As of 2018, the largest distribution of U.S. physicians was between the ages of 55 and 65 years old. At that time about ** percent of physicians fell within this age group. With just **** percent of all physicians, the smallest distribution of U.S. physicians was among those aged 35 years or younger. Data suggests that in the U.S. the average age of medical students is around 24 years old and the average age of matriculants is about **.

U.S. Physician demographics  

It is estimated that one of the best ways to combat aging population health needs is to increase the number of doctors practicing in the U.S. In general, the number of physicians in the U.S. has been on the rise. Every year about 20 thousand new physicians join the U.S. workforce. Despite an increase in the number of physicians the number of active physicians per 10,000 people has remained relatively stagnant in recent years. As of 2019, the specialty with the largest number of physicians was psychiatry, followed by surgery.

Physician compensation  

Physician compensation varies significantly between regions and genders. With graduates owing an average of ******* U.S. dollars in student loans upon graduation, equal compensation has become especially important. However, women in the medical industry make significantly less income than their male counterparts. As of 2019, female physicians earned between ** and ** thousand U.S. dollars less than male physicians. Regionally, there are also significant differences. As of 2018, physicians working in the North Central U.S. had higher annual compensation than those in other areas. Those working in the Northeast had the lowest annual compensation.

As of 2023, roughly one in 15 active physicians in the United States were Hispanic (regardless of race). Asians were overrepresented, accounting for nearly one in 5 physicians in the U.S., while Asians made up just 6.3 percent of the total U.S. population.

Health professionals, especially primary care physicians, are in high demand in many parts of the U.S. Some areas are experiencing health professional shortages. This map shows the ratio of population to primary care physicians in the U.S. Areas in dark red show where there are less primary care physicians per person.The data comes from County Health Rankings, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measure the health of nearly all counties in the nation and rank them within states. The layer used in the map comes from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the full documentation for the layer can be found here.County data are suppressed if, for both years of available data, the population reported by agencies is less than 50% of the population reported in Census or less than 80% of agencies measuring crimes reported data.

Introduction

Male and Female Doctors Statistics: Doctors play an essential role in the medical industry. Male and female doctors play critical roles in providing different healthcare services in medicine.

Historically, men have significantly dominated the medical profession. However, there has been a considerable growth in the number of female doctors over the years, as more women seek professions in medicine.

The distribution of male and female doctors across different specializations and geographic locations can vary significantly.

Key factors such as personal preferences, cultural norms, work-life balance considerations, etc., may influence the choices made by male and female doctors regarding their work environment as well as location.

As of 2022, the number of licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia amounted to 1,062,460 physicians. At the time, the national population was roughly 333 million, which yielded a physician-to-population ratio of 313 licensed physicians per 100,000 population. The density of licensed U.S. physicians has steadily increased since 2010.

This table contains 267456 series, with data for years 2000 - 2000 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (199 items: Canada; Health and Community Services Eastern Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group D); Health and Community Services St. John's Region; Newfoundland and Labrador (Peer group H); Newfoundland and Labrador ...) Age group (14 items: Total; 12 years and over; 12-19 years; 15-19 years; 12-14 years ...) Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...) Contact with medical doctors (4 items: Total population for the variable contact with medical doctors; Contact with medical doctors in past 12 months; Contact with medical doctors; not stated; No contact with medical doctors in past 12 months ...) Characteristics (8 items: Number of persons; Low 95% confidence interval - number of persons; High 95% confidence interval - number of persons; Coefficient of variation for number of persons ...).

Forecast: Population Per Medical Doctors Graduates in France 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

The number of male physicians outnumbers female physicians in the U.S. in most specialties. The only major exceptions are found in pediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, although female physicians do slightly outnumber males in a few other specialties. As of 2021, there were around 68,400 male family medicine/general practice physicians compared to 50,000 women in this specialty. Physicians in the U.S. Both the number of doctors and rate of doctors in the U.S. have increased over the years. As of 2021, there were around 946,800 active doctors of medicine in the U.S. This was around 29.9 physicians per 10,000 civilian population. In 1995, this rate stood at 24.2 physicians per 10,000 population. Physicians by state The states with the highest overall number of active physicians are California, New York, Texas, and Florida. However, the states with the highest rate of physicians per 10,000 civilian population include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland. The District of Columbia has the highest rate of physicians by a large margin, with around 74.6 physicians per 10,000 population. The state with the highest annual compensation for physicians is Oklahoma, where physicians earn an annual average of 337,000 dollars.

Number of doctors per 10,000 population Source: Doctors - Boards and Councils Office, Department of Health Population - Demographic Statistics Section (1), Census and Statistics Department

Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.022 Ratio in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.030 Ratio for 2012. Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.040 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.055 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 0.008 Ratio in 2010. Tanzania TZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tanzania – Table TZ.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Forecast: Population Per Medical Doctors Graduates in Germany 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Demographics of participant physicians.

Forecast: Population Per Medical Doctors Graduates in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 4.518 Ratio in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.459 Ratio for 2020. Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 3.487 Ratio from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2021, with 31 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.518 Ratio in 2021 and a record low of 2.762 Ratio in 1991. Germany DE: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Germany – Table DE.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

The number of physicians across the United States reveals significant variations, with California leading the pack at nearly ******* active doctors as of April 2025. This concentration of medical professionals in populous states highlights the ongoing challenge of ensuring adequate healthcare access nationwide. The stark contrast between California's physician count and Wyoming's mere ***** doctors underscores the need for targeted efforts to address healthcare workforce shortages in less populated areas. Primary care and specialist distribution California leads also in both primary care physicians and specialists, accounting for over ** percent of each category nationally. This concentration of medical expertise in California reflects broader trends, with New York and Texas following as the states with the highest numbers of active primary care physicians. The distribution of specialists also mirrors national patterns, with psychiatry, surgery, and anaesthesiology among the most common specialties. Physician burnout While the number of physicians continues to grow, physician burnout remains a significant issue. There are large variations in rates of burnout depending on a physician's gender and specialty. For example, burnout is disproportionally high among women, affecting ** percent of female physicians and ** percent of male physicians. Meanwhile, emergency medicine physicians reported the highest levels of burnout among specialists, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to support the individual needs of doctors depending on their different circumstances.

Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.254 Ratio in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.212 Ratio for 2019. Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.186 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2020, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.298 Ratio in 2014 and a record low of 0.035 Ratio in 1960. Afghanistan Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Comprehensive demographic dataset for Doctors Inlet, Middleburg, FL, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

Cambodia KH: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.214 Ratio in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.194 Ratio for 2014. Cambodia KH: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.147 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2019, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.243 Ratio in 2008 and a record low of 0.028 Ratio in 1960. Cambodia KH: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Cambodia – Table KH.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Yemen YE: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.311 Ratio in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.310 Ratio for 2009. Yemen YE: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.219 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.338 Ratio in 2004 and a record low of 0.007 Ratio in 1990. Yemen YE: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Yemen – Table YE.World Bank: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.; ; World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.; Weighted average;

Algeria DZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data was reported at 0.987 Ratio in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.732 Ratio for 2018. Algeria DZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 0.894 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2019, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.842 Ratio in 2016 and a record low of 0.116 Ratio in 1965. Algeria DZ: Physicians: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Algeria – Table DZ.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Physicians include generalist and specialist medical practitioners.;World Health Organization's Global Health Workforce Statistics, OECD, supplemented by country data.;Weighted average;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.c.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].