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    ‘Best Plastic Surgeons’ Not Recognized in 30 States

    One out of every five plastic surgeons practices in a state excluded from the most widely-viewed rankings of the best plastic surgeons in America.
    By Surgical TimesJune 19, 2023

    Patients who want it want the best they can afford.

    Doctors who provide it want to be known for delivering the best of it that money can buy.

    With national interest in the “best plastic surgeons” growing exponentially over the last 20 years, Newsweek magazine in 2021 began publishing comprehensive lists of America’s best plastic surgeons.

    Based on votes by 2,000-plus peers, the lists are exhaustive and backed by a published methodology.

    Surgeons are separately ranked on their skill in each of the years’ most popular plastic surgery procedures, from breast augmentation to liposuction, and blepharoplasty to rhinoplasty.

    Placement on the lists is rather coveted. Surgeons promote their awarded status through press releases and social media updates, and the lists appear prominently in online search results.

    Rapidly growing in popularity to become the most widely-viewed rankings of their kind, the lists aren’t without a drawback that may affect patients and providers alike.

    Popular for most, problematic for some

    Plastic surgeons in 30 US states are omitted from the rankings lists, which include only the top 20 states with the greatest number of plastic surgeons, as recorded by the US Census Bureau.

    Newsweek magazine and Statista provide this graphic to show what states qualify for its popular search for America’s best plastic surgeons. Since their debut in 2021, the rankings have rapidly grown to be the most widely-viewed of their type.

    Though more US states are omitted from the list than are included on it, roughly 80 percent of surgeons live and work in the states where the ‘best plastic surgeons’ are eligible for inclusion.

    Best plastic surgeons lists omit 30 states; 20% of plastic surgeons

    Plastic surgeons from any of the following states will not appear on the most comprehensive and widely-viewed lists of the nation’s best plastic surgeons, even if they would otherwise qualify for the distinction. These 30 states account for roughly 20 percent of the total number of practicing plastic surgeons in the country.

    1. Alabama
    2. Alaska
    3. Arkansas
    4. Colorado
    5. Delaware
    6. Hawaii
    7. Idaho
    8. Indiana
    9. Iowa
    10. Kansas
    11. Kentucky
    12. Louisiana
    13. Maine
    14. Minnesota
    15. Mississippi
    16. Montana
    17. Nebraska
    18. Nevada
    19. New Hampshire
    20. New Mexico
    21. North Dakota
    22. Oklahoma
    23. Oregon
    24. Rhode Island
    25. South Carolina
    26. South Dakota
    27. Utah
    28. Vermont
    29. West Virginia
    30. Wyoming

    Best plastic surgeons lists limited to 20 states; 80% of plastic surgeons

    Only plastic surgeons from these states are included in this years’ list of the best plastic surgeons in America. These 20 states account for roughly 80 percent of the total number of practicing plastic surgeons in the country.

    1. Arizona
    2. California
    3. Colorado
    4. Florida
    5. Georgia
    6. Illinois
    7. Maryland
    8. Massachusetts
    9. Michigan
    10. Missouri
    11. New Jersey
    12. New York
    13. North Carolina
    14. Ohio
    15. Pennsylvania
    16. Tennessee
    17. Texas
    18. Virginia
    19. Washington
    20. Wisconsin

    The US states where the highest number of cosmetic surgery procedures are performed are California, Florida, and Texas.

    The US states with the highest number of America’s ‘best plastic surgeons’ are California, New York, Florida, and Texas.

    While not without their few flaws, Newsweek’s lists of the best plastic surgeons in America are likely more accurate and more helpful to patients than the pay-to-play lists that once preceded them.

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    Objective. Independent. Informative. Public interest reporting on the practice of plastic surgery not affiliated with or funded by any surgeon, device manufacturer, or practice.

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