The First Annual Doximity Physician Compensation R...

Today we released our first annual Doximity Physician Compensation Report, the most comprehensive research undertaken to date on physician pay in the United States.

Here’s the overview of what we found:

Average Compensation for All Combined Specialties

Interestingly, rural and lower cost cities tended to have higher physician compensation than higher cost areas, such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

The top five metro areas in which physicians are paid the highest average annual salary are:

1. Charlotte, N.C. ($359,455)
2. Bridgeport, Conn. ($353,925)
3. Phoenix, Ariz. ($351,677)
4. Milwaukee, Wis. ($345,831)
5. Houston, Texas ($345,079).

The bottom five metro areas in which physicians are paid the lowest average annual salary are:

1. Durham, N.C. ($267,598)
2. Ann Arbor, Mich. ($272,398)
3. Baltimore, Md. ($281,005)
4. Charleston, S.C. ($285,933)
5. Washington, D.C. ($286,242).

Family Doctors / Primary Care Physicians

Primary care doctors represent the backbone of clinical care in the country, and location is a key determinant of their compensation.
The top five metro areas with the overall highest compensation for primary care providers includes:

1. Charlotte, N.C. ($285,109)
2. Bridgeport, Conn. ($279,138)
3. Minneapolis, Minn. ($272,610)
4. Indianapolis, Ind. ($270,468)
5. Phoenix, Ariz. ($268,869)

Gender Gap in Physician Compensation

Nationally, the “gender gap” difference is stark. U.S. women physicians on average earn 26.5 percent less, or in dollar terms, $91,284 less than their male counterparts. Moreover, there is no medical specialty identified in the study in which women earn more than men. As an example, female Neurosurgeons were found earn over $90,000 less on average per year. Also, there is no place in the United States – state or top 50 metropolitan areas – where women out-earn men.

The five largest gender wage gaps are found in:

1. Charlotte, N.C. (33 percent less or $125,035)
2. Durham, N.C. (31 percent less or $90,480)
3. Orlando, Fla. (30 percent less or $107,942)
4. Pittsburgh, Pa. (30 percent less or $100,956)
5. Bridgeport, Conn. (29 percent less or $110,582)

The specialties with the largest gender wage gap are:

1. Pediatric Rheumatology (21 less percent or $45,412)
2. Gastroenterology (21 percent less or $78,490)
3. Pediatric Endocrinology (20 percent less or $41,467)
4. Occupational Medicine (20 percent less or $53,921)
5. Vascular Surgery (20 percent less or $88,800)

For female physicians, the metro areas in which female physicians are paid the highest average annual salary are:

1. Minneapolis, Minn. ($290,747)
2. Phoenix, Ariz. ($290,536)
3. Milwaukee, Wis. ($287,950)
4. Indianapolis, Ind. ($281,987)
5. Dallas, Texas ($278,825).

• The metro areas in which female physicians are paid the lowest average annual salary are: Durham, N.C. ($205,635); Charleston, S.C. ($219,112); Ann Arbor, Mich. ($225,004); Baltimore, Md. ($226,048); and Washington, D.C. ($227,263).

Our study was drawn from self-reported compensation surveys of over 36,000 full-time, licensed U.S. physicians who practice at least 40 hours per week. The timeframe ranges from late 2014 to early 2017. Responses were mapped across metropolitan statistical areas, and the top 50 were ranked by the number of respondents in the data.