While medical school equips aspiring physicians with crucial clinical knowledge, financial literacy often takes a backseat. Recognizing this gap, resources like Financial Boot Camp are emerging to empower doctors to navigate their finances effectively, invest confidently, and build wealth.
Recent surveys paint a nuanced picture of physician compensation. After a year of salary decline, 2023 witnessed a rebound in doctor income. However, a persistent sentiment among physicians is that their earnings don’t fully reflect their demanding workload and extensive training.
The 2024 Medscape Physician Compensation Report reveals a 3% increase in total compensation for US physicians in 2023, a welcome recovery from the previous year’s 2.4% decrease. Primary care physicians experienced a 4% rise, slightly outpacing the 3% increase observed across 29+ specialties analyzed. Despite this growth, Medscape notes that physician salary increases still lagged behind the approximate 4% average raise for non-unionized US employees in 2023.
The 2024 Doximity Physician Compensation Report corroborates this trend, indicating a 6% increase in physician pay after a 2.4% dip. However, Doximity highlights a concerning long-term trend: adjusted for inflation, Medicare physician payments have decreased by 26% since 2001.
Doximity’s report emphasizes the impact of inflation on physician’s real income, stating:
“While [the 2024] increase appears to be a step in the right direction, inflationary pressures continue to impact physicians’ real income.”
The economic climate of 2022 significantly eroded physician income and purchasing power, with inflation peaking at 9.1% that summer. This inflationary pressure likely contributed to a decrease in doctor’s net worth, compounded by the poor performance of both stock and bond markets in 2022. However, 2023 saw inflation stabilize, and the S&P 500 rebounded with a 24% gain, followed by another 23% gain in 2024.
According to the MGMA 2024 Provider Compensation Data Report, both primary care and surgical specialist physician total compensation saw similar increases of approximately 4.4% between 2022 and 2023. Non-surgical specialists, however, experienced a more modest rise of 1.81% during the same period.
Despite recent pay increases, physician satisfaction with their compensation remains mixed. Medscape’s survey revealed that 61% of doctors believe physicians are generally underpaid, while 34% consider their pay to be appropriate. A small fraction, 5%, believe doctors are overpaid. Interestingly, when compared to a 2021 survey of Americans, only 11% believed doctors were underpaid, highlighting a potential disconnect in perception between the public and medical professionals themselves. When Medscape survey participants were asked about their own compensation, 49% felt underpaid.
One physician respondent captured this sentiment, stating:
“Do I feel I am paid well? Yes, in comparison to other Americans. However, I gave the time, money, and sacrifice to do it.”
Economic pressures are also influencing physician career decisions. A Doximity survey from August 2022 indicated that 55% of doctors were either delaying retirement (around 40%) or reducing expenses (about 15%) due to the prevailing economic conditions. This trend is more pronounced among older physicians nearing retirement age, but a significant portion of physicians in their 30s and 40s are also considering delaying retirement.
Doximity’s latest data, derived from over 33,000 US physicians, shows a slight narrowing of the gender pay gap to 23% in 2023, down from 26% in 2022 and 28% in 2021. Despite this progress, male doctors still earn approximately $102,000 more annually than their female counterparts, a disparity that may contribute to higher rates of physician burnout, particularly among women.
Doximity underscores the critical need for pay parity, stating:
“While there appears to be slight movement in the right direction, physician pay parity continues to be a critical area in need of improvement,” Doximity wrote. “This pay gap may be contributing to an even higher burnout rate among women physicians, with nearly 92% of women physicians surveyed reporting overwork, compared to 83% of men.”
Raising awareness of the gender pay gap is a crucial step toward addressing it. Doximity’s February and March 2024 survey revealed that approximately 52% of physicians believe a gender-based compensation disparity exists. However, this belief is significantly influenced by gender, with nearly 75% of women physicians recognizing the disparity compared to less than 30% of male physicians.
Medscape’s 2023 data reflects this narrowing gap, with male doctors averaging $400,000 and female doctors averaging $310,000, a $90,000 difference.
Despite these disparities and concerns about fair compensation, physicians remain among the highest-paid professionals in the US. A USA Today report from late 2024 indicates that physicians occupy 16 of the 20 highest-paying jobs in the US, with dentists and dental specialists filling the remaining spots.
Understanding the Nuances of Average Doctor Salary
While an average doctor salary figure of $363,000 is often cited, it provides limited practical value due to the significant variations across specialties and other factors.
For instance, the Doximity report highlights a stark contrast: a pediatric endocrinologist averages $217,875 per year, while a neurosurgeon earns an average of $763,908. This represents a staggering difference of over $546,000, demonstrating the inadequacy of a general “average doctor salary” figure. Similarly, Medscape’s 2024 survey reveals a substantial gap between primary care physicians, averaging $277,000, and specialists, who average $394,000.
For a more meaningful understanding of physician compensation, focusing on specialty-specific data is crucial.
Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2024: Average Physician Salary
Medscape’s 2024 compensation report provides a detailed breakdown of average physician salaries across various specialties.
For detailed contract data and salary benchmarks, resources like Resolve rData offer proprietary data from thousands of contract submissions. Explore the Resolve rData homepage for further insights.
