The gender pay gap for physicians was 26% in 2025, unchanged from 2024, according to Doximity’s “Physician Compensation Report 2026.”
Doximity collected nearly 23,000 physician compensation surveys throughout 2025, with the surveys completed by full-time U.S. physicians who work at least 40 hours per week. The report was published Aug. 25, 2026.
Here are eight things to know about the physician gender pay gap:
- Male physicians earned a nominal average of $122,276 more than female physicians in 2025, based on model-adjusted estimates that factor in specialty, location and years of experience.
- In 2024, the nominal average compensation gap between male physicians and female physicians was $120,917.
- On average, male physicians earn $2 million more than female physicians over a 40-year career.
- Male physicians earned more than female physicians in every specialty included in the report.
- The largest gender pay gap in a single specialty was 19.7% in thoracic surgery.
- Gastroenterology (16.6%), pediatric rheumatology (16.1%), otolaryngology (15.4%) and pediatrics (15.4%) are the four other specialties with the highest gender pay gap.
- The percentage wage gap was 10% or higher in every specialty except pediatric cardiology, where it was 8.7%.
- The report cites faster wage growth in surgical specialties — which tend to be male-dominated — as a potential driver of the persistent gap.
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