Minnesota is the top-paying state for four physician specialties when adjusted for cost of living.
Becker’s used the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics salary data, released May 15, to determine the hourly pay rate by state and used 2025 cost-of-living index data from World Population Review to calculate the mean hourly wages adjusted for each state’s cost of living.
Like last year, the highest-paying states for these specialties are concentrated in the Midwest and the South.
Here are the top-paying states for 15 physician specialties, adjusted by cost of living and their adjusted hourly wage:
| Position | State | Hourly pay | Hourly pay, adjusted by cost of living |
| Anesthesiologists | Minnesota | $238.71 | $252.34 |
| Cardiologists | Missouri | $311.57 | $350.08 |
| Dermatologists | Minnesota | $300.86 | $318.03 |
| Emergency medicine physicians | West Virginia | $236.17 | $267.46 |
| Family medicine physicians | Rhode Island | $224.60 | $203.07 |
| General internal medicine physicians | Georgia | $204.55 | $221.14 |
| Neurologists | Minnesota | $183.49 | $193.96 |
| OB-GYNs | North Dakota | $199.07 | $217.80 |
| Ophthalmologists | Iowa | $189.86 | $211.66 |
| Pediatricians | Louisiana | $241.69 | $261.85 |
| Pathologists | West Virginia | $192.34 | $217.83 |
| Podiatrists | Oklahoma | $121.82 | $141.65 |
| Psychiatrists | Louisiana | $165.88 | $179.72 |
| Radiologists | Minnesota | $340.55 | $359.99 |
| Physician, all others | North Dakota | $218.53 | $239.09 |
