking is generated fresh from the current SAMHSA dataset every time the page loads, not a fixed figure we typed in once and forgot about. When SAMHSA publishes an updated Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, our next data refresh picks up the change automatically and this page's numbers update with it.
Facility types with no data reported are left out of the ranking rather than shown as a false zero, since SAMHSA occasionally withholds a figure for confidentiality or data-quality reasons. If a later SAMHSA release revises a number, that revision shows up here the next time we refresh, no manual edits needed on our end.
Every number on this page traces back to a specific SAMHSA record, so you can verify it yourself against the original source rather than taking our word for it. See the methodology page for the full data pipeline and how often we refresh.
SAMHSA Treatment Facility Type Distribution
Live data, current as of the most recent SAMHSA refresh
The ranked top 3
Every row below reflects the current SAMHSA dataset and updates automatically the next time we refresh it.
| # | Facility-type code | Facilities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SA | 11,932 |
| 2 | BOTH | 3,130 |
| 3 | MH | 2,912 |
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator with facility-type and service-capability breakdown. Values are current as of our most recent SAMHSA data refresh. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) - SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator with facility-type and service-capability breakdown. Values are current as of our most recent SAMHSA data refresh.
Findings
Top entity in the ranking
The top-ranked record in this dataset is SA, with a value of 11,932 on the Facilities column. The full top-3 set is rendered in the table above. Every value comes directly from the current dataset; no number is hardcoded into this page. When the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) publishes a revision, the ranking and the prose around it update automatically.
Distribution shape
The gap between the top-ranked record (11,932) and the 3rd-ranked record (2,912) characterizes how concentrated the top of the distribution is. Where the top value is many multiples of the median value of the visible set, the population is highly concentrated, a small number of entities accumulate the bulk of the measured quantity. Where the top and bottom of the visible set are close together, the distribution is relatively flat across the top end. The full distribution beyond this top-3 cut is summarized in the aggregate context section below and explored in the linked entity profiles.
Aggregate context
Across the full population behind this ranking, here are the summary statistics: how many records exist in total, the sum of the ranking metric across all qualifying records, and the mean per-record value. The methodology page documents the exact filter applied (records with null or zero values on the ranking metric are excluded). This aggregate row is computed from the same dataset that powers the ranking above.
Source provenance
The records in this ranking originate from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), specifically the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator with facility-type and service-capability breakdown. PlainRecovery ingests each new release from the agency and republishes the figures here automatically, so this page always reflects the current dataset rather than a fixed snapshot. See the methodology page for the source URL, the vintage date, and how the data is processed.
Why this ranking matters
Rankings like this one let a reader scan a population quickly and identify outliers, concentrations, and patterns that warrant deeper investigation. The detail pages linked from each entity in the table above give the full per-entity context: time-series history where available, related metrics from adjacent tables, and links onward to the underlying source records. The methodology page explains how an entity earns inclusion in the dataset and how the ranking column is computed at the source.
What this analysis cannot tell us
The facility_type field is the type-code recorded by SAMHSA based on the facility's registration. 'SA' indicates the facility focuses on substance use disorder treatment; 'MH' indicates a mental health focus; 'BOTH' indicates dual-diagnosis or integrated programs. Service-capability flags (detox, MAT, outpatient, residential, telehealth) are self-reported by facilities at registration time and may not reflect current real-time availability. A facility listed as offering MAT (Medication-Assisted Treatment) provides at least one approved medication for opioid or alcohol use disorder but the specific medication mix is not enumerated in this aggregate view. Service-capability counts overlap, a single facility may offer multiple modalities, so the sum across capabilities exceeds the total facility count.
Secondary cut from the same source
Service capability breakdown: facilities offering each treatment modality
Sources
- SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, public database - https://findtreatment.gov/
- SAMHSA, National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) - https://www.samhsa.gov/data/