Am I paid fairly? How to compare physician pay

Because pay depends so much on the specialty. Here is the national mean for salaried physicians in six fields, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Salaried cardiologists earn almost twice what general pediatricians do, on average. An average across all doctors lands somewhere in between and describes neither.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers about the people on their payroll. That makes its figures consistent from state to state and year to year, and it publishes them by specialty, state and metro area. Knowing what they count tells you how to read them against your own pay:

• They cover employees paid a wage or salary, part time as well as full time.
• They don't cover the self-employed, or owners and partners in unincorporated practices, so partners in private practice aren't in them.
• They include base pay and production bonuses, but not year-end or other non-production bonuses, or benefits such as a retirement match.
• They don't record experience, so a first-year attending and a 20-year veteran sit in the same figures.

For many specialists, BLS shows the median only as a floor, so these figures are means: the one number it publishes for every specialty.

A figure isn't a target, and it doesn't tell you what you should be paid. It's a reference point, and the closer the comparison group is to you, the more it says.

The same salary buys more in some states than others. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels by state against a national level of 100. In 2024, California was highest at 110.7, followed by Hawaii at 110.0 and New Jersey at 108.8. Arkansas was lowest at 86.9, with Mississippi at 87.0.

So a lower offer in a lower-cost state can leave you with as much to spend and save as a higher one somewhere expensive. Pay itself also varies by state, which a national figure hides.

Compare your pay places an income you enter among doctors in your specialty, at your career stage, in your state. It shows a map of the states shaded by cost of living, and a preview of a fuller score in the app.

It compares income only. It's an estimate from published data, not advice, and not a verdict on your job.

Treat it as a question, not a verdict. Before you decide you're underpaid, check what you're comparing:

• Is a bonus, call pay or a retirement contribution missing from your number but counted in the other?
• Are you comparing a fixed first-year salary with doctors who are years into a productivity contract?
• Is there a partnership track that changes your pay in a few years?
• Does the cost of living where you work make the gap smaller than it looks?

If the gap is still there, it's worth raising at your next contract renewal, with the figures and their sources in hand. For what to ask before you sign, see Joining a hospital or group: what should I ask before I sign?