Cardiologists top list of highest-paid physician specialties

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Practicing medicine is generally seen as a well-paying field, but some positions pay better than others. Physicians and surgeons make higher wages than both the general population and other healthcare providers, and, of all specialties, cardiologists top the list.

According to nonprofit data-analysis firm USA Facts, cardiologists have the highest average annual wage, at $421,330, followed by non-pediatric orthopedic surgeons ($371,400) and pediatric surgeons ($362,970).

The numbers were culled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but BLS does not publish median annual wages above $239,200, so average wages were used to demonstrate specific earnings for many of these professions.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

According to the BLS, about 816,900 Americans were working as physicians or surgeons as of May 2022. In 2022, the median annual wage for physicians and surgeons was $229,300 – nearly five times more than America's general median wage, which was $46,310.

Among physicians and surgeons, pediatricians ($203,240), family medicine physicians ($224,460), and general internal medicine physicians ($225,270) have average yearly earnings below the median for all doctors. But even the lowest-paid physicians and surgeons still make more than twice what nonphysician practitioners make.

There is some variance in salaries between different states. In four states physician and surgeon salaries top $500,000 a year. The highest-paid specialists are non-pediatric orthopedic surgeons in Hawaii, with an average yearly wage of $554,520. Specialties in three other states also cleared $500,000: general surgeons in Louisiana ($534,920), cardiologists in Idaho ($521,690) and dermatologists in Minnesota ($514,330).

Three states – Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin – pay the highest annual average wages to at least two different specialties.

West Virginia pays the lowest annual average wages to four specialties: general internal medicine physicians, non-pediatric orthopedic surgeons, pathologists, and neurologists. West Virginia neurologists have the lowest average annual wage of any specialty in the country, $89,600. Oklahoma and Nebraska also have the lowest average annual salaries for multiple specialties.

The BLS also tracks wages in U.S. territories. Physicians and surgeons in five specialties – family medicine physicians, general internal medicine physicians, general pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, and physicians not listed separately among BLS categories – are paid lower wages in Puerto Rico than in any U.S. state.

Despite disparities in salary across states and specialties, physicians and surgeons' high earning potential means that the investment required to enter these professions – in time, expense and energy – remains an attractive trade, the report found.

THE LARGER TREND

The average pay for doctors declined 2.4% in 2022, according to a Doximity Physician Compensation Report. 

The report – which includes self-reported compensation data from over 190,000 U.S. doctors over six years and from more than 31,000 full-time physicians in 2022 – also highlights the substantial gender pay gap among physicians, with men earning nearly $110,000 more than their women counterparts in 2022.

This represents a 26% gender pay gap, even when salaries were controlled for specialty, location and years of experience. This disparity 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.
 

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com