In plain English
Neurological surgery is one of the longest trainings in American medicine and one of the smallest specialties. Cranial work - tumours, haemorrhage, trauma - is what the specialty is known for, but spinal surgery is the larger share of most practices, which puts neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spine surgeons in the same market.
It is almost entirely hospital-based. The case mix needs an intensive care unit, imaging and an emergency department behind it, and very few markets support a neurosurgery practice independent of a hospital, so this population maps closely onto the hospitals with a neuroscience service.
Endovascular and functional neurosurgery are fellowship sub-specialties, and interventional neurology overlaps with the first of them.
Training and credentials
Medical school, a neurological surgery residency of about seven years, then board certification; fellowships add more.
Where they practise
Acute care hospitals with neuroscience services, academic medical centres, hospital-employed or hospital-aligned groups.
Neurosurgeons on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1,372 | 887 65% | 1,372 |
| Florida | 976 | 610 63% | 975 |
| Texas | 971 | 642 66% | 971 |
| New York | 695 | 492 71% | 695 |
| Pennsylvania | 540 | 422 78% | 540 |
| Illinois | 457 | 348 76% | 457 |
| Ohio | 425 | 327 77% | 425 |
| Michigan | 413 | 273 66% | 413 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Orthopedic surgeon Bones, joints and spine - and the device-heavy specialty that owns its own surgery centres.
- Neurologist Brain, spine and nerve medicine - filed on the record beside psychiatry.
- General surgeon The broad abdominal and trauma specialty, and the classification other surgery is filed against.
Find them
- Neurosurgeons list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Physicians physician data by specialty, state and employer.
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