Cardiologist compensation hits an all-time high
Cardiologist compensation in the United States has hit an all-time high, according to a new survey from MedAxiom, an American College of Cardiology company.
The 2025 Cardiovascular Provider Compensation & Production Survey includes responses from nearly 7,000 physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) representing a total of 232 different cardiovascular programs. While 85% of participating providers work in cardiology, 10% work in cardiac surgery and the final 5% work in vascular surgery. All numbers in the report represent 2024 data.
Cardiology compensation keeps climbing
For all full-time cardiologists included in the survey, the median compensation was $695,000. This is the highest that figure has ever been, according to MedAxiom.
For integrated cardiologists, the median total compensation per full-time cardiologist was $701,000 in 2024, up 4.7% compared to 2023. For private cardiologists, however, median compensation was $588,000 in 2024, down 4.6% compared to 2023. The 16% gap between integrated cardiologists and those in private practices is the largest difference between the two groups in more than five years.
All subspecialties within cardiology experienced an increase in pay in 2024 compared to 2023. Median total compensation was $798,000 for electrophysiologists, $774,000 for invasive cardiologists, $750,000 for interventional cardiologists, $651,000 for advanced heart failure cardiologists and $650,000 for general/non-invasive cardiologists. The biggest shift compared to 2023 was the fact that electrophysiologists leapfrogged over invasive cardiologists; electrophysiologists now earn the highest median total compensation in all of cardiology.
One key takeaway from the survey is the fact that cardiologists in private practices take home less than cardiologists at integrated practices—with one exception. The median total compensation among invasive cardiologists in private practices was $826,000 in 2024, 7.8% higher than it was for invasive cardiologists in integrated practices.
MedAxiom did urge caution with these data, however, due to the relatively low number of invasive cardiologists who submitted survey responses.
Other key takeaways
- There was a slight decrease in median work RVUs (wRVUs) among full-time cardiologists.
- Median total compensation increased slightly for cardiac surgeons, climbing from $928,000 in 2023 to $942,000 in 2024. On the other hand, wRVUs for cardiac surgeons decreased by a small amount.
- Cardiology APPs saw their median total compensation increase from 2023 to 2024. This was true for those in integrated practices and private practices. Median wRVUs also increased for cardiology APPs.
- APPs are being used more and more to help practices combat the ongoing cardiologist shortage. The APP-to-physician ratio in cardiology is now 0.75.
- While 91% of general/noninvasive cardiologists interpret echocardiograms, 73% read nuclear SPECT, 22% read cardiac PET, 22% read cardiac CT and just 8% read cardiac MRI.
- Cath lab and PCI volumes were down in 2024 compared to 2023, but electrophysiology volumes appear to be on the rise.
View the full MedAxiom report here. Read about the previous version of this report here.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.