Cardiology had the highest growth in pay with a 10% increase over last year, Medscape’s Physician Compensation report found.
Medscape surveyed 5,916 physicians across more than 29 specialties between Sept. 5 and Dec. 17, 2025. “‘A Return to Normalization’: Physician Compensation Report 2026” also used data from the 2024 survey for these specialties: allergy and immunology, critical care, infectious disease, nephrology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, public health and preventive medicine, pulmonary medicine and rheumatology.
Out of 29 specialties, two saw no change in pay and 20 had at least a 1% increase. In 2025, cardiology and ophthalmology both saw a 4% decrease in pay, but top the charts this year in pay growth.
Here are the specialties ranked by pay increase:
- Cardiology: +10%
- Ophthalmology: +9%
- Radiology: +9%
- Emergency medicine: +8%
- Anesthesiology: +8%
- Orthopedics and orthopedic surgery: +8%
- Urology: +6%
- Otolaryngology: +5%
- OB-GYN: +5%
- Internal medicine: +5%
- Diabetes and endocrinology: +4%
- Gastroenterology: +3%
- Neurology: +3%
- Public health and preventive medicine: +3%
- Family medicine: +2%
- Critical care: +2%
- Plastic surgery: +2%
- Infectious diseases: +2%
- General surgery: +2%
- Pathology: +1%
- Pediatrics: 0%
- Rheumatology: 0%
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