Four major surveys put anesthesiologist pay anywhere from $432,490 to $565,540, a gap of more than $100,000 for the same specialty. The difference isn’t a flaw in the data. It comes down to what each survey actually measures.
Each anesthesiologist pay survey measures something different, and understanding those differences matters significantly for those using compensation data to make hiring, contracting or benchmarking decisions.
Here is what four major sources currently report and why the figures diverge:
Marit Health: $565,540
As of June 29, the average total compensation for anesthesiologists is $565,540, according to Marit Health, a salary transparency platform, based on 1,201 salaries. The median salary is $550,000, with most anesthesiologists earning between $500,000 at the 25th percentile and $627,000 at the 75th percentile. Marit Health collects peer-reported salary submissions, meaning physicians voluntarily share what they earn, with de-biasing adjustments applied to the aggregate. The platform captures granular detail including practice setting, call structure, and FTE status that most surveys do not collect, but the sample is self-selected and may not represent the full specialty distribution. Those employed by hospitals or health systems report an average of $565,500, while those working for medical groups report $570,500.
Medscape: $543,000
Medscape’s Physician Compensation Report placed average annual compensation at $543,000, based on survey responses from physicians across 29 specialties. Medscape surveys physicians directly, asking what they personally earned, and captures a broad cross-section of anesthesiologists including those in private practice, academic settings and locum tenens arrangements. According to Medscape’s methodology, because high earners and self-employed physicians may be more likely to respond, and because self-employed physicians can include earnings from multiple income streams, self-reported figures tend to run higher than what employers actually pay on payroll.
AMGA: $536,320
According to AMGA Consulting’s June 2026 white paper on anesthesiology compensation, the national AMGA Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey placed the median total clinical compensation at $536,320 in 2025, based on 3,635 organizational records. This is a 5.5% increase from 2024 and an average of 4.5% annual growth over the last three years. AMGA surveys organizations, not individuals. According to the white paper, the data reflect what employers pay, including base salary, call pay and incentive components, but not locum tenens income or earnings from outside arrangements. This makes AMGA’s framing a more directly comparable figure for benchmarking employed physicians. The full AMGA distribution runs from $462,602 at the 25th percentile to $605,458 at the 75th percentile.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: $432,490
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program places average annual anesthesiologist wages at $432,490 nationally. BLS collects payroll data from employers through a mandatory federal survey, making it the most comprehensive dataset by coverage. BLS figures capture all employed anesthesiologists including part-time workers, do not separate out subspecialties or call pay, and tend to lag the market slightly given annual collection cycles.
Why the gaps exist
The four figures range from $432,490 to $565,540 — a $133,050 spread for the same specialty. The gaps reflect four distinct methodological choices: who is surveyed (individuals vs. organizations vs. mandatory employer reporting), what is included in compensation (base only vs. total clinical compensation vs. all income streams), how the central tendency is calculated (mean vs. median), and how current the data are.
As AMGA Consulting’s white paper states directly: “Self-reported surveys capture what individuals report as earned, whereas organization-reported data reflect what organizations actually pay. This distinction matters considerably when evaluating year-over-year growth trends.”
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