Cardiologist compensation still rising—pay bumps also seen in thoracic and vascular surgery
Cardiologists remain some of healthcare’s top earners, according to a new report from Doximity. Thoracic and vascular surgeons take home top 10 salaries as well, highlighting the unmistakable value employers see in cardiovascular physicians.
Doximity’s Physician Compensation Report 2026 included data from nearly 23,000 surveys completed by U.S. physicians in 2025. Each survey was completed by a full-time physician based in the United States.
New compensation data for cardiology, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery
The average compensation for cardiology is $604,635 per year, which represents a 2.9% increase compared to 2025’s version of the same report. That lands cardiology at No. 9 among all healthcare specialties.
Thoracic surgery, meanwhile, comes in at No. 2 among all specialties. Its average compensation is $749,707, up 8.6% compared to 2025.
And vascular surgery comes in at No. 10 with an average compensation of $600,520. That is an increase of 4.2% from one year to the next.
Overall, the average compensation for U.S. physicians increased 2%. That puts cardiology, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery all ahead of the curve in terms of year-over-year growth.
Metro areas with the highest and lowest annual compensation
According to Doximity, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Sacramento, California, are the two metro areas with the highest average compensation. Physicians in those cities average $495,617 and $484,817, respectively, each year.
The two metro areas with the lowest average compensation are Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and San Antonio, Texas. The average earnings in those cities are $381,414 and $384,329, respectively.
When adjusting for the cost of living, Oklahoma City remains the metro area with the highest average compensation. The metro area with the lowest average compensation, on the other hand, shifts from Durham-Chapel Hill to Boston, Massachusetts.
The gender pay gap is not shrinking
Another important point highlighted in the new report is the fact that the gender pay gap for U.S. physicians remains a significant issue. On average, men now earn $122,276 more than women for comparable roles—and that’s after Doximity has made adjustments based on such factors as practice location and years of experience.
“The persistence of the gender pay gap in 2025 may in part stem from the higher growth seen in surgical specialties that tend to be dominated by men,” according to the report. “An analysis of Doximity physician compensation data from 2014-2019 estimated that, on average, men make over $2 million more than women over the course of a 40-year career.”
On a related note, thoracic surgery has the single greatest gender gap of any specialty. Pediatric cardiology has the smallest gender pay gap.
AI growing more and more popular among physicians
Yet another key takeaway from the Doximity report is just how many U.S. physicians are actively using artificial intelligence (AI) on a regular basis. In fact, 81% of physicians under the age of 30 are using AI at least weekly. Even among physicians 70 years old and older, nearly 60% are using these advanced algorithms regularly as part of patient care. And 23% of physicians think AI could help increase their compensation in the next year.
“Physicians go into medicine because they’re passionate about helping people,” Amit Phull, MD, chief medical officer at Doximity, said in a statement. “Then the job compromises that mission. Admin burden. Extreme hours. A system that doesn’t feel built for them anymore. So it’s no surprise they're looking at AI as leverage, not a threat.
And how does AI impact productivity expectations? While 20% of physicians think AI has resulted in higher expectations, 11% said it has resulted in lower expectations. Another 42% believe expectations have not changed yet, but it represents a concern going forward.
The ongoing physician shortage continues
A whopping 85% of physicians responding to this survey have been impacted by the ongoing physician shortage. The good news is that fewer physicians are experiencing feelings of burnout or thinking about leaving clinical practice than in prior years.
Click here for the full report. Read up on previous versions of this report here and 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.