Compensation remains a key issue for the physician workforce, as the motivation for employers to bump physician pay after the pandemic seems to be waning, according to a July 8 Medscape report.
The “Comparing Your Pay Against Your Peers:” Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2025” surveyed 7,322 physicians across more than 29 specialties between Oct. 3, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
Here are eight new stats from the report on physician pay and work-life balance:
1. Physicians’ salaries rose by an average 2.9% from 2023 to 2024, among the lowest raises in compensation since 2011.
2. Earnings rose 3.9% for primary care physicians, while specialists’ salaries rose an average 2.4% — the lowest increase since 2021.
3. The average length of a physician’s work week showed little variation in recent years, despite anecdotal evidence that physicians are overwhelmed with patient visits and administrative tasks. Physicians reported seeing 73 patients in an average work week in 2024, compared with 74 patients the year prior.
4. Across all physicians, including PCPs and specialists, only 48% said they personally feel fairly compensated for their work, the lowest in 10 years.
5. When asked about physicians as a whole, about 6 in 10 physicians said they were unfairly compensated, a sign that physicians were more concerned about their colleagues’ compensation than their own, according to Medscape.
6. The majority of physicians —71%— said that their compensation matches or exceeds what is needed to cover their family’s living expenses, debts and retirement savings.
7. Physicians in the Midwest reported the highest average salary at $385,000. Here’s how other regions stacked up in average physician salary:
- West: $369,000
- North: $363,000
- South: $375,000
8. Nearly 4 in 10 physicians find time in their schedules for outside paid work.
