physician · SOC 29-1242
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
National median $358,550 / yr · 14,100 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$358,550
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
MO
Score 90 · Missouri
Top-paying metro
Springfield
$869,540 median
Top WageBench Score
90
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 | $842,800 | $804,874 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 90 |
| #2 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $666,930 | $666,930 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 85 |
| #3 | West Virginia | $597,740 | $569,048 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 84 |
| #4 | Mississippi | $544,130 | $520,188 | 4.4% | 87 | ✓ | 82 |
| #5 | Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $726,990 | $726,990 | 0.0% | — | — | 81 |
| #6 | Wisconsin | $572,060 | $541,741 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 81 |
| #7 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $576,130 | $576,130 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 81 |
| #8 | Montana | $560,820 | $531,657 | 5.2% | 95 | ✓ | 80 |
| #9 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $572,910 | $548,561 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 80 |
| #10 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $523,610 | $523,610 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 79 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$84,170
P25
$180,610
MEDIAN
$358,550
P75
$530,700
P90
$659,290
Hourly mean
$180
Hourly median
$172
Annual mean
$373,570
Total US jobs
14,100
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 65 scored areas total.
65 areas · page 1 of 3
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | MO | $842,800 | $804,874 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 90 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $666,930 | $666,930 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 85 |
| West Virginia | WV | $597,740 | $569,048 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 84 |
| Mississippi | MS | $544,130 | $520,188 | 4.4% | 87 | ✓ | 25 | 82 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | NV | $726,990 | $726,990 | 0.0% | — | — | 22 | 81 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $572,060 | $541,741 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 81 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $576,130 | $576,130 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 81 |
| Montana | MT | $560,820 | $531,657 | 5.2% | 95 | ✓ | 22 | 80 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $572,910 | $548,561 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 80 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $523,610 | $523,610 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 79 |
| Oklahoma | OK | $530,070 | $506,217 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 79 |
| Arizona | AZ | $558,970 | $544,996 | 2.5% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 78 |
| Washington | WA | $553,310 | $553,310 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 78 |
| Nebraska | NE | $507,770 | $483,397 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 78 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $558,970 | $544,996 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 78 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $555,670 | $555,670 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 76 |
| Georgia | GA | $474,820 | $449,180 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 24 | 75 |
| Florida | FL | $473,750 | $473,750 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 24 | 74 |
| Virginia | VA | $478,710 | $453,817 | 5.2% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $396,920 | $396,920 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 72 |
| Colorado | CO | $385,410 | $368,452 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $524,350 | $482,402 | 8.0% | — | — | 21 | 69 |
| Minnesota | MN | $537,830 | $501,258 | 6.8% | 99 | — | 19 | 69 |
| Alabama | AL | $324,570 | $311,587 | 4.0% | 89 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Ohio | OH | $323,480 | $313,776 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 68 |
1 / 3
Not published by BLS (20) — 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, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, 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 →