The headline number in most physician compensation reports is total cash compensation, which is base salary plus bonuses plus profit-sharing, but that figure doesn’t show how much depends on productivity metrics, patient satisfaction scores or quality measures outside their control.
Here is what the most recent data shows.
The overall picture
Median total cash compensation for physicians rose more sharply in 2025 than at any point in the past decade, according to a 2025 SullivanCotter’s survey, which analyzed approximately 231,000 physicians across 232 specialties.
The median physician paid compensation per full-time physician was $371,589 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 8% year over year, according to Kaufman Hall’s Physician Flash Report. The median investment per physician, the subsidy health systems pay to make employed physician compensation work financially, reached $315,358 in the same period, a 4% increase since 2023.
What the bonus component looks like
The average incentive bonus for qualifying physicians in 2024 was $49,000, according to Medscape’s 2026 Physician Compensation Report. Most physicians — 65% — said quantifiable metrics such as RVUs and patient visits do not affect their incentive bonus or base salary. The most common incentive measures remain individual productivity and patient experience, used by roughly 75% of organizations, according to SullivanCotter.
For physicians on wRVU-based models, 2026 introduced a new variable: CMS’s 2.5% efficiency adjustment to non-time-based codes reduced wRVUs for procedural and imaging specialties performing identical work to the prior year.
Specialty breakdown
Gastroenterology: Marit Health data from 198 salary reports puts average total compensation for gastroenterologists at $786,345 — base of $560,985, with 57% receiving bonuses averaging $35,856 and 23% receiving other income averaging $24,127. Average wRVUs run approximately 9,477 at $64 per wRVU.
Orthopedic surgery: Marit Health data from 1,195 salary reports puts average total compensation for orthopedic surgeons at $565,945 — base of $672,179, with 43% receiving bonuses averaging $70,131 and 32% receiving other income averaging $44,034. Average wRVUs run approximately 9,853 at $72 per wRVU.
Anesthesiology: Marit Health data from 297 salary reports puts average total compensation for anesthesiologists at $614,156 — base of $513,376, with 45% receiving bonuses averaging $26,907 and 35% receiving other income averaging $25,661. Average wRVUs run approximately 7,509 at $43 per wRVU. Call pay averages $3,224 per day, with 33% receiving it.
Cardiology: Marit Health data from 297 salary reports puts average base compensation for cardiologists at $553,687, with 60% receiving bonuses averaging $47,899 — the highest bonus participation rate of the four specialties. Other income averages $12,570 (18% receiving it). Average wRVUs run approximately 9,359 at $59 per wRVU.
The productivity gap
The most important structural finding is the widening gap between what physicians produce and what they are paid for it. Provider productivity measured by wRVUs per FTE increased 7% since 2023; compensation rose 6%; and reimbursement declined 1% as measured by net patient revenue per provider wRVU. Physicians are working more, earning slightly more, and generating less revenue per unit of work.
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