Salary for People with Doctor of Medicine (MD) Degrees

What is the Salary of a Doctor?

Answering the question "what is the salary of a doctor" is a little tricky. While many medical students will choose to become general practitioners, others will become specialists, focusing on specific types of medical problems. While all doctors complete medical school and residency, the requirements for entering into a specialty will involve further education and training. And, just as the training requirements vary by specialty, so do doctor salaries. A family doctor salary, pediatrician salary and surgeon salary will all be quiet different, but they are all "doctor salaries." PayScale's report comparing median Doctor Salary by Specialty provides several examples of salaries for different job titles.

There is no question that doctor salaries tend to be high, but doctors also face high medical school and insurance costs. And, it can take many years before medical doctors are ready to establish a practice. Given the commitment that becoming a doctor entails, it's not surprising that many pre-med students have questions and concerns about doctor salaries. What are typical Physician Starting Salaries? What is the relationship between Medical School and Doctor Salaries? These and many other questions can be answered with PayScale's medical doctor salary data.

Medical Doctor Salary Data

The Medical Doctor Salary by State chart shows that doctor salaries can vary greatly from one state to the next. For an international perspective on doctor salaries, take a moment to compare Doctor Salaries in Canada. You'll see how the median doctor salary in Canada varies between specialties. In all locations, experience tends to have a big impact on a medical doctor's salary. Take a look at the report measuring Doctor Salaries by Years of Experience to see how the median doctor salary can change over the course of 20 years.

Doctor Salaries: Median vs. Mean

PayScale's Dr. Salary can't write you a prescription, but he can improve your salary research. Learn why searching for "median doctor salary" will produce better results than "average doctor salaries" by reading the Ask Dr. Salary article, "Why is Median Better than Mean for a Typical Salary?"