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States Where Doctors Earn the Most (and Least)<br>
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Medical doctors consistently rank among the highest compensated
professions in the country. In every state, an average primary care
physician earns at least $166,000 more than the average salary
across all occupations. However, how much doctors earn varies
greatly depending on location and specialty.<br>
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The average primary care physician’s annual salary ranges from
roughly $205,000 in West Virginia to $330,000 in Alaska. In order to
determine the states where doctors earn the highest and lowest
salaries, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2014 and 2015 salary data provided
by Doximity, an online social networking service for U.S. doctors.<br>
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While health insurance coverage and health care spending per capita
varies widely across states, such factors do not appear to bear a
strong relationship with doctors’ salaries. Rather, basic economic
forces largely determine doctor salaries in each state.<br>
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Click here to see the states where doctors earn the most (and
least). <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/hmhdt8j">http://tinyurl.com/hmhdt8j</a> <br>
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In keeping with the laws of supply and demand, doctor salaries tend
to be higher where there are fewer doctors. There are roughly 127
primary care physicians for every 100,000 Americans nationwide. In
all but three of the 25 states where doctors earn the most, there
are fewer primary care physicians per capita than there are
nationwide. Conversely, there are more primary care physicians per
capita than there are nationwide in a majority of the states on the
lower end of the doctor pay scale.<br>
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In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Joel Davis, a spokesperson for
Doximity, explained that the physical location and desirability of a
state as a place to live can also play a role in a physician’s pay.
Pay needs to be higher in order to “get physicians to take a job in
Alaska, for instance, as compared to getting somebody to take a job
in … New York or California or [another] coastal state,” said Davis.
Indeed, 19 of the states where primary care physicians earn the
lowest salaries are coastal states, while the majority of states
with doctors earning the highest average salaries have no oceanic or
great lake coastline.<br>
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The presence of medical schools in a given state can increase the
number of doctors, and consequently, affect the average doctor’s
salary, Davis explained. “States with more medical schools tend to
produce more doctors, and there’s a higher propensity for those
doctors to stay in state.” To be sure, 18 of the 25 highest paying
states for doctors are home to schools enrolling fewer medical
students per capita than the national enrollment ratio. In West
Virginia, the state with the lowest average pay for primary care
physicians, there are 84 medical students for every 100,000
residents, the largest share in the country and more than double the
corresponding national figure.<br>
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Along with geography, specialty also plays a considerable role in
pay disparity among medical doctors. On average, specialists earn
higher salaries than primary care physicians in every state.
“Somebody who specializes has a greater degree of knowledge and
skill … within a specific subdomain,” Davis said. Perhaps as a
result, there are “fewer of them and they get paid more to do what
they do.” Incomes still vary greatly among these higher paid
positions. While the average pediatric endocrinologist earns roughly
$185,000 annually, for example, neuro and thoracic surgeons each
earn average salaries of well over half a million dollars.<br>
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In order to determine the states paying doctors the most and least,
24/7 Wall St. reviewed physician pay data from Doximity, an online
social networking service for U.S. physicians. Doximity compiled
doctor pay data from surveys of more than 35,000 doctors across the
U.S. in 49 different specialties in 2014 and 2015. Average pay by
state across all occupations came from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) for the most recent available year. We also
considered medical school enrollment data by state from the
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The number of
primary care physicians per capita came from the Health Resources
and Services Administration. Rates of insurance coverage were
provided by County Health Rankings.<br>
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<font size="+1"><b>35. Idaho</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Avg. doctor salary: $246,000</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Avg. medical specialist salary: $429,000</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Avg. salary for all occupations: $39,770</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Primary care physicians (per 100,000 residents): 81.5
(the lowest)</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Health care spending per capita: $5,658 (4th lowest)</b><b><br>
</b><b>> Uninsured rate: 18.8% (14th highest)</b><br>
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<br>
Ken<br>
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