physician · SOC 29-1222
Physicians, Pathologists
National median $312,400 / yr · 11,110 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$312,400
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WV
Score 75 · West Virginia
Top-paying metro
Las Vegas
$384,550 median
Top WageBench Score
75
West Virginia
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 | West Virginia | $400,070 | $380,867 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 75 |
| #2 | Pennsylvania | $413,370 | $400,680 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 75 |
| #3 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $362,620 | $362,620 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #4 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $362,470 | $362,470 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #5 | Indiana | $340,300 | $329,921 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $365,830 | $354,599 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #7 | Iowa | $323,460 | $311,169 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Texas | $345,830 | $345,830 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Kentucky | $324,390 | $311,414 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $332,570 | $332,570 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 71 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$92,540
P25
$186,300
MEDIAN
$312,400
P75
$372,780
P90
$449,970
Hourly mean
$137
Hourly median
$150
Annual mean
$285,420
Total US jobs
11,110
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 69 scored areas total.
69 areas · page 1 of 3
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | WV | $400,070 | $380,867 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 75 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $413,370 | $400,680 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 75 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $362,620 | $362,620 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 73 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $362,470 | $362,470 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 73 |
| Indiana | IN | $340,300 | $329,921 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $365,830 | $354,599 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| Iowa | IA | $323,460 | $311,169 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Texas | TX | $345,830 | $345,830 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Kentucky | KY | $324,390 | $311,414 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $332,570 | $332,570 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Ohio | OH | $309,480 | $300,196 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $342,090 | $331,656 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $317,890 | $308,353 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $349,470 | $340,733 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Oklahoma | OK | $317,850 | $303,547 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $316,150 | $316,150 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $329,970 | $316,771 | 4.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Florida | FL | $313,510 | $313,510 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $288,900 | $274,455 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $300,580 | $300,580 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| Arizona | AZ | $338,290 | $329,833 | 2.5% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | TX | $291,510 | $291,510 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 67 |
| Washington | WA | $300,680 | $300,680 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 67 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $285,280 | $276,722 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 67 |
| Colorado | CO | $294,510 | $281,552 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 67 |
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Not published by BLS (18) — 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, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, 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 →