Intraspecialty vs. Interspecialty Pay Variation
Dr. Jim Dahle has consistently emphasized that salary variations within a specialty can be more significant than variations between different specialties. This concept of intraspecialty pay variation highlights the numerous factors beyond specialty that influence a doctor’s income.
Referencing a 2015 emergency medicine salary survey, Dr. Dahle illustrates this point:
A 2015 emergency medicine salary survey demonstrating significant pay variation within the same specialty.
Dr. Dahle explains:
“Look at the 10th percentile for employees—$213,000. Now, look at the 90th percentile for partners—$510,000. Difference? $297,000. GREATER than the difference between the average pediatrician and the average plastic surgeon!
The ability to increase pay and increase it substantially solves a ton of financial problems that real doctors run into and email me about all the time. It’s way easier to pay off your student loans or mortgage on twice the income. Even after-tax, it’s much easier to become financially independent or have a dignified retirement or send your kids to the college of their choice when you can double your income.”
Hourly Doctor Salary: Breaking Down the Numbers
While annual physician income data is readily available, information on physician work hours is less accessible. A 2003 JAMA survey provides some insights into work hours, but the data is outdated.
The following chart combines data from the JAMA survey and Medscape’s 2024 survey, adjusted for reported work hour variations across specialties, to estimate physician salary per hour. This calculation assumes a 48-week work year for all physicians and uses less reliable sources (asterisked in the table) where Medscape data is unavailable.
Doctor Salary by Specialty: A Comparative Overview
It’s important to recognize that salary survey data can vary significantly depending on the methodology and sources used. Comparing data from different surveys is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of physician compensation.
Consider the variations between Medscape’s 2024 survey and Doximity’s data.
Medscape’s 2024 data on average annual earnings for doctors across different specialties.
For example, Medscape reports an average salary of $261,000 for infectious disease doctors, while Doximity reports $314,000 – a nearly 17% difference. Similarly, for orthopedists, Medscape reports $558,000, compared to Doximity’s $654,000, a 14.6% higher figure. These discrepancies highlight the challenges in relying solely on any single survey for contract negotiations or career planning.
For specialties not covered in Medscape or Doximity surveys, such as neurosurgery or CT surgery, physicians may need to explore resources like MGMA data or contract management firms. However, even these sources may not guarantee definitively “better” data.
Medscape’s 2023 survey also provides insights into physician perceptions of fair compensation across various specialties:
Highest-Paid Doctor Specialties in 2024
Doximity’s 2024 survey identifies surgical and procedural specialties as consistently dominating the top of the income spectrum, while primary care and pediatrics tend to be among the lower-earning specialties.
Here are the top-earning specialties according to Doximity’s 2024 report:
Doximity’s 2024 list of the 20 highest-paid doctor specialties.
Lowest-Paid Doctor Specialties in 2024
Conversely, here are the specialties with the lowest average salaries, according to Doximity:
Doximity’s 2024 list of the 20 lowest-paid doctor specialties.
It’s important to note that specialties like psychiatry, neurology, and geriatrics fall within the mid-range of average salaries, typically between $289,000 and $348,000.
Medscape’s 2024 survey also tracks salary growth and decline across specialties:
Medscape’s 2024 data on medical specialist salary increases and decreases.
Despite a decline in popularity, emergency medicine physician salaries continue to rise, along with PM&R, neurology, and dermatology.
Further Reading:
How Much Do Surgeons Make?
Geographic Impact on Doctor Salary: Doctor Salary by State
Geographic arbitrage, the strategy of practicing in lower cost-of-living areas while earning a potentially higher salary due to increased demand, can be a viable path to financial independence for physicians. Medscape’s 2023 data appears to support this concept.
Medscape’s 2023 data highlighting states with the highest average physician salaries.
The higher cost of living in major cities like New York City contrasts sharply with more affordable locations like Weyauwega, Wisconsin. The fact that physicians in states like Wisconsin may earn more than their counterparts in New York City reinforces the potential benefits of geographic arbitrage.
Doctor Salaries by Employment Setting: Practice Matters
The employment setting significantly influences a doctor’s earning potential. Doximity’s survey data reveals substantial salary differences across various practice types. In 2024, the difference between practicing in a single-specialty group versus an urgent care center can be as much as $173,000 per year.
- Single Specialty Group: $461,000 (5.0% increase)
- Multi-Specialty Group: $447,000 (6.1% increase)
- Solo Practice: $443,000 (3.5% increase)
- Hospital: $428,000 (5.8% increase)
- Health System/IDN/ACO: $427,000 (7.0% increase)
- Health Maintenance Organization: $406,000 (4.9% increase)
- Academic: $365,000 (5.2% increase)
- Urgent Care Center/Chain: $288,000 (9.1% increase)
- Government: $292,000 (8.6% increase)
For strategies to potentially increase your income within your specialty, Dr. Dahle offers valuable insights here.
For a more in-depth analysis, explore the complete Doximity report, which includes data on metropolitan area compensation, cities with the fastest-growing salaries, and the impact of physician shortages. For comparison, refer to Medscape’s Physician Compensation 2024 Report.
What are your thoughts on these salary trends? Are any of these numbers surprising? Have you discovered effective methods to increase your income within your specialty?
[This article is an updated version of a post originally published in 2022.]
