Physician compensation varies widely between specialty and region as well as by sex and race.
The following 40 statistics provide a view of the current compensation landscape in healthcare.
Average starting salary
Source: Merritt Hawkins' "2016 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives" report
1. Family medicine physicians — $225,000
2. Psychiatrists — $250,000
3. Internal medicine physicians — $237,000
4. Hospitalists — $249,000
5. Nurse practitioners — $117,000
Primary care physician compensation
Source: Medical Group Management Association's "Physician Compensation and Production Survey"
6. Median primary care physician compensation was more than $250,000 in 2015, up 4 percent from 2014.
7. Over the past five years, primary care compensation has increased by 18 percent.
8. Primary care physicians in Arkansas, Alaska and Wisconsin earned the highest salaries in 2015.
9. Primary care physicians in Maine, Maryland and Nevada earned the least in 2015.
Specialty care physician compensation
Source: Medical Group Management Association's "Physician Compensation and Production Survey"
10. Median specialist compensation was about $425,000 in 2015, up 3 percent from 2014.
11. Specialist compensation has increased by about 11 percent over the past five years.
12. Specialty care physicians in Nebraska, Nevada and Wisconsin earned the highest total compensation in 2015.
13. Specialty care physicians in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wyoming earned the lowest compensation in 2015.
14. Surgeons earned the highest total compensation in 2015, with pediatric cardiovascular and neurological surgery, Mohs surgery, orthopedic spinal surgery and neurological surgery ranking among the five highest compensated specialties last year.
Female physician compensation
Source: "Medscape Female Physician Compensation Report 2016"
15. Female primary care physicians earn an average of $192,000 per year.
16. Female specialists earn an average of $242,000 per year.
17. Female radiologists earn an average of $342,000 per year.
18. Female cardiologists earn an average of $339,000 annually.
19. Female dermatologists earn $335,000, on average, per year.
20. Female anesthesiologists earn $317,000, on average, annually.
21. Female gastroenterologists earn an average of $303,000 per year.
22. Female oncologists earn $285,000, on average, per year.
23. Female emergency medicine physicians earn an average of $279,000 annually.
24. Female general surgeons earn $257,000, on average, annually.
25. Female obstetricians/gynecologists earn an average of $256,000 per year.
26. Female pathologists earn $256,000, on average, per year.
27. Female ophthalmologists earn an average of $242,000 annually.
28. Female neurologists earn $214,000, on average, per year.
29. Female psychiatrists earn an average of $205,000 per year.
30. Female internists earn $202,000, on average, annually.
31. Female HIV/Infectious disease physicians earn an average of $200,000 per year.
32. Female endocrinologists earn $189,000, on average, annually.
33. Female family medicine physicians earn an average of $183,000 per year.
34. Female pediatricians earn $182,000, on average, per year.
Source: "Differences in incomes of physicians in the United States by race and sex: observational study" published in BMJ.
35. Black female physicians earn a mean annual income of $166,833.
36. White female physicians earn a mean annual income of $174,106.
Male physicians
37. Male primary care physicians earn an average of $225,000 per year, according to the Medscape report.
38. Male specialists earn an average of $324,000 per year, according to Medscape.
39. Black male physicians' mean annual income is $210,000, according to the BMJ study.
40. White male physicians' mean annual income is $255,383, according to the BMJ study.