physician · SOC 29-1212
Cardiologists
National median $496,010 / yr · 17,290 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$496,010
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
MO
Score 77 · Missouri
Top-paying metro
Seattle
$662,760 median
Top WageBench Score
77
Missouri
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 | Missouri | $648,070 | $618,907 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 77 |
| #2 | Nebraska | $646,300 | $615,278 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 76 |
| #3 | Tennessee | $610,080 | $610,080 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 76 |
| #4 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $662,760 | $662,760 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 76 |
| #5 | Wisconsin | $636,580 | $602,841 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 75 |
| #6 | Washington | $656,330 | $656,330 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 74 |
| #7 | Indiana | $588,890 | $570,929 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 74 |
| #8 | Kentucky | $558,180 | $535,853 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 73 |
| #9 | Georgia | $610,070 | $577,126 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 73 |
| #10 | Alabama | $519,480 | $498,701 | 4.0% | 89 | ✓ | 72 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$107,190
P25
$274,280
MEDIAN
$496,010
P75
$610,060
P90
$712,130
Hourly mean
$219
Hourly median
$238
Annual mean
$454,940
Total US jobs
17,290
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 57 scored areas total.
57 areas · page 1 of 3
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | MO | $648,070 | $618,907 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 77 |
| Nebraska | NE | $646,300 | $615,278 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 76 |
| Tennessee | TN | $610,080 | $610,080 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 76 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $662,760 | $662,760 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $636,580 | $602,841 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 75 |
| Washington | WA | $656,330 | $656,330 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Indiana | IN | $588,890 | $570,929 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 74 |
| Kentucky | KY | $558,180 | $535,853 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 23 | 73 |
| Georgia | GA | $610,070 | $577,126 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 24 | 73 |
| Alabama | AL | $519,480 | $498,701 | 4.0% | 89 | ✓ | 24 | 72 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $579,120 | $561,341 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $551,320 | $534,780 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Ohio | OH | $504,260 | $489,132 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Jacksonville, FL | FL | $514,740 | $514,740 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $528,750 | $506,278 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $515,710 | $515,710 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $511,400 | $495,802 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Texas | TX | $410,150 | $410,150 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 66 |
| Virginia | VA | $461,450 | $437,455 | 5.2% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 66 |
| Connecticut | CT | $488,940 | $464,493 | 5.0% | 104 | ✓ | 21 | 65 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $403,340 | $403,340 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 65 |
| Florida | FL | $414,910 | $414,910 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 24 | 65 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $382,000 | $382,000 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 64 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $337,230 | $320,369 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 63 |
| Illinois | IL | $517,850 | $492,216 | 5.0% | 100 | — | 23 | 63 |
1 / 3
Not published by BLS (28) — 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: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, 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 →