US vs UK Doctors Salary – Detailed Comparison

Overall, across all states and medical specialities, the mean salary of a doctor in the United States is $294,000/year (Medscape Report).

Unfortunately, specific US doctors’ salaries are not publicly available like UK doctor salaries are.

However, using the resources available online I have compiled an estimate of what the average doctor in the US expects to earn.

Brief Explanation of US Training Pathway

In the US, after graduating from medical school you apply for a residency post.

The first year of residency is called your “intern” year. After this, for the rest of your training, you are simply called a resident.

Residents are often referred to in terms of how many years it has been since they graduated. This is measured in “PGY” (Post-graduate year).

A PGY-2 doctor means they have been a doctor for two years.

After 3-7 years of residency, you can become an attending, the highest post of a doctor in the US (equivalent to a consultant in the UK).

Before becoming an attending, some doctors decide to undergo one or two years to further sub-specialise which is called a “fellowship”.

Intern and Residency Salaries

The first year of residency is called the internship year.

Typically, the average intern earns $55,200 while a resident earns $61,200.

The main variable is the geographic location. For example, a Cleveland, Ohio based resident might earn $59K while a New York resident might earn $71K.

Salary tends to rise by a few thousand dollars each year through residency.

Most programs tend to be either 3-4 years long, but if you were to do a fellowship after residency training, your last year of training would be a ‘PGY-6’ year (postgraduate year 6) during which your pay would continue to increase, up to $80K+.

The below table is taken from the Medscape Residents Salary & Debt Report 2019. It shows the average salary that a resident can expect to earn at each year of their training.

Residency Average Salary US

Attending Salary

Specialist doctors (e.g. neurologists, cardiologist) earn an average of $346,000.

Those that were employed earned an average of $297K while self-employed earned an average of $357K.

Below are the salaries of each speciality taken from the Physician Compensation Report 2020.

As you can see, the top-paying specialities are more than doubling the bottom paying specialities.

Most also have an “incentive bonus” of $26,000 which is paid on top of the salary.

An incentive bonus is something which they get paid if certain targets are met.

An example of a target would be noting down the blood pressure of every patient with a heart condition.

The incentives that are offered range from an average of $96K in orthopaedics to $24K for family medicine doctors.

Below are the incentive bonuses offered for each speciality, also taken from the Physician Compensation Report 2020.

Family Doctor (GP) Salary

Family care doctors earn an average of $234,000, $60,000 less than the average salary across the country.

In most reports, family medicine doctors tend to be the lowest paid.

Does the State You Work in Matter?

Certain states pay better than others. They are not all built the same. 

It tends to be the states which are the most competitive get paid the least. This is because they don’t need any incentive to invite people to work in that state.

Here is a list of the top-earning states:

• Kentucky ($346K)
• Tennesse ($338K)
• Florida ($333K)

Summary of US Doctors Salary

Here is a summary of what doctors in the US earn.

US Doctors Salary Summary

See this article from LibertyMedics for more detail on US doctors salaries.