Urologist pay grew by $133,000 in the last five years, whereas pay for emergency medicine specialists — the specialty with the smallest growth — increased by only $2,000, according to data from Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report" for 2023 and 2018.
Urologists earned an average of $373,000 in 2018. In 2023, that figure grew to $506,000, an increase of 36 percent. This was the highest five-year salary increase among 29 specialties, which ranged from the next-highest increase of $118,000 to only $2,000.
Here are the 10 specialties with the highest pay increases in the last five years, starting with the specialty with the greatest increase:
|
Specialty |
Avg. pay in 2018 |
Avg. pay in 2023 |
Difference |
|
Urology |
$373,000 |
$506,000 |
$133,000 |
|
Plastic surgery |
$501,000 |
$619,000 |
$118,000 |
|
Otolaryngology |
$383,000 |
$485,000 |
$102,000 |
|
Oncology |
$363,000 |
$463,000 |
$100,000 |
|
Gastroenterology |
$408,000 |
$501,000 |
$93,000 |
|
Surgery (general) |
$322,000 |
$412,000 |
$90,000 |
|
Cardiology |
$423,000 |
$507,000 |
$84,000 |
|
Radiology |
$401,000 |
$483,000 |
$82,000 |
|
Orthopedics |
$497,000 |
$573,000 |
$76,000 |
|
Neurology |
$244,000 |
$313,000 |
$69,000 |