Healthgrades for ProfessionalsHighest and Lowest Physician Salaries by Specialty

Inflation, work demands, and pay disparities impact physician salary satisfaction despite rising compensation, with notable disparities across gender and ethnicity.

Medscape’s latest Physician Compensation Report for 2024 reveals a 3% average increase in physician salaries, but inflation and pay disparities continue to affect satisfaction. Orthopedics, plastic surgery, and cardiology top the list of highest-paid specialties, while diabetes and endocrinology remain at the bottom. The report also highlights ongoing gender and racial pay gaps, as well as varying levels of salary satisfaction across different specialties.

Key Points:

• Overall Compensation Trends:
  • Physician salaries in the United States rose by an average of 3% in 2024.
  • Primary care physicians (PCPs) saw an average salary increase of 4%.
  • Specialists earn approximately 44% more on average than PCPs.
• Top 10 Highest-Paid Specialties:
  • Orthopedics and orthopedic surgery: $558,000 (down 10% from 2023)
  • Plastic surgery: $536,000 (down 6% from 2023)
  • Cardiology: $525,000 (up 4% from 2023)
  • Urology: $515,000 (up 2% from 2023)
  • Gastroenterology: $512,000 (up 2% from 2023)
  • Radiology: $498,000 (up 3% from 2023)
  • Dermatology: $479,000 (up 5% from 2023)
  • Anesthesiology: $472,000 (up 5% from 2023)
  • Oncology and hematology: $464,000 (up 0.2% from 2023)
  • Otolaryngology: $459,000 (down 5% from 2023)
• Top 10 Lowest-Paid Specialties:
  • Diabetes and endocrinology: $256,000 (down 4% from 2023)
  • Pediatrics: $260,000 (up 4% from 2023)
  • Infectious diseases: $261,000 (down 0.4% from 2023)
  • Public health and preventive medicine: $263,000 (up 5% from 2023)
  • Family medicine: $272,000 (up 7% from 2023)
  • Internal medicine: $282,000 (up 3% from 2023)
  • Rheumatology: $286,000 (up 2% from 2023)
  • Allergy and immunology: $307,000 (up 9% from 2023)
  • Psychiatry: $323,000 (up 5% from 2023)
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation: $341,000 (up 11% from 2023)
• Salary Satisfaction:
  • 61% of physicians believe most physicians are underpaid.
  • 51% feel their personal pay rates are unfair given their work demands.
  • 35%-38% of physicians report taking on extra work outside their principal jobs.
  • Highest salary satisfaction was reported by:
    • Public health and preventive medicine physicians
    • Dermatologists
    • Psychiatrists
    • Oncologists
    • Neurologists
• Gender Pay Disparities:
  • Male physicians earn 29% more on average than female physicians.
  • The gap for primary care physicians improved slightly from 19% in 2023 to 17% in 2024.
  • Male specialists earn 31% more than female specialists, up from 27% in 2023.
• Racial and Ethnic Pay Disparities:
  • White physicians earn more than their Asian American, Latinx/Hispanic, and African American/Black counterparts.
  • Pay disparities for Latinx/Hispanic and Asian American physicians remained steady compared to 2023.
  • Compensation rates and pay gaps improved more quickly for African American and Black physicians.

In a recent study, it was shown that female PCPs spend 2.6% more time with patients over the course of the year and also documented 5.9% more diagnoses and placed 19.2% more lab orders for patients. (Wall Street Journal)

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