The gender pay gap, the difference in compensation between men and women of the same title or role, affects women from every background, of all ages and levels of education, in every U.S. state. But when we take a closer look at medicine, it gets worse.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the national gender gap across industries and occupations to be an average of 19% less, or, women taking home .81 cents on the dollar. In comparison, the average national gender pay gap among physicians is 24.7% less as of 2018.
Today, we released our third annual Physician Compensation Report, which analyzed trends in U.S. physician pay across geographic location, medical specialties, employment type, and gender.
In this year’s report, we found that for the first time since conducting this study, the gender pay gap is deflating. In fact, pay for male physicians has remained flat since 2017, while female physician pay has increased.
In addition, this year’s report also found that after years of steady pay increases, the national physician wage average has plateaued for the first time since 2016. Our study is based on the responses of nearly 90,000 licensed U.S. doctors across six years, making it the largest repository of data available today on physician compensation.
Here is a breakdown of physician pay when examining gender:
Cities with the smallest gender wage gaps in 2018:
- Birmingham, Ala (9 percent wage gap)
- Bridgeport, Conn. (10 percent)
- Milwaukee (14 percent)
- Seattle (15 percent)
- Jacksonville FL (16 percent)
Cities with the largest gender wage gap in 2018:
- Louisville/Jefferson County (40 percent)
- New Orleans (32 percent)
- Austin Texas (31 percent)
- Hartford, Conn. (31 percent)
- Dallas, Texas (31 percent).
Cities where female physicians earn the highest average annual salary are:
- Milwaukee ($351,247)
- Bridgeport, Conn. ($319,577)
- Seattle ($306,310)
- Minneapolis ($303,416)
- Riverside, Calif. ($302,937)
Female physicians earn the lowest average annual salary in these metros:
- Providence, R.I. ($220,482)
- Durham, N.C. ($226,594)
- Louisville, Ky. ($230,754)
- Virginia Beach, Va. ($232,172)
- Austin, Texas ($232,333)
As women continue to represent the majority of the medical school applicants, our findings show that the gender pay gap is quickly shrinking across several MSAs. In just one year, the gender pay gap dropped from 27.7 percent in 2017 to 25.2 percent in 2018.
“Although pay for female physicians has improved substantially, there is still significant progress that needs to be made,” said Mandy Armitage, M.D., Director of Medical Content at Doximity.
To review all findings from the 2019 Doximity Physician Compensation report, please click HERE.