The states with the most number of active physicians include California, New York, Texas, and Florida. California currently has the most number of active physicians of any U.S. state, with around 125,566 physicians. In California, the specialties with the most physicians are psychiatry, emergency medicine, and anesthesiology. Specialty areas In general, the most common specialty areas for physicians in the U.S. are emergency medicine, psychiatry, surgery, and anesthesiology. As of 2024, there were around 58,900 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 pediatric disciplines, and obstetrics and gynecology. Compensation The specialty areas with the highest average annual compensation are plastic surgery, orthopedics, and cardiology. As of 2024, a physician in orthopedics earned an average of 558,000 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 more than 100,000 dollars more per year than female physicians.

As of May 2024, the total number of professionally active physicians in the United States amounted to 1,109,460 physicians. From a state perspective, California had the most number of active physicians with over 119 thousand physicians, followed by New York. On the other hand, with just 1,245 physicians, Wyoming had the least number of active physicians in the United States.

As of May 2024, the states with the highest number of active primary care physicians (PCPs) were California, New York, and Texas. As of that time, of the 527,164 PCPs in the United States, over 11 percent were in the state of California. Physicians by specialty In the United States, the specialties with the highest number of active physicians include psychiatry, surgery, and anesthesiology. The most popular physician specialties in the state of California mirror this national trend. In 2024, California had over 7,890 psychiatrists and 5,620 surgeons. Physician burn-out Although being a physician can be a rewarding and lucrative profession, physicians often feel stressed and burned-out. In 2024, a survey of physicians in the U.S. found that 56 percent of female and 44 percent of male physicians felt burned out. The specialty that was most likely to express feeling burned out was by far emergency medicine.

As of January 2024, California was the U.S. state with the highest number of active specialist physicians, reporting just under 62.3 thousand specialist doctors. Of the total 577 thousand specialist physicians in the U.S. in total, California accounted for nearly 11 percent.

As of May 2024, the number of female physicians in U.S. amounted to 424,536. That year, California had the highest number of female physicians in the country, with roughly 49,775 female physicians.

As of September 2024, there were a total of 566,404 specialty physicians active in the United States. Of these, most were specialized in emergency medicine. Physician compensation Significant pay variations exist across specialties and regions, with orthopedic doctors and surgeons command the highest average annual salaries at 558,000 U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the West North Central area offers the highest average physician compensation at 404,000 U.S. dollars annually. This region's higher pay likely stems from lower physician density in rural areas, creating less competition. Interestingly, doctors in Northeastern and Southwestern parts of the United States tend to earn less than their counterparts in other regions. Burnout among physicians Despite high salaries, U.S. physicians face high workload and stress in the workplace. Nearly half of surveyed doctors reported feeling burnout, with higher burnout rates among female doctors, younger physicians, and those in primary care compared to their counterparts. More effort to combat burnout is needed in the healthcare system. Increasing compensation was cited by physicians as the top measure to alleviate burnout, followed by adding support staff and offering more flexible schedules.

This statistic shows the total number of doctors of medicine in the United States from 1949 to 2015. In 1949, there were 201,277 doctors of medicine in the United States. Some 50 years later, the number was around four times as high. In 2015, the exact number of doctors of medicine was 1,085,783.

The number of male physicians outnumber 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.

As of 2019, the south Indian state of Kerala had the highest density of doctors of about 42 per ten thousand population in the country. However, Jharkhand had the least density of doctors in the country of about four doctors per ten thousand people in the state.

As of 2022, the number of licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia amounted to 1,044,734 physicians. This included both Doctors of Medicine and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine. The number of licensed U.S. physicians has been steadily increasing since 2010.

This statistic shows the number of employed doctors in Germany from 2019 to 2023, based on state medical associations. In 2023, 70,616 doctors were employed and part of the state medical association in Bavaria.

In 2019, there were around 73 active physicians per 10,000 civilians in the District of Columbia, followed by the state of Massachusetts with around 48 active physicians per 10,000 civilians. This statistic shows the top 10 U.S. states by number of active physicians per 10,000 civilian population in 2019.

In 2022, there were more than 584 thousand doctors registered in Brazil. That year, São Paulo ranked as the state with the highest amount of doctors in the South American country, with approximately 163.4 thousand medical licenses registered. Meanwhile, the number of physicians licensed in Roraima amounted to around one thousand professionals as of 2022.

The statistic displays the number of active physicians in the United States that were practicing in the same state where they graduated medical education in 2021, based on specialty. There were approximately 2,509 active physicians specializing in pain medicine and pain management who were practicing in the same state where they received their medical education. The largest number of active physicians are among primary care specialties such as internal medicine and general practice.

In 2015, there were approximately 827,260 active doctors of medicine in patient care in the United States. This is a substantial increase from 287,840 active doctors in patient care in the year 1975. The number of physicians in the U.S. differs by state and region and compensation varies depending on multiple factors.

Physicians by state

The states with the highest number of active physicians include California, New York, Texas, and Florida. In 2019, there were around 112,900 active physicians in the state of California. However, the states with the highest number of physicians in patient care per 10,000 population include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Maryland.

Physician compensation

Physicians are known to be well paid, but annual compensation depends on the specialty and location, among other factors. The physician specialties with the highest annual compensation are orthopedics, plastic surgery, and otolaryngology. The states in which physicians can be expected to earn the highest annual compensation are Oklahoma, Alabama, and Nevada, with the average annual compensation for physicians in Oklahoma around 337,000 dollars.

In 2022, roughly three in ten surveyed physicians worked in medical practices that were fewer than five physicians in size. Another two in ten physicians were in practices of five to ten physicians, while 18.3 percent were in practices with 50 or more physicians. On the other hand, one in ten physicians surveyed were directly employed or contracted by a hospital.

U.S. physicians

The number of active doctors of medicine in the U.S. has increased dramatically in the past 50 years. Currently there are over a million active doctors in the United States. Among all U.S. states, California, followed by New York, was the state with the highest number of active physicians. It is estimated that there will be a deficit of over 121 thousand physicians by 2030.

Medical practices

Many sources indicate that physicians are moving away from private practice and into practices owned by hospitals or medical groups. In 2022, a minority of physicians were practice owners, partners or associates and over half of physicians were employed by someone else. In the same year, a majority of U.S. physicians said that they are at full capacity or overworked within their practices while only one fifth of physicians indicated that they had time to see more patients.

In 2022, Brazil had approximately 11.2 thousand specialized physicians licensed to practice family and community medicine, of which 2,115 were registered in São Paulo and 1,503 family doctors in Minas Gerais. Other states with relatively high amounts of family and community physicians within the country included Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina.

As of May 2024, there were a total of 12,277 active specialty physicians in the state of Washington. This included some 1,113 psychiatrists and 517 oncologists.

In 2022, there were approximately 584 thousand licensed doctors registered in Brazil. By type, around 62 percent, equivalent to 364.11 thousand doctors, were specialist physicians, while about 220 thousand professionals were generalist practitioners. That year, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais were the Brazilian states with the highest number of doctors registered in the country, including generalists and specialists.

In the United States, there were roughly 268 thousand primary care physicians (PCPs) actively working in 2021. Most PCPs were either specialized in family medicine or internal medicine. The third most common specialty for primary care physicians in the United States was pediatrics.