Summary Please enable javascript to play this video. Video transcript available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFylCoZCT4s. Quick Facts: Physicians and Surgeons 2022 Median Pay $229,300 per year $110.24 per hour Typical Entry-Level Education Doctoral or professional degree Work E...
www.bls.gov
How much money do doctors make in the US?
The media
n annual wage across 17 specialties is $229,300 — but individual doctors’ earnings vary, particu
larly for those practicing in Hawaii, Minnesota, Oklahoma, or West Virginia.
Published Mon, October 16, 2023 by the USAFacts Team
Home/Economy/Articles/How much money do doctors make in the US?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), approximately 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, according to the BLS. This was nearly five times more than America's general median wage, which was $46,310.
These jobs require extensive education and training and are some of the most demanding positions in the workforce — they can be stressful and require long shifts or overtime.
The work is intense, but the professions are growing. The BLS estimates 24,200 new physician and surgeon jobs will open each year over the next decade as population growth, an aging population, increasing rates of chronic illnesses, and retirement create added demand for doctors. But the investment in training and time has a solid return; while salaries do vary by location and specialty, physicians are some of the most well-compensated healthcare practitioners, and the highest-earning Americans in general.
How does doctor pay compare to that of other medical professions?
There’s a difference between what physicians and surgeons can expect to earn and the average wage for non-physician healthcare practitioners, which includes dentists, therapists, and nurses. This larger group of occupations earns a median annual wage of $106,230, less than half that of physicians and surgeons.
Physicians and surgeons make higher wages than both the general population and other healthcare providers.
Median annual wages, May 2022
Bar chart showing median annual wages of physicians and surgeons ($229,300) compared to other healthcare providers ($106,230) and all occupations ($46,310).
Physicians and surgeons
$229,300
Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners
$106,230
Total, all occupations
$46,310
All Occupations includes all occupations in the US economy.
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About a third of this group non-physician healthcare practitioners (3,072,700) are registered nurses who make a median annual salary of $81,220. (The highest-paid 10% of registered nurses earn $129,400 annually, while the lowest-paid 10% average $61,250.)
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Which specialties are the highest-earning?
The BLS identifies 17 specialties among physicians and surgeons, from orthopedic surgery to neurology to pediatrics. Among all specialties, cardiologists have the highest average annual wage of $421,330, followed by non-pediatric orthopedic surgeons ($371,400) and pediatric surgeons ($362,970).
The BLS does not publish median annual wages above $239,200, so average wages are used to demonstrate specific earnings for many of these professions.
Cardiologists have the highest average wages of all physician and surgeon occupations.
Average annual wages, May 2022
Bar chart showing mean income of physician and surgeon occupations, from highest to lowest. Cardiologists have the highest mean annual income at $421,330
Cardiologists
$421,330
Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric
$371,400
Pediatric surgeons
$362,970
Surgeons, all other
$347,870
Radiologists
$329,080
Dermatologists
$327,650
Emergency medicine physicians
$316,600
Anesthesiologists
$302,970
Obstetricians and gynecologists
$277,320
Ophthalmologists, except pediatric
$265,450
Neurologists
$255,510
Physicians, pathologists
$252,850
Psychiatrists
$247,350
Physicians, all other
$238,700
General internal medicine physicians
$225,270
Family medicine physicians
$224,460
Pediatricians, general
$203,240
Mean/average wages are used to demonstrate earnings as BLS does not publish median annual wages above $239,200.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Get the data Embed Download image Download SVG