Doximity's 2026 Physician Compensation Report finds AI fluency emerging as a potential career advantage, even as overwork and early-retirement intent climb.
Physician compensation rose just 2% from 2024 to 2025, its slowest growth in several years. But the forces reshaping physicians' economic lives are moving much faster. More than eight in 10 physicians say they are overworked, nearly half are considering early retirement, and two-thirds now use AI at least weekly. Together, the findings point to a new question for the profession: As physicians become more productive, who captures the value?
Doximity's 2026 Physician Compensation Report draws on roughly 250,000 compensation survey responses collected over seven years, including nearly 23,000 U.S. physicians surveyed in 2025. It examines not only where and how much physicians earn, but how workforce pressure and AI are beginning to change the value of their time.
AI is becoming a career lever—not a job replacement
Two-thirds (66%) of physicians reported using AI on a daily or weekly basis for clinical or administrative work. Adoption was highest among younger physicians: 73% of those in their 30s used AI at least weekly, compared with 52% of those in their 60s.
Most physicians do not see AI replacing their role. Nearly three-quarters (72%) said AI is not changing the physician's role in their specialty, although half said it is changing how the work gets done. And 78% said AI has either increased their sense of job security or left it unchanged.
That confidence comes with a new career calculus. Two-thirds (67%) believe physicians who stay current with AI tools will have a meaningful earnings advantage over the next 12 months, and 39% said AI proficiency already factors into hiring and promotion decisions. If AI enables physicians to complete more clinical work in the same amount of time, 44% said physicians should benefit financially.
Burnout eased on one measure. Exit intent did not.
The physician shortage continues to affect both clinicians and patients. Eighty-five percent of physicians said the shortage has already affected their clinical practice, and 76% said systemic pressures compromised the quality of care they provided in the past year.
There is one early sign of relief: 52% reported overwork or burnout attributable to the shortage, down from 63% in 2025 and 67% in 2024. But broader workforce risk remains high. In a separate June 2026 poll of more than 600 physicians, 82% said they are overworked, 46% said they are considering early retirement—up from 34% the year before—and 44% said they are somewhat or very likely to leave clinical practice within two years.
Even amid that pressure, physicians' commitment to the profession remains strong: 81% said they would pursue medicine again, and 55% would choose the same specialty.
Where physicians' earnings go furthest
Oklahoma City, OK, led all metro areas in average compensation at $495,617, following one of the largest annual increases at 12.9%. It also took the top spot after adjusting for cost of living, swapping places with Rochester, MN. Boston and Washington, DC, again anchored the bottom of the cost-of-living-adjusted list, where high living expenses continue to reduce physicians' real purchasing power.
Compensation rose in 41 of the 60 metro areas examined, and all four major U.S. regions appeared in the top 10 for growth.
The specialty pay divide widened
The 20 highest-paid specialties remain concentrated in surgical and procedural work. Neurosurgery topped the list at $829,161, followed by thoracic surgery and orthopaedic surgery, while the 20 lowest-paid specialties tend to be concentrated in pediatrics and primary care.
Interventional radiology (10.8%) and neurosurgery (10.7%) led all specialties in compensation growth. Those gains widened medicine's specialty pay divide: surgical specialists earned 90.1% more than primary care physicians, up from 87.3% in 2024.
The gender pay gap held at 26%
The gender pay gap stayed at 26% in 2025, unchanged from 2024. On a model-adjusted basis, average compensation was $122,276 higher for men than women. Men reported higher pay than women in every specialty we examined. Thoracic surgery had the largest gap at 19.7%; pediatric cardiology had the smallest at 8.7%.
Read the full report
See how compensation compares by specialty, metro area, practice setting, gender, and employment type—and explore what physicians reported about AI, workload, and the future of clinical practice.