The Doximity 2024 Physician Compensation Report offers an overview of the latest trends and challenges in physician pay and workforce dynamics. Drawing on data from nearly 150,000 survey responses over five years, including over 33,000 responses from U.S. physicians in 2023, the report highlights key issues impacting healthcare providers.

Here are five takeaways from this year's report:

1. A turnaround for average compensation
In 2023, the average compensation for U.S. physicians increased by nearly 6%, recovering from a 2.4% decline in 2022. Despite this growth, inflation has dampened the increase in real income.

All metro areas with the lowest average compensation experienced growth, particularly Baltimore, Providence, and Virginia Beach, with increases exceeding 10%. The lowest ranking metro area was San Antonio, Texas ($370k).

Physicians in San Jose, California, (in Silicon Valley) saw compensation surge 13.5%, giving them the highest average compensation in 2023, averaging about $475k annually.

2. Gender pay gap remains wide
The gender pay gap among physicians decreased slightly to 23% in 2023 from 26% in 2022. However, female physicians still earn nearly $102,000 less than their male counterparts on average, even when controlling for specialty, location, and years of experience.

No medical specialties had equal or higher earnings for women physicians compared to men physicians. All specialties had gender pay gaps exceeding 8%, with the exception of three specialties: Medical Genetics (3.5%), Hematology (4.3%), and Occupational Medicine (6.5%).

In a survey of over 1,000 physicians, conducted in February and March 2024, about half (nearly 52%) said they believe there is a disparity in how men and women physicians are compensated. While nearly 75% of women physicians surveyed believe there is a pay disparity, fewer than 30% of men physicians also believe this is true.

3. Compensation varies drastically by specialty, radiologists doing well
Surgical and procedural specialties continue to lead in compensation, with neurosurgery ($764k), thoracic surgery ($721k), and orthopedic surgery ($655k) among the highest. In contrast, pediatric and primary care specialties remain on the lower end of the compensation spectrum, where the bottom 10 range from $218k to $318k.

At $532k, radiologists ranked 9th overall. Their average annual compensation was up from $504k a year ago, and radiology jumped ahead of urology on the top 10 list to occupy the ninth spot. Still, radiology lagged a number of other specialties in terms of salary growth, ranging from hematology (+12.4%) to psychiatry (+7.2%).

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