You probably caught the headline that more women than men enrolled in medical school for the first time in 2017. But according to a , that hoopla around that shift can be tempered a bit: the gap between men and women when it comes to physician pay actually increased from 2016 to 2017.
In 2016, female physicians made $91,285 less than their male counterparts. In 2017, that gap grew to $105,000. More than half of metros saw the pay gap increase year over year, and the trend held in every metro area, among owners, contractors and employees, and within every specialty. The report follows last year's, which also explored the gender pay gap.
"Medicine is a highly trained field, and as such, one might expect the gender wage gap to be less prominent here than in other industries," the new report said. "However, the gap endures, despite the level of education required to practice medicine, and market forces suggesting that this gap should shrink."
The findings were based on self-reported compensation data from surveys in 2016 and 2017. More than 65,000 full-time, licensed physicians who practiced at least 40 hours a week were included. The top 50 metros in terms of volume of participants were included for metro-level analyses, which were also controlled for specialty, years of experience and other factors.
The report also examined differences in pay across both genders based on several factors.
For example, perhaps unsurprisingly, areas with lower average pay tended to have a higher concentration of academic institutions. Large medical schools resulted in a larger workforce, which tended to drive down pay, and public institutions also tend to pay less than private institutions.
The top specialties in terms of pay remained largely unchanged. Neurosurgery led the way at $662,000. The first non-surgical specialty was cardiology, which came in sixth at $473,000. The four lowest-paying specialties were in pediatrics, ranging from $192,000 to $222,000. Preventive medicine was the lowest-paid specialty outside of pediatrics.
Most metros saw physician salaries increase year over year. The biggest increase was in Charleston, S.C., at 12%. Milwaukee, Austin, Tex., San Francisco and Las Vegas all came in next with increases of 7%.
Three metros saw decreases year-over-year: Houston (-2%), Rochester, N.Y. (-1%) and Bridgeport, Conn. (-1%).
But enough beating around the bush. Let's get to the good stuff. The metros with the highest average compensation of physicians last year:
- Charlotte, N.C. - $402,273
- Milwaukee, Wis. - $398,431
- Jacksonville, Fla. - $379,820
- Indianapolis - $378,011
- San Jose, Calif. - $376,585
The metro with the lowest compensation, meanwhile, was a little more of an outlier:
- Durham, N.C. - $282,035
- Ann Arbor, Mich. - $302,692
- Baltimore - $304,002
- New Haven, Conn. - $308,262
- Rochester, N.Y. - $312,503
2016 marked the first time that the share of physicians who owned their own practice fell below 50%. Given that, the report also included a look at how compensation differs by ownership type. Single-specialty groups led the way, with pay of more than $373,000. Government jobs, pharmaceutical roles and urgent care centers brought up the rear on a national basis.