Physician pay by specialty and state
What employed physicians earn in 17 specialties, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey. Specialties with their own page add pay in every state and convert it to work RVUs at a rate you enter.
Every specialty, nationally
Mean annual wage of employed physicians and surgeons, May 2025, highest first, with the median.
| Specialty | Mean wage | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Pediatric surgery | $502,050 | $559,030 |
| Cardiology | $454,940 | $496,010 |
| Radiology | $381,530 | $420,860 |
| Other surgical specialties | $373,930 | $414,010 |
| Orthopedic surgery | $373,570 | $358,550 |
| Anesthesiologyby state | $360,570 | $391,490 |
| Dermatology | $323,530 | $328,730 |
| Emergency medicineby state | $317,480 | $335,550 |
| Ophthalmology | $304,650 | $300,080 |
| Pathology | $285,420 | $312,400 |
| Obstetrics and gynecology | $279,040 | $292,910 |
| Psychiatryby state | $269,940 | $281,870 |
| Neurology | $267,630 | $248,560 |
| Internal medicineby state | $267,200 | $256,560 |
| Other physician specialties | $262,040 | $265,930 |
| Family medicineby state | $255,820 | $244,180 |
| Pediatrics | $212,110 | $210,040 |
The two "Other" rows are the survey's groups for physicians and surgeons outside a named specialty.
Medicare RVU and wRVU calculator
Look up the work, practice expense and malpractice RVUs for any code, see the Medicare payment in your locality, and add up the wRVUs for a shift or a month, with an Excel download.
How to read these numbers
- They come from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, a sample of about 1.1 million workplaces run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with state workforce agencies. The May 2025 estimates were published May 15, 2026.
- Only employees are counted. Self-employed physicians and partners in unincorporated practices are not in the survey, so the counts are well below the number of physicians in each specialty.
- Wages include base pay and incentive pay such as productivity bonuses. Overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses such as signing bonuses, and benefits are not included.
- Each year's estimates pool three years of survey responses and model the rest, so a single year's change in a state can be noise.
- Where most reported wages fall in the survey's top band, BLS reports a figure only as $239,200 or more.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, bls.gov/oes.
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Questions
Which physician specialties pay the most?
In the May 2025 federal wage data, the highest mean annual wages among named specialties were in pediatric surgery ($502,050), cardiology ($454,940), radiology ($381,530). The lowest were in family medicine ($255,820), pediatrics ($212,110).
Do these figures include self-employed physicians?
No. The survey counts employees only, so self-employed physicians and partners in unincorporated practices are left out. Practice owners' income is not in these figures.
Where do the numbers come from?
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025, published May 15, 2026. BLS publishes new estimates once a year, usually in spring.
How do I turn pay into wRVUs?
Divide annual pay by your contract's rate per wRVU. At an example $50 per wRVU, $250,000 is 5,000 wRVUs a year. The RVU calculator adds up the wRVUs for the codes you bill.
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