Hospitals and health systems are competing hard to fill anesthesia roles, and the recruiting data shows it.
Anesthesiologists commanded the highest average sign-on bonus of any specialty AMN Healthcare’s Physician Solutions division recruited for in 2024-2025, according to the company’s 2025 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, its 32nd annual report on physician and advanced practitioner recruiting incentives, covering search engagements conducted from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
At the same time, demand for certified registered nurse anesthetists is increasingly being met through locum tenens placements rather than permanent hires.
Ten numbers on anesthesia sign-on bonuses and the market forces behind them:
$59,583. The average sign-on bonus offered to anesthesiologists in 2024-2025, the highest average bonus among the five specialties AMN Healthcare recruited for most often, with offers ranging from $10,000 to $150,000.
103. The number of anesthesiologist search engagements AMN Healthcare conducted in 2024-2025, making anesthesiology the third most-requested physician specialty nationally. That’s nearly double the 55 searches conducted the year before, when anesthesiology ranked eighth.
$485,000. The average starting salary offered to anesthesiologists in 2024-2025, up 5.5% from $460,000 the year before. Regional averages ranged from $421,418 in the Southwest to $562,500 in the West.
$38,215. The average sign-on bonus offered across all physician specialties in 2024-2025, up from $31,473 the year before. Anesthesiology’s average bonus topped that broader benchmark by more than 50%.
74%. The share of physician and advanced practice provider recruiting searches nationally that included a sign-on bonus offer in 2024-2025, up sharply from 51% the year before.
$58,744. The combined average value of a physician’s sign-on bonus, relocation allowance and continuing medical education allowance in 2024-2025 — on top of base salary and any production bonus.
$279,000. The average starting salary for CRNAs in academic settings in 2024-2025, the only CRNA starting-salary figure AMN Healthcare could report this year. Non-academic CRNA searches have grown harder to complete as more permanent openings are filled on an interim basis by locum tenens CRNAs.
25. The number of CRNA search engagements AMN Healthcare conducted in 2024-2025, down from 38 the year before, even as demand for anesthesiologists nearly doubled.
$40,000. The average sign-on bonus offered to new-graduate CRNAs, plus a $5,000 average relocation bonus.
80%. The share of CRNAs now being offered a sign-on bonus, averaging around $20,000, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology.
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