Cardiologists earn the highest average salary in all of healthcare
Cardiologists have the highest average salary in healthcare, according to a new analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The report, published in Forbes, focused on jobs under the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations category. Overall, cardiologists came out on top with an average salary of $353,970. The average hourly wage for a cardiologist, meanwhile, was $170.18.
Anesthesiologists ($331,190), oral and maxillofacial surgeons ($311,460), emergency medicine physicians ($310,640) and orthopedic surgeons, excluding pediatric ($306,220) rounded out the top 5.
The average salary for radiologists, meanwhile, was $301,720, No. 7 on the Forbes list. Read more on the radiologist perspective here.
“There are some interesting trends when it comes to the highest paying medical jobs,” according to the report’s author, Andrew DePietro. “For example, different industries have varying average pay for medical occupations compared to the industries that employ the most of certain medical occupations. So, when it comes to cardiologists, the industry that employs them the most is, not surprisingly, offices of physicians, which employs approximately 14,450 cardiologists. However, the industry in which cardiologists earn the most money is actually outpatient care centers, where the average cardiologist salary is $366,520—more than $10,000 more per year than the average for cardiologists overall.”
Previous reports on cardiologist salaries
The BLS salary figures are noticeably lower than some of the other reports that have explored this topic. The 2022 Cardiovascular Business Salary and Job Satisfaction Report, for instance, found that the specialty’s average annual salary was $434,000. A recent report from Medscape, meanwhile, concluded that cardiologists average $490,000, good for No. 3 among all specialties.
In May, James Taylor, group president and CEO of the leadership solutions division at recruiting firm AMN Healthcare, told Cardiovascular Business that demand—and, yes, compensation—for cardiologists should only go up as time goes on.
“Demand is very likely to increase,” he said at the time. “The prevalence of heart failure in the United States is projected to increase by 46% from 2012 to 2030, and more than 70% of all U.S. adults smoke, drink excessively, get insufficient sleep or don’t engage in enough physical activity. Meanwhile, a wave of retirements is expected to hit cardiology at the same time that the patient population is getting older. This will all put upward pressure on salaries and other incentives in cardiology for the foreseeable future.”
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.