Cardiologists earn an average annual salary of $490,000 in 2022, according to a new analysis from Medscape. That figure represents a 7% increase compared to 2021.
This continues a consistent rise in pay for the specialty—the same report recorded cardiology’s average salary as $459,000 in 2021, $438,000 in 2020 and $430,000 in 2019.
This latest figure puts cardiology’s annual salary at No. 3 among all specialties, with only orthopedics ($557,000) and plastic surgery ($576,000) averaging more per year.
The specialties rounding out the top 10 were urology ($461,000), gastroenterology ($453,000), dermatology ($438,000), radiology ($437,000), ophthalmology ($417,000), oncology ($411,000) and anesthesiology ($405,000).
Compensation increased for all specialties included in the report, an encouraging sign for healthcare providers still feeling the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“After an extremely difficult two years, physicians are seeing a return to more routine patient practice, and their compensation increases are evidence of that,” Leslie Kane, MA, senior director of Medscape Business of Medicine, said in a statement.
The new report also emphasized that just 16% of cardiologists are women, one of the lowest numbers among any specialty. Pediatrics (58%) was the highest specialty, and urology (8%) was the lowest.
Other key takeaways from the report included:
- The average annual salary for all physicians was $339,000. This broke down to averages of $260,000 for primary care providers and $368,000 for specialists.
- Cardiologists averaged an incentive bonus of $85,000 in 2022, No. 3 among all specialties.
- Men are still making significantly more than women in primary care ($285,000 vs. $228,000) and specialties ($402,000 vs. $307,000).
- Breaking these numbers down by state, the five top-earning states in 2022 are Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and Oregon.
- Just 57% of cardiologists feel fairly compensated, putting the specialty in the middle of the pack.
- A high number (88%) of cardiologists said they would choose the same specialty again.
The Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2022 included data from more than 13,000 respondents across dozens of specialties. Answers were collected from October 2021 to January 2022. Click here to read the full report.
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Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.