Leading U.S. states based on the total number of active physicians 2021

The states with the most active physicians include California, New York, Texas, and Florida. California currently has the most active physicians of any U.S. state, with around 115,347 physicians. In California, the specialty areas with the most physicians are psychiatry, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine.

Specialty areas

In general, the most common specialty areas for physicians in the U.S. are psychiatry, surgery, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine. As of 2020, there were around 55,600 psychiatrists in the U.S. Concerning the gender distribution of specialty physicians, males out number females in almost every specialty, with exceptions found in mainly in various paediatric disciplines, and obstetrics and gynecology.

Compensation

The specialty areas with the highest average annual compensation are orthopedics, plastic surgery, and otolaryngology. As of 2020, a physician in orthopedics earned an average of 511,000 U.S. dollars per year. Male physicians still earn more than their female counterparts in both primary care and specialty settings. This difference is especially large in specialty settings where male physicians earn around 89,000 dollars more per year than female physicians.