Physicians salary in the US
A data-first look at physicians' pay: the median, the thresholds for the top 25% and top 10%, and how earnings vary across the country.
How much do physicians earn?
The typical (median) annual earnings for physicians come to $233,508, which is 345% more than the $52,508 median for all US earners aged 25 and older. It sits at number 1 of 171 occupation groups by median pay, comfortably in the upper quarter. The figures come from 50,467 survey records of people aged 25 and older with earnings in this occupation.
| Position | Annual earnings |
|---|---|
| Top 10% start at | $599,007 |
| Top 25% start at | $441,499 |
| Median (top 50%) | $233,508 |
| Bottom 25% earn below | $90,429 |
How wide is the pay range?
The gap between the middle and the top is wide: the top tenth of physicians earn at least $599,007, 2.6× the median, and the top quarter begins around $441,499. The bottom quarter earned under $90,429; that group includes people who worked part of the year or reduced hours, since every earner is counted. The median is 2.6 times that lower-quarter line.
Earnings by age
Few early-career workers earn what mid-career ones do: $76,144 at 25–34 versus $305,504 at 45–54, a gap of 301%. Later on, earnings ease to $192,898 for workers 65+, a 37% step down that tracks the shift to part-time work.
Men and women
Men's median earnings are $268,126 and women's are $195,523, so women's median is 27% lower. In the raw sample, roughly 41 in 100 workers in this job are women. The comparison isn't like-for-like on hours or seniority, so read it as a description rather than a pay-equity measure.
| Group | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| Men | $268,126 | 30,003 |
| Women | $195,523 | 20,464 |
Does education change the pay?
Degrees matter less than in many fields: $238,648 with a professional degree versus $207,743 with a doctorate. The largest group in the sample has a professional degree (42,318 records). Levels with fewer than 100 records are left out rather than estimated.
| Education | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| High school or less | Not shown (<100 records) | 0 |
| Some college / associate | Not shown (<100 records) | 0 |
| Bachelor's | Not shown (<100 records) | 2 |
| Master's | Not shown (<100 records) | 0 |
| Professional degree | $238,648 | 42,318 |
| Doctorate | $207,743 | 8,147 |
Where the most work, and what they earn there
The five states with the most physicians in the survey are California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Pay differs noticeably even across these five: $244,403 in California versus $203,050 in New York. No cost-of-living adjustment is applied. In all, 47 states clear the 100-record bar for a state-level median.
| State | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| California | $244,403 | 6,206 |
| New York | $203,050 | 4,122 |
| Texas | $233,508 | 3,839 |
| Florida | $230,231 | 3,348 |
| Pennsylvania | $223,478 | 2,156 |
Occupations with similar pay
For comparison, these jobs have medians within a few thousand dollars: architectural and engineering managers ($167,579), chief executives ($161,306), lawyers and judges ($144,198), and software developers ($134,332). Each of these takes a different path in, but a typical year's earnings lands in the same range.
| Occupation | Median earnings | vs. this job |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural And Engineering Managers | $167,579 | −28% |
| Chief Executives | $161,306 | −31% |
| Lawyers and Judges | $144,198 | −38% |
| Software Developers | $134,332 | −42% |
| Computer And Information Systems Managers | $134,063 | −43% |
About these figures
Method note: earnings here are PERNP — wages, salary and self-employment income — for workers 25 and older, from the 2020–2024 ACS microdata in 2024 dollars. Any group with fewer than 100 records is suppressed instead of estimated. This page draws on 50,467 records.
See where your pay ranks among physicians
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Open the calculatorSource: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) — personal earnings (PERNP) in 2024 dollars, person-weighted
Reference statistics only — not financial advice.