Physicians saw a modest 3.7% pay bump in 2024, a slightly lower increase than the 5.9% raise reported in 2023 as doctors continue to face workforce strains and reimbursement pressures.
Health tech company Doximity released its 2025 Physician Compensation Report on Thursday drawn from more than 37,000 physician compensation surveys completed between January and December 2024, with data from more than 230,000 compensation surveys over the last six years.
Doximity claims more than 80% of U.S. physicians as members, contributing to the company's hefty physician compensation data set.
"This year’s study reflects a profession that’s been under strain for years,” said Amit Phull, M.D., chief clinical experience officer at Doximity, in a statement. “Pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists, in particular, are facing acute challenges. They’re caring for some of the most vulnerable and complex patients in medicine, yet persistently lower pay and reimbursement threaten both workforce stability and patient access to care."
In a separate June 2025 survey of more than 1,100 U.S. physicians across multiple specialties, nearly 60% reported they are concerned that reimbursement pressures will affect their ability to care for Medicare or Medicaid patients in the next 12 months.
Seventeen percent said they or their organization have already reduced the number of Medicare or Medicaid patients they see in the past 12 months; another 13% said they are likely to. And the vast majority (81%) agreed that reimbursement policy has played a significant role in the decline of independent practices in their field.
On top of these financial pressures, there is a growing demand for care and an ongoing shortage of physicians.
The majority of physicians (85%) report being overworked, with more than two-thirds looking for an employment change or considering early retirement, according to a poll of 2,000 physicians in May and June.
What's more, 77% reported they would be willing to accept lower compensation for greater autonomy or work-life balance, up from 75% in 2024 and 71% in 2023.
The 3.7% increase in compensation has done little to close existing pay gaps across the medical profession. In 2024, average compensation for men rose 5.7%, compared with just 1.7% for women—widening the gender pay gap to 26%, compared with 23% in 2023.
There are also significant pay gaps between specialties. Pediatric subspecialists earned significantly less than their adult-medicine counterparts despite comparable training and clinical demands. The largest pay gaps were seen in hematology and oncology, with a 93% pay gap.
Here's a deeper dive on the compensation trends outlined in the Doximity report:
Where physicians make the highest salaries
Rochester, Minn., leads the country as the metro area with the highest average physician compensation as it's anchored by the Mayo Clinic. Average physician pay in Rochester is $492,532, and the metro area saw an annual growth rate of 8.7%—one of the largest increases in physician compensation this year.
Among the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest average compensation in 2024, half are located in the state of California. All but one of the top 10, San Jose, Calif., saw a positive increase in compensation. Eight of the 10 metropolitan areas with the lowest average compensation are located on the East Coast.
Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., had the lowest average physician pay at $358,792.
When adjusting for cost of living, Rochester still takes the top spot. Metro areas with the lowest adjusted compensation continue to be concentrated along the East and West coasts. Boston and Washington, D.C., once again topped this list, joined by cities like Seattle, San Francisco and Denver, Doximity reported.
Here are the cities with the highest average compensation when adjusted for cost of living:
1. Rochester, Minn.
2. St. Louis, Mo.
3. Oklahoma City
4. Omaha, Neb.
5. Kansas City, Mo.
6. Charlotte, N.C.
7. Buffalo, N.Y.
8. Louisville, Ky.
9. New Orleans
10. Salt Lake City, Utah
Austin, Texas, saw the highest growth rate in physician pay, at 11.1%, followed by Kansas City, Mo., at 10% and Buffalo, N.Y., at 9.8%.
Highest-paid specialties
The medical specialties with the highest average annual compensation stay static from year to year and tend to be surgical and procedural specialties.
20 specialists by average pay:
1. Neurosurgery — $749,140
2. Thoracic surgery — $689,969
3. Orthopedic surgery — $679,517
4. Pediatric (general) surgery — $647,721
5. Plastic surgery — $621,445
6. Oral and maxillofacial surgery — $616,748
7. Radiation oncology — $588,678
8. Cardiology — $587,360
9. Vascular surgery — $576,452
10. Interventional Radiology — $572,617
11. Radiology — $571,749
12. Urology — $559,474
13. Gastroenterology — $537,870
14. Otolaryngology (ENT) — $523,369
15. Anesthesiology — $523,277
16. Dermatology — $508,401
17. Oncology — $502,465
18. Colon and rectal surgery — $487,085
19. General surgery — $482,574
20. Ophthalmology — $477,232
The specialties with the lowest average annual compensation tend to be pediatric and primary care specialties. Pediatric endocrinologists had an average salary of $230,000, while general pediatrics had an average compensation of $265,000. Family medicine doctors made $319,000, on average.
The 10 specialties with the largest growth in 2024 include a combination of primary care specialties and surgical and procedural specialties. Pediatric nephrologists reported a 15.6% growth in compensation, the highest among all individual specialties reviewed in 2024.
Over the past three years, the percent pay gap between primary care physicians and specialists has declined modestly, Doximity reported. In 2024, surgical specialists earned 87% more than primary care physicians, down from 100% in 2022. Nonsurgical specialists, emergency medicine physicians and OB-GYNs also continued to earn significantly more than primary care physicians, though the gaps have narrowed slightly.
Physician compensation varied widely by practice setting, with single specialty groups, multispecialty groups and solo practices providing the highest average annual compensation after adjusting for specialty, location and years of experience.