Understanding physician compensation is crucial for doctors to recognize their worth and negotiate effectively. Access to transparent salary data empowers physicians when discussing contracts, ensuring they are fairly compensated for their expertise and responsibilities. However, comprehensive salary information is often restricted or difficult for doctors to find during negotiation periods. Even when salary databases are available, they frequently lack details about the complete compensation package, making accurate comparisons challenging. It’s essential to remember that salaries within the same specialty can vary significantly based on factors such as location, subspecialty, benefits, PTO, practice type, call schedules, bonuses, partnership opportunities, and working hours.
To address this information gap, we at The Boot Doctor, drawing from data within our physician communities, have compiled salary and compensation insights. This resource provides both broad trends and specific data points, offering a detailed view of physician earnings. This data also helps track salary trends over time, alerting doctors when it may be time to renegotiate their employment agreements.
Disclaimers/Disclosures: Please be aware that this article includes information about our sponsors and affiliate links, which support our work without any cost to you and often provide added benefits. These are introductions to services, not formal endorsements. The salary information presented here is derived from our physician salary and compensation databases. It is based on self-reported data and is intended for educational and advocacy purposes for individual physicians, not for collective bargaining. Please refer to our physician salary data pages for comprehensive disclaimers. Always conduct your own research and consult with professionals before making financial, legal, or tax decisions. We strongly recommend having your physician employment agreement reviewed by a physician contract review attorney to ensure you have the most current and relevant advice for your specific situation.
Average Physician Compensation in 2024
Using physician salary data from our databases, we’ve analyzed average compensation across various medical specialties. For specialties with sufficient data, we have created detailed articles, linked below, that delve deeper into the factors influencing earnings. While this article touches on elements like hours worked, gender, and location, these specialty-specific articles offer a more thorough examination of these and other salary determinants.
The overall data presented here is compiled from approximately 5,000 data points collected between mid-2023 and mid-2024. We aim to continuously expand this physician salary database to provide our community members with increasingly precise and valuable information.
2024 Average Doctor Salary: Key Figures
As detailed in our article on doctor compensation and salary statistics, the average physician salary in the US, considering all data points (both full-time and part-time), is approximately $368,000.
Primary Care Physician Salaries
Salary variations are significant not only between specialties but also within them. Before exploring specific specialties, it’s important to highlight primary care physician compensation. For our analysis, primary care physicians are defined as those identifying as general internal medicine, general family medicine, and general pediatrics practitioners, excluding subspecialists within these fields.
The average annual salary for primary care physicians is $281,000. For more detailed salary information within primary care subspecialties, please refer to the articles linked below.
Learn more:
Doctor Salaries by Medical Specialty (2024)
Specialization is a major determinant of physician salary. Below, we examine average doctor salaries across various specialties. It is important to note that average hours worked significantly impact compensation. Unless stated otherwise, the salary figures below are for full-time physicians, defined as working 36 or more hours per week on average.
While we are still gathering data for all subspecialties in 2024, the following represent average full-time attending physician salaries for specialties where we have sufficient data to provide reliable figures:
- Allergy & Immunology – $290,000
- Anesthesiology – $518,000
- Cardiology – $583,000
- Critical Care – $451,000
- Dermatology* – $527,000
- Emergency Medicine – $437,000
- Endocrinology – $281,000
- Family Medicine – $289,000
- Gastroenterology – $625,000
- Geriatrics – $293,000
- Hematology Oncology – $496,000
- Hospice/Palliative Care – $262,000
- FM/IM Hospital Medicine – $324,000
- Infectious Disease – $286,000
- Internal Medicine – $295,000
- Nephrology – $357,000
- Neurology – $360,000
- Neurosurgery – $1,075,000
- Obstetrics & Gynecology – $383,000
- Ophthalmology – $509,000
- Orthopedic Surgery – $745,000
- Otolaryngology (ENT) – $579,000
- Pain Management – $457,000
- Pathology – $367,000
- Pediatrics – $253,000
- Physiatry (PM&R) – $364,000
- Plastic Surgery – $717,000
- Psychiatry – $329,000
- Pulmonary – $434,000
- Radiation Oncology – $593,000
- Radiology – $558,000
- Rheumatology – $287,000
- Surgery (All) – $569,000
- Surgery, General – $464,000
- Urgent Care – $318,000
- Urology – $564,000
*For dermatology, full-time equivalent is defined as 31+ hours per week.
