physician · SOC 29-1241
Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric
National median $300,080 / yr · 8,950 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$300,080
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
IA
Score 77 · Iowa
Top-paying metro
San Jose
$700,850 median
Top WageBench Score
84
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
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 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $700,850 | $658,799 | 6.0% | — | — | 84 |
| #2 | Iowa | $394,900 | $379,894 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 77 |
| #3 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $412,900 | $390,603 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 75 |
| #4 | Florida | $399,440 | $399,440 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 74 |
| #5 | Georgia | $382,920 | $362,242 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 74 |
| #6 | Rhode Island | $450,370 | $428,977 | 4.8% | 102 | ✓ | 74 |
| #7 | New Hampshire | $404,330 | $404,330 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 73 |
| #8 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | $399,020 | $380,067 | 4.8% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #9 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $359,980 | $359,980 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #10 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $429,080 | $403,335 | 6.0% | — | — | 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
$100,180
P25
$173,650
MEDIAN
$300,080
P75
$421,530
P90
$489,710
Hourly mean
$146
Hourly median
$144
Annual mean
$304,650
Total US jobs
8,950
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 64 scored areas total.
64 areas · page 1 of 3
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $700,850 | $658,799 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 84 |
| Iowa | IA | $394,900 | $379,894 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 77 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | GA | $412,900 | $390,603 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 24 | 75 |
| Florida | FL | $399,440 | $399,440 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 24 | 74 |
| Georgia | GA | $382,920 | $362,242 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 24 | 74 |
| Rhode Island | RI | $450,370 | $428,977 | 4.8% | 102 | ✓ | 17 | 74 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $404,330 | $404,330 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 73 |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $399,020 | $380,067 | 4.8% | — | ✓ | 17 | 72 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $359,980 | $359,980 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $429,080 | $403,335 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 71 |
| Alabama | AL | $305,200 | $292,992 | 4.0% | 89 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Texas | TX | $323,010 | $323,010 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | TX | $320,450 | $320,450 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $433,520 | $407,509 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 69 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $304,290 | $294,948 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Maine | ME | $337,850 | $318,255 | 5.8% | 97 | ✓ | 19 | 69 |
| Arkansas | AR | $259,320 | $250,244 | 3.5% | 87 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Washington | WA | $304,830 | $304,830 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| Ohio | OH | $271,270 | $263,132 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 68 |
| Colorado | CO | $288,050 | $275,376 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 68 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $255,480 | $255,480 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 66 |
| Tennessee | TN | $231,040 | $231,040 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 66 |
| California | CA | $400,150 | $376,141 | 6.0% | 111 | — | 24 | 66 |
| Missouri | MO | $228,410 | $218,132 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 66 |
| Minnesota | MN | $372,200 | $346,890 | 6.8% | 99 | — | 19 | 65 |
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Not published by BLS (17) — 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, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, 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 →