The 15 Highest-Paying Medical Jobs of 2024

Jobs in health care fields offer a unique blend of challenges and rewards. A medical school degree is certainly no exception. Within the healthcare field, jobs that require medical school degrees tend to be the most lucrative.

Physicians regularly earn salaries well into the six figures. The high earning potential can help balance the high debt loads for medical school — which can exceed $200,000. Still, the high earning potential is a major attraction for medical jobs, alongside helping patients and advancing the field.

Surgeons have some of the highest salaries of all medical professions. Nevertheless, lower-paying specialties, like pediatrics, still command salaries of $200,000 or more.

Here, we dig into some of the most lucrative professions and specialties that require a medical school degree. Eligible professions include jobs that require graduation from a medical school and passage of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), the board exam to become a licensed physician.

If you want a high-paying medical career, these programs will set you up for success.

A physician’s pay varies slightly based on the state they work in.

States along the East Coast and bordering the Great Lakes pay physicians some of the highest average salaries in the U.S.

In other states, physicians may make slightly less per year. But, the difference isn’t substantial. The most significant factor that impacts pay is often the physician’s specialty or profession.

The healthcare field isn’t immune to pay disparity between men and women.

Doximity and Curative’s 2024 Physician Compensation Report found a 23% gender pay gap between men and women in 2023. While that was down slightly from the 26% gap in 2022, it’s still a significant difference.

Medscape’s 2024 Physician Compensation Report found a 29% difference in pay between men and women.

The Doximity report added that between 2014-2019, men physicians made over $2 million more than women physicians on average over the course of their careers; women earned nearly less than $102,000 on average than their male peers

Some specialties have more equitable pay. However, there are no medical specialties where women earned the same or more than men, on average, according to Doximity and Curative’s report.

Salaries as a whole decreased or stayed flat for physicians in 2022, according to Doximity and Curative. The situation improved in 2023 since many specialties reported positive growth.

It takes about 11-15 years to become a licensed physician. Medical school usually lasts four years, and a residency requires 3-5 years after that.

Surgeons, especially those specializing in brain or heart surgery, are the highest-paid physicians, on average.

Eight of the 20 highest-paying medical jobs were surgeons, according to a 2024 Doximity and Curative report. Surgeons also made up the top five highest-paid physician jobs, with neurosurgeons leading the way with an average salary of $763,908 per year.

There are two primary models physicians use for pay: a fee-for-service model or a value-based care model.

The fee-for-service model is the most common and reimburses physicians for the services and procedures they provide. This model typically involves charging a given price, with insurance companies compensating physicians and practices accordingly for the service. Patients make up the difference or pay the bill entirely if uninsured.

Value-based care rewards physicians and their practices based on the quality and effectiveness of care they provide, along with the overall health of their patient population based on a set of metrics. This model places a larger focus on preventive care and cost-effectiveness.

Primary care physicians earn an average salary of about $175,000-$225,000, depending on their specialty, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These providers generally don’t make as much as other specialists. General internal medicine physicians earn slightly more than family medicine positions. General pediatricians earn less than either primary care specialty.