Physician Family Practice Salaries

The phrase "family physician" may call up Norman Rockwell-esque images of the kindly country doctor, bandaging skinned knees. The truth is that not only do modern family practice physicians come in all shapes and sizes, they have a wide variety of responsibilities and play an integral part in modern medical practice. For many patients, their family practice physician is the only doctor they see regularly; a family physician often treats patients on a long-term basis and knows their medical histories, allowing them to provide better patient care. Some people continue seeing the same family doctor throughout their childhood years and even well into adulthood. Family practice physicians are often the ones to provide referrals should their patients need to see a specialist. This role in patient care makes the family physician a very important person in many people's lives. But like all medical careers, being a family doctor is hard work, and to a physician, family practice salaries are an important consideration before entering the field.

Family Physician Salary Survey Data

What affects physician family practice salaries? As with most medical careers, one factor that has a strong impact on family doctor salaries is experience. Researching Family Practice Salaries by Years Experience, we can see that for a physician, family practice salaries are directly affected by years of experience. On-the-job experience is even more of a factor in physician family practice salaries than in some other doctor salaries, since many family doctors have spent years expanding an established practice and patient base. Another important consideration is employment setting. Comparing Family Physician Salaries by Industry reveals that family physicians who are employed by hospitals tend to earn higher salaries. This is also confirmed in the Family Doctor Salary by Hospital Setting chart; some of the highest physician salaries are offered in a general hospital setting.

Family Practice Salaries by Location

The Family Doctor Salaries by State chart shows that there's not a lot of variation in family doctor salaries based on location. New York stands out as having some of the lowest family practice salaries, which seem even lower when considering New York's high cost of living -- use PayScale's cost of living calculator to find both Cost of Living and Physician Salary Data for New York and other U.S. cities. The Family Practice Salaries by City chart shows that Houston and Los Angeles offer the highest median family doctor salaries. Family physicians who like hot weather might settle down in one of those cities, knowing they can use their high physician family practice salaries to get some serious air conditioning!

Family Doctor Salary Story

Researching family physician salaries can only provide so much insight into a medical career. For an insider's look at what it's really like to be a doctor, read "Family Physician Salaries" over in the Salary Stories blog. Family Physician Margie C. Sweeney, M.D. shares information on what it takes to become a physician, what to expect from average physician salaries, and how to succeed in this rewarding yet challenging career.

List of Salaries for Careers with Staying Power

Family physicians have been part of the medical world for years, and chances are that as long as people keep getting sick and hurt, there will be jobs for family physicians. For more salary information on jobs with staying power, read the Ask Dr. Salary post, "List of Salaries for Careers (that stand the test of time)."