physician · SOC 29-1029
Dentists, All Other Specialists
National median $224,990 / yr · 5,230 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$224,990
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
TX
Score 75 · Texas
Top-paying metro
Orlando
$469,750 median
Top WageBench Score
89
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $469,750 | $469,750 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 89 |
| #2 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $402,600 | $402,600 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 84 |
| #3 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $389,520 | $389,520 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 83 |
| #4 | Texas | $286,510 | $286,510 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 75 |
| #5 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $281,940 | $281,940 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 75 |
| #6 | Missouri | $230,130 | $219,774 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 71 |
| #7 | Arkansas | $232,730 | $224,584 | 3.5% | 87 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | South Carolina | $246,770 | $233,198 | 5.5% | 94 | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | West Virginia | $235,370 | $224,072 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $232,090 | $232,090 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$104,120
P25
$166,130
MEDIAN
$224,990
P75
$280,590
P90
$402,700
Hourly mean
$119
Hourly median
$108
Annual mean
$247,930
Total US jobs
5,230
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 44 scored areas total.
44 areas · page 1 of 2
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $469,750 | $469,750 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 89 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $402,600 | $402,600 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 84 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | TX | $389,520 | $389,520 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 83 |
| Texas | TX | $286,510 | $286,510 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 75 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $281,940 | $281,940 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 75 |
| Missouri | MO | $230,130 | $219,774 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Arkansas | AR | $232,730 | $224,584 | 3.5% | 87 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| South Carolina | SC | $246,770 | $233,198 | 5.5% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| West Virginia | WV | $235,370 | $224,072 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $232,090 | $232,090 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| North Carolina | NC | $225,990 | $216,385 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Oklahoma | OK | $223,160 | $213,118 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Nebraska | NE | $224,990 | $214,190 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 69 |
| Tucson, AZ | AZ | $254,650 | $248,284 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $213,570 | $213,570 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Arizona | AZ | $244,170 | $238,066 | 2.5% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $244,170 | $238,066 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $279,820 | $263,031 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 68 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $213,660 | $213,660 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 67 |
| Ohio | OH | $192,050 | $186,289 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 67 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | IL | $269,160 | $255,837 | 5.0% | — | — | 23 | 66 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $195,150 | $189,159 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 66 |
| Maryland | MD | $207,450 | $197,078 | 5.0% | 105 | ✓ | 24 | 66 |
| Colorado | CO | $186,640 | $178,428 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 65 |
| Illinois | IL | $250,880 | $238,461 | 5.0% | 100 | — | 23 | 64 |
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Not published by BLS (32) — BLS suppresses wage estimates where employment is too low to disclose. These states likely still employ this occupation; there's just no public wage to rank: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia.
Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →