Despite having had higher pay growth than all other physician specialties in 2025, cardiology is only growing 4% per year and is projected to see a 15% shortage by 2038.
Becker’s gathered data from Medscape’s Physician Compensation Report 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis to examine how pay, workforce projections and shortages are affecting cardiology.
Here are four findings to know:
1. Cardiology pay grew by 10% in 2025, ranking second to orthopedics in total compensation at $575,000.
2. Yet, cardiology is among the slowest-growing specialties at 4% per year. Health system executives told Becker’s that noninvasive cardiologists and electrophysiologists are among the hardest positions to fill.
3. A similar trajectory bodes for related heart specialties. Thoracic surgery faces a 27% projected shortage by 2039 — one of the deepest of any specialty — despite above-average compensation. Vascular surgery faces the single largest projected shortage at 34%, with supply projected to meet only 66% of demand by 2038.
4. Across all physician specialties, the U.S. faces a projected shortage of more than 141,000 full-time equivalent physicians by 2038, per the Health Resources and Services Administration. Cardiology is one of 30 specialties expected to fall short of demand. The broader picture is one of workforce mismatch: healthcare overall is the fastest-growing industry sector in the BLS projections, expected to add jobs at 8.4% through 2034 — but physician specialties are seeing a growth rate of 3%-6%. Overall, physician pay rose 3% in 2025.
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