Gender pay gaps continue to widen between male and female physicians, and physicians by race, Medscape’s Physician Compensation report found.
Medscape surveyed 5,916 physicians across more than 29 specialties between Sept. 5 and Dec. 17, 2025. “‘A Return to Normalization’: Physician Compensation Report 2026” also used data from the 2024 survey for these specialties: allergy and immunology, critical care, infectious disease, nephrology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, public health and preventive medicine, pulmonary medicine and rheumatology.
The survey found that the gender pay gap has widened since 2023, going from men making $91,000 more per year than women to $102,000 more per year in 2025. This means men make about 31% per year more than women physicians. This gap is more pronounced among specialists, which has an average of $118,000 gap per year between men and women.
Gender pay in 2025
All physicians:
- Men: $429,000
- Women: $327,000
- Gap: $102,000
Primary care physicians:
- Men: $317,000
- Women: $277,000
- Gap: $40,000
Specialists:
- Men: $465,000
- Women: $347,000
- Gap: $118,000
There are also substantial pay gaps based on race. White physicians make about $8,000 more than Asian Americans, the next highest paid group and $49,000 more than Black physicians, the lowest paid group.
Over a two-year period, white physicians surveyed reported 6.1% higher total compensation on average, compared to 6% for Asian American physicians, 3.5% for Hispanic/Latinx physicians and 2.9% for Black physicians.
Pay by Race/Ethnicity in 2025
Total compensation:
- White: $391,000
- Asian American: $383,000
- Hispanic/Latinx: $361,000
- Black: $342,000
Average incentive bonus:
- White: $51,000
- Asian American: $47,000
- Hispanic/Latinx: $43,000
- Black: $32,000
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