These figures represent average salaries within each specialty, based on all full-time data submissions. Actual salaries can vary widely depending on location, practice setting, employer type, hours worked, call responsibilities, partnership status, and other factors. We are developing detailed articles exploring doctor salaries by specialty in 2024 to provide more in-depth analysis.
Explore the following specialties in detail:
Note: Minor discrepancies may exist between the average salaries listed here and those in individual specialty articles due to differing update schedules and new data integration.
If you don’t see your specialty listed with a dedicated article, it means we currently lack sufficient data for a detailed analysis. Please consider contributing to the physician salary and compensation database to help increase data transparency for your specialty. Your contributions are anonymous, and salary transparency benefits all physicians in understanding their market value.
Specialties with fewer practitioners may have less data, potentially skewing averages. While these averages offer a general benchmark, we encourage you to visit our comprehensive, free compensation data for physicians to examine more specific data relevant to your situation.
Check back for updates on specialty breakdowns as we continue to gather and analyze more data. We will regularly update this page with new specialty-specific articles.
Highest Paying Doctor Specialties
Looking closer at the average full-time salaries, we’ve ranked the top-earning specialties and subspecialties among physicians in our dataset. It’s worth noting that data for surgical subspecialties, in particular, may be based on smaller sample sizes, and averages could shift as more physicians contribute. New subspecialties may also enter these rankings as our data expands.
The top 15 highest-paid doctor specialties are:
- Neurological Surgeons: $1,075,000
- Orthopedic Surgeons: $745,000
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons: $717,000
- Interventional Radiologists: $635,000
- Gastroenterologists: $625,000
- Vascular Surgeons: $624,000
- Radiation Oncologists: $593,000
- Cardiologists: $583,000
- Otolaryngologists (ENTs): $579,000
- Urologists: $564,000
- Diagnostic Radiologists: $538,000
- Dermatologists: $527,000
- Trauma Surgeons: $521,000
- Anesthesiologists: $518,000
- Ophthalmologists: $509,000
Across specialties, surgeons consistently report the highest average salaries across various subspecialties. This is largely due to the current RVU (Relative Value Unit) system in the United States, which tends to compensate procedural work more generously. Many physicians operate under RVU-based compensation models or are paid based on collections, further reinforcing this trend.
Learn more about RVU based contracts.
Lowest Paying Doctor Specialties
Alongside the highest-paid specialties, we also examined those with the lowest reported physician salaries.
The 10 lowest-paid doctor specialties are:
- Adolescent Medicine Physicians: $200,000
- Pediatric Endocrinologists: $203,000
- Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologists: $220,000
- Pediatric Hospitalists: $225,000
- Pediatric Nephrologists: $227,000
- Developmental-Behavioral Pediatricians: $230,000
- General Pediatricians: $248,000
- Pediatric Gastroenterologists: $252,000
- Hospice and Palliative Care Doctors: $262,000
- Pediatric Pulmonologists: $263,000
Conversely to the highest-paid specialties, many primary care specialties appear among the lowest-paid. These specialties typically involve fewer procedures, which are reimbursed at lower rates by insurance companies. Physicians in these fields often express frustration regarding reimbursement levels and explore strategies to increase revenue in private practice settings.
Learn more about:
A frequent concern among physicians in lower-paying specialties is managing charting time. Excessive charting can limit patient volume or negatively impact work-life balance due to after-hours administrative tasks. AI scribes are increasingly being adopted to alleviate this burden by automating documentation processes.
Related PSG perks:
Explore our physician burnout and support resources for further assistance.
