physician · SOC 29-1249
Surgeons, All Other (legacy)
National median $414,010 / yr · 25,140 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$414,010
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
ND
Score 82 · North Dakota
Top-paying metro
Milwaukee
$762,360 median
Top WageBench Score
83
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
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 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $762,360 | $721,955 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 83 |
| #2 | North Dakota | $604,890 | $592,792 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 82 |
| #3 | Columbus, OH | $609,450 | $591,167 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 78 |
| #4 | Ohio | $554,220 | $537,593 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 77 |
| #5 | Oklahoma | $553,790 | $528,869 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 76 |
| #6 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $504,360 | $504,360 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #7 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $500,390 | $500,390 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #8 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $529,100 | $500,529 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #9 | Georgia | $502,070 | $474,958 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 73 |
| #10 | Indiana | $459,300 | $445,291 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 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
$80,320
P25
$134,850
MEDIAN
$414,010
P75
$511,420
P90
$655,320
Hourly mean
$180
Hourly median
$199
Annual mean
$373,930
Total US jobs
25,140
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 93 scored areas total.
93 areas · page 1 of 4
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $762,360 | $721,955 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 21 | 83 |
| North Dakota | ND | $604,890 | $592,792 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 82 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $609,450 | $591,167 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 78 |
| Ohio | OH | $554,220 | $537,593 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 77 |
| Oklahoma | OK | $553,790 | $528,869 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $504,360 | $504,360 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $500,390 | $500,390 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 73 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | GA | $529,100 | $500,529 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 24 | 73 |
| Georgia | GA | $502,070 | $474,958 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 24 | 73 |
| Indiana | IN | $459,300 | $445,291 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| West Virginia | WV | $468,210 | $445,736 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $494,800 | $494,800 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $459,300 | $445,291 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $534,870 | $534,870 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 71 |
| Washington | WA | $479,460 | $479,460 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Wyoming | WY | $387,880 | $387,880 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $437,390 | $424,268 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $416,000 | $393,952 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| North Carolina | NC | $398,410 | $381,478 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Florida | FL | $429,990 | $429,990 | 0.0% | 103 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $561,070 | $537,225 | 4.3% | — | — | 24 | 68 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $391,540 | $371,963 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Tennessee | TN | $373,510 | $373,510 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 68 |
| Iowa | IA | $370,390 | $356,315 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| Minnesota | MN | $568,150 | $529,516 | 6.8% | 99 | — | 19 | 67 |
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Not published by BLS (15) — 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, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, 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 →