Physician compensation in 2025 report released

The online medical professional messaging platform and networking service Doximity released its 2025 physician compensation report, which offer a comprehensive breakdown for the average pay for various specialties and by region.

This information for this study was created from over 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. Each survey was completed by full-time U.S. physicians who practice at least 40 hours per week. Doximity is in a uniquer position to gather this information, with its member makeup including over 80% of U.S. physicians.

"From staff shortages to reimbursement cuts, a wide range of challenges continue to strain the U.S. healthcare system. These issues have put increasing pressure on physicians across the country," the authors wrote.

Growing physician shortages in the U.S. have spurred rising salaries or additional benefits as health systems and practices attempt to attract or retain staff. The survey data  shows the average physician pay in the U.S. increased 3.7% from 2023 to 2024, lower than the 5.9% reported in the prior year.

Doximity said this modest growth comes amid several consecutive years of Medicare physician reimbursement cuts, and that trend has many physicians worrying additional cuts could impact their ability to care for Medicare and Medicaid patients in the near future. Medicare cuts in physician pay total 33% since 2020, according the American Medical Association (AMA). This also accounts for inflationary increases that Medicare does not include in physician payments.

"Reducing reimbursement at the same time that we're being asked to do more and more, the administrative burdens are piling up on physicians, and unfortunately some physicians are calling it quits," explained AMA Immediate Past President Bruce Scott, MD, in a recent interview with Health Exec. “What industry can sustain a one-third cut over two decades, while inflation and complexity go up? What industry can survive in today's inflation rates where they're getting paid less to do the same services you were doing in 2000."

Many physicians believe that current reimbursement policy has contributed to the steady decline of independent practices in their fields, the authors wrote. According to the AMA, the number of physicians working in private practices dropped from 60% to 42% between 2012 and 2024.

Reductions in pay and lack ion inflationary increases has led not only to consolidation of practices into health systems and larger companies, but also contributes greatly to physician burnout. This is seen a major driver for increasing numbers of physicians leaving clinical practice in recent years. Doximity said these challenges have led the majority of physicians surveyed to report being overworked, with more than two-thirds now looking for an employment change or considering early retirement.

Physician compensation by speciality

These are the average annual compensation levels by specialty completed by Doximity, ranked from highest pay to lowest:

  Neurosurgery $749,140
  Thoracic surgery $689,969
  Orthopaedic surgery $679,517
  Pediatric (General) Surgery $647,721
  Plastic surgery $621,445
  Oral and maxillofacial surgery $616,748
  Radiation oncology $588,678
  Cardiology $587,360
  Vascular surgery $576,452
  Interventional radiology $572,617
  Radiology $571,749
  Urology $559,474
  Gastroenterology $537,870
  Otolaryngology (ENT) $523,369
  Anesthesiology $523,277
  Dermatology $508,401
  Oncology $502,465
  Colon and rectal surgery $487,085
  General Surgery $482,574
  Ophthalmology $477,232
  Pulmonology $425,700
  Hematology $421,482
  Emergency medicine $411,133
  Obstetricsand gynecology $389,566
  Physical medicine and rehabilitation $374,886
  Pathology $373,384
  Nephrology $367,425
  Neurology $360,519
  Neonatology/perinatology $354,841
  Pediatric cardiology $352,197
  Psychiatry $341,977
  Occupational medicine $326,993
  Internal medicine $326,116
  Rheumatology $324,954
  Infectious disease $320,730
  Family medicine $318,959
  Pediatric emergency medicine $312,271
  Preventive medicine $310,177
  Allergy and immunology $308,846
  Pediatric gastroenterology $298,457
  Medicine/pediatrics $296,665
  Geriatrics $291,968
  Endocrinology $290,606
  Child Neurology $289,738
  Pediatric pulmonology $282,000
  Pediatrics $265,230
  Pediatric nephrology $263,013
  Medical genetics $259,564
  Pediatric hematology and oncology $255,733
  Pediatric infectious disease $248,322
  Pediatric rheumatology $231,574
  Pediatric endocrinology $230,426