U.S. physicians earn on average $294,000 a year, a new survey shows, with men earning 31 percent more than women and white men earning 15 percent more than black men.
The survey of 19,000 doctors by Medscape shows most wish they earned even more, even as most specialties, with the exception of pediatricians, got raises in 2016. The biggest earners? Orthopedists, who rake in $489,000 a year. Plastic surgeons got the biggest raises in 2016 — a pretty grand 24 percent, bringing their annual take to $354,000 a year, the survey found. Specialists earn more than family practice doctors. Family practice and pediatricians earn just over $200,000 a year, the survey found. Male specialist physicians make on average 31 percent more than their female counterparts, although that gap narrows among the younger generation.
The survey found an 18 percent difference for doctors under the age of 34. Even at that, a third of specialists said they felt they should be earning even more money.