While compensation rose roughly 3% across the board in 2025, an April 10 Medscape report found.a stark divide between the highest and lowest-paying specialties.
The report, which surveyed 5,916 physicians across more than 29 specialties from Sept. 5 to Dec. 17, found that orthopedic surgeons are pulling in $611,000 a year while pediatricians take home less than half that at $266,000.
Here are the 10 highest-paying physician specialties:
- Orthopedics and orthopedic surgery: $611,000
- Cardiology: $575,000
- Radiology: $571,000
- Plastic surgery: $554,000
- Anesthesiology: $543,000
- Urology: $535,000
- Gastroenterology: $530,000
- Otolaryngology: $508,000
- Oncology and hematology: $464,000
- Dermatology: $448,000
Here are the 10 lowest-paying physician specialties:
- Pediatrics: $266,000
- Public health and preventive medicine: $277,000
- Infectious diseases: $282,000
- Rheumatology: $284,000
- Diabetes and endocrinology: $284,000
- Family medicine: $288,000
- Internal medicine: $307,000
- Allergy and immunology: $310,000
- Psychiatry: $331,000
- Neurology: $341,000
- Nephrology: $359,000
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