The Impact of Procedures on Physician Pay
As mentioned, procedural specialties generally command higher salaries than non-procedural ones due to the US healthcare reimbursement structure. To illustrate this further, we examined specialties with both interventional and non-interventional branches to quantify the salary impact of procedural components.
In radiology, for example, our data distinguishes between diagnostic and interventional radiology. Interventional radiologists in our data report an average salary of $635,000 annually, while diagnostic radiologists average $538,000 – a nearly 20% difference.
Similarly, within cardiology, we differentiate between noninvasive and invasive cardiologists. Noninvasive cardiologists average $542,000 per year, compared to $575,000 for invasive cardiologists. While the 6% difference is smaller than in radiology, it still demonstrates a salary advantage for interventional physicians.
These examples underscore the significant influence of procedural work on physician compensation.
Physician Work Hours and Salary
When considering average physician salaries, it’s important to understand the context of work hours to ensure relevant comparisons.
While the average doctor salary is $368,000, there is considerable salary variation. The median doctor salary for 2024 was $321,000. Both figures include physicians working varied hours, from part-time (6-10 hours/week) to over 70 hours per week. This wide range may not align with every physician’s desired work-life balance or career goals.
Salary is directly related to hours worked. Physicians define “full-time” and “part-time” differently, so let’s analyze average weekly work hours and corresponding salaries.
The distribution of average weekly hours reported by our physician members is as follows:
Doctor Salary by Hours Worked
For physicians working full-time (36+ hours/week), the average reported salary is $385,000. Many physicians also work part-time. For part-time averages, we typically consider attending physicians working 16-35 hours weekly. The average part-time doctor in this category earns $303,000.
Breaking down the data further by average weekly hours reveals a clear trend: income generally increases with more hours worked. Medicine often operates on an “eat what you kill” model.
- 16-20 hours/week average – $185,000/year
- 21-25 hours/week average – $245,000/year (32% increase)
- 26-30 hours/week average – $306,000/year (25% increase)
- 31-35 hours/week average – $329,000/year (7.5% increase)
- 36-40 hours/week average – $347,000/year (5.5% increase)
- 41-45 hours/week average – $369,000/year (6.3% increase)
- 46-50 hours/week average – $403,000/year (9.2% increase)
- 51-60 hours/week average – $445,000/year (10% increase)
- 61-70 hours/week average – $466,000/year (4.7% increase)
Note: Data for 71+ hours/week is excluded due to skewing from 7-on, 7-off hospitalists and similar schedules, where weekly hours may be high during work weeks but not representative of consistent weekly hours.
While income generally rises with hours worked, the increase isn’t always proportional. Adding extra shifts part-time can significantly boost income, but increasing hours when already full-time may yield smaller percentage gains.
Consider your priorities and desired tradeoffs. If you are contemplating changes, we offer resources to support you. Given our origins in physician side gigs, consider directing extra effort towards a side gig. This may offer a better return on time investment through additional income, passive income opportunities, or diversified revenue streams, and can also be a stimulating way to use different skills or learn new ones.
Learn more about:
Doctor Salary by Practice Environment
Practice environment is a significant factor influencing physician market value and compensation. While specialty-specific details are in our detailed articles, we analyzed average pay across all specialties by practice environment.
Average physician salaries by practice environment are:
- Active Duty Military: $205,000/year
- Corporate Group, Non-Private Equity: $379,000/year
- Corporate Group, Private Equity: $367,000/year
- FQHC and Other Non-Profits: $278,000/year
- Government Facility (VA, City Hospital, etc.): $297,000/year
- Group Private Practice, Non-Private Equity Backed: $492,000/year
- Group Private Practice, Private Equity Backed: $443,000/year
- Hospital Employee, Academic: $334,000/year
- Hospital Employee, Non-Academic: $409,000/year
- Locums: $475,000/year
- Solo Private Practice, Non-Private Equity Backed: $390,000/year
Government-related positions (military, FQHCs, government facilities) tend to have lower reported salaries. However, these roles often qualify for Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which can offset lower pay depending on student loan burden. The military also offers programs to mitigate medical school debt.
