Physicians Average Salary in United States
$292,040 average · $295,610 median · BLS OEWS 2025
SOC Code: 29-1210What is this?
Combined BLS estimate across: Family Medicine Physicians, General Internal Medicine Physicians, Anesthesiologists, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Cardiologists, Neurologists, Dermatologists
This page shows employer-reported wages for Physicians in United States, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey — median and mean pay, the full percentile distribution, and the industries that employ this occupation locally. Credential level sets the floor and ceiling: each step up the licensure ladder (LPN to RN to NP, for example) moves the entire distribution, not just the median. Setting matters next — hospitals generally pay above clinics and far above schools or home care for the same license. Shift differentials, overtime, and travel/contract arrangements can push actual earnings well above the base wages recorded here.
How much do Physicians make in United States?
The average physicians salary in United States is $292,040 per year, with a median of $295,610. That works out to about $140.40 per hour on average. BLS counts roughly 1,699,290 physicians jobs in United States.
Mean pay sits below the median here, which is uncommon and often reflects a concentration of wages around the middle of the distribution. Entry-level roles (10th percentile) report about $274,945; experienced workers at the 90th percentile report about $304,699 — a 11% spread from bottom to top. Figures are employer-reported wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — not self-reported survey averages — so they are the right baseline for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
How Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Careers Are Structured
Healthcare practitioner wages are among the most reliable in the labor data: demand is demographic rather than cyclical, licensure restricts supply, and the aging population guarantees the trend. This group spans an enormous range — from technologists to physicians — so the occupation-level detail on this page matters more than group generalizations.
The wage tables and percentile chart on this page show how physicians pay is distributed in United States specifically — and because state-level wages for the same occupation routinely differ by 30% or more, the local figures here are the ones that matter for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
What Moves Pay in This Field
Credential level sets the floor and ceiling: each step up the licensure ladder (LPN to RN to NP, for example) moves the entire distribution, not just the median. Setting matters next — hospitals generally pay above clinics and far above schools or home care for the same license. Shift differentials, overtime, and travel/contract arrangements can push actual earnings well above the base wages recorded here.
Every occupation in this group has a defined educational and licensure pipeline, which makes career planning unusually concrete: the prerequisites, program length, and resulting wage distribution are all knowable in advance. The highest-return calculation in healthcare is comparing the cost and duration of the next credential against the permanent distribution shift it buys.
New to reading wage distributions? Our guide to salary percentiles explains how to place yourself on the chart above, and the negotiation playbook shows how to use these numbers in an actual conversation.
What Do Physicians Do?
Physicians positions belong to the healthcare practitioners and technical field. Healthcare practitioner wages are among the most reliable in the labor data: demand is demographic rather than cyclical, licensure restricts supply, and the aging population guarantees the trend. This group spans an enormous range — from technologists to physicians — so the occupation-level detail on this page matters more than group generalizations.
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code: 29-1210
Physicians pay in United States
In United States, physicians report a median of $295,610 and an average of $292,040 (about $140.40/hour) across roughly 1,699,290 jobs. The local pay band runs from about $274,945 at the 10th percentile to $304,699 at the 90th.
National figures average across high-cost coastal metros and lower-cost inland markets, so individual state pages on Wage Atlas are usually the better reference for a specific offer.
Income reality check
The median salary for Physicians in United States of $295,610 falls in the Rich band of this framework - roughly ~18% of the U.S. population and ~2.5% of the global population sit in this band.
Illustrative relative standing for education only - this ladder is a simplified framework, not an official Census, BLS, or World Bank statistical series. Salary figures on Wage Atlas come from official BLS OEWS data.
Salary Overview
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- Knowledge-based work - moderate automation risk
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Occupation Report Card
Top Industries for Physicians
| $300,749 | $294,072 | $145 | 849,340 | |
| $281,250 | $276,310 | $135 | 663,040 | |
| $255,122 | $269,761 | $123 | 143,080 | |
| $216,702 | $197,083 | $104 | 824,340 | |
| $193,247 | $112,209 | $93 | 141,180 |
Physicians in Other States
Compare salaries for this occupation across different states:
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Viewing: Physicians (SOC: 29-1210)