The average yearly salary among physicians of all specialties is $352,000, according to Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report" for 2023.
Medscape surveyed 10,011 physicians across more than 29 specialties about their income, work hours, job satisfaction and more from Oct. 7, 2022, to Jan. 17, 2023. The full methodology can be found here
Physician income is rising year over year, according to Medscape. In 2008, the average salary of physicians of all specialties was $299,000. In 2023, the average income of primary care physicians was $265,000 and specialists earned an average of $382,000.
Although overall average pay has increased, not all physicians reported feeling satisfied with their income. Only 35 percent of surveyed infectious disease specialists, found to be the fourth lowest-paid specialty providers in 2023, said they feel satisfied with their compensation.
Among all specialties, 52 percent reported feeling satisfied with their income. This is similar to 2018's findings, when 55 percent said they feel fairly compensated.
Here are the specialties in which the majority of providers said they feel fairly compensated:
- Cardiology (55%)
- Gastroenterology (56%)
- Allergy & Immunology (56%)
- Oncology (57%)
- Urology (56%)
- Radiology(58%)
- Anesthesiology(58%)
- Otolaryngology(59%)
- Critical care (63%)
- Public health and preventive medicine (65%)
- Dermatology (65%)
- Psychiatry (68%)
- Plastic surgery (54%)
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation (53%)
- General surgery (52%)
- Emergency medicine (51%)
- Neurology (51%)
- Pathology (51%)
Here are the specialties in which the majority said they do not feel fairly compensated:
- Orthopedics (49%)
- Pulmonology (48%)
- Pediatrics (45%)
- Diabetes and endocrinology (45%)
- Obstetrics and gynecology (45%)
- Nephrology (43%)
- Internal medicine (43%)
- Ophthalmology (42%)
- Infectious diseases (35%)
*Editor's note: Fifty percent of family medicine and rheumatology specialists reported feeling fairly compensated.