Non-private equity backed group private practices report the highest average salaries. Notably, primary care physicians in solo private practice (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics) also reported high earnings. While private practice demands business management responsibilities alongside patient care, it can be financially rewarding. We offer private practice resources for doctors if you are considering this path.
Private equity (PE) backed practices generally pay less than non-PE backed practices (3% lower in corporate groups, 11% lower in private practice groups). We have a primer on private equity and physician medical practices outlining the pros, cons, and considerations for physicians regarding PE. Many PE-backed practices still include partners from pre-buyout structures, but salary differences may widen as more physicians in PE-backed groups are solely employees without significant ownership.
Academic hospitals pay less than non-academic hospitals but may offer better work-life balance and benefits packages (time off, call schedules, etc.).
Salary is not the only factor in career decisions, but understanding these differences is valuable for negotiation and career planning.
Physician Practice Environment Preferences
Examining practice environment distribution reveals where most doctors choose to work.
Hospital systems employ the majority of physicians, with over 50% in academic or non-academic hospital settings. Private practices (group and solo) account for about 21% of our data contributors.
*This data is from our salary and compensation database. We also have a separate locums doctor compensation database, which may skew locums percentages as these physicians often contribute data there instead.
Doctor Salary by State
Location significantly impacts physician compensation. Our doctor salaries by specialty series highlights state-level salary variations. We analyzed average salaries across all specialties by state to identify the highest and lowest paying states for doctors in 2024.
Highest doctor salaries by state
Lowest doctor salaries by state
Note: States with insufficient data, such as Hawaii and Wyoming, are excluded from these rankings. We will update as more data becomes available.
Physicians in the highest-paying state (Louisiana) average 38% more annually than in the lowest-paying state (Minnesota).
While cost of living varies significantly by city and metropolitan area within a state, and take-home pay is affected by state and local taxes, comparing salary options across states against cost of living can present geoarbitrage opportunities for physicians willing to relocate. Factor in all cost of living components, including taxes, for accurate comparisons.
Remember to use relevant data. State rankings can vary significantly by specialty. A state’s overall ranking may not reflect the salary landscape within your specific specialty. We recommend consulting a local physician contract attorney familiar with your area to understand local market conditions for your specialty.
Gender Pay Gap in Doctor Salaries
Significant gender-based salary differences exist within specialties, and this trend persists across all specialties.
Across our data, full-time female doctors average $347,000 per year, while male doctors average $454,000 – a 31% difference.
While some factors contribute to this gap:
- Higher rates of ownership/partnership among male physicians
- Higher average work hours for male physicians
- Female physician preference for practice environments with better work-life balance but lower pay
- Specialty distribution differences, with higher female representation in lower-paying primary care specialties
Even when comparing physicians with similar job profiles, hours worked, and RVU generation, a gender pay gap persists. This may be due to lower RVU rates for female physicians, lower base salary offers, or other factors.
We are further analyzing this data to explore these differences in detail. Check back for updates. We hope this transparent data encourages all physicians, regardless of gender, to negotiate more effectively for fair compensation.
Conclusion
Physician earnings vary widely based on numerous factors, including:
- Specialty and subspecialty
- Procedures performed
- Work hours
- Practice environment
- Location
- Gender
Additional factors such as call responsibilities also influence compensation, as detailed in our statistics on physician on-call pay.
We hope this overview of physician compensation data from our salary and negotiation database provides valuable insights for career decisions. We recommend further exploring our doctor salary by specialty series, examining the data directly, and consulting with a local contract attorney during contract negotiations to secure the most competitive offer possible.
Additional Salary and Career Resources for Doctors
Explore our related articles and resources on doctor compensation and salaries:
If you haven’t contributed recently, please take a few minutes to share your data! This anonymous data helps us provide salary transparency and empower physicians to negotiate for fair compensation. Contribution links are available on our compensation data for physicians page and data is accessible to members of our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group.
Looking for new career opportunities? Explore the Physician Side Gigs job board for current listings.
For contract negotiation guidance, see:
