The distribution of physicians across the United States reveals significant disparities, with California leading the pack at nearly ******* active doctors as of January 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's dominance in the medical field extends beyond overall physician numbers. The state leads 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.

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 122963 physicians. In California, the specialties with the most physicians are psychiatry, emergency medicine, and anaesthesiology. Specialty areas In general, the most common specialty areas for physicians in the U.S. are emergency medicine, psychiatry, surgery, and anaesthesiology. 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.

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

As of January 2025, there were a total of 566,723 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.

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.

As of 2022, the number of licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia amounted to ********* 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.

As of January 2025, California was the U.S. state with the highest number of active specialist physicians, reporting just over 63 thousand specialist doctors. Of the total 567 thousand specialist physicians in the U.S. in total, California accounted for around 11 percent.

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.

Medical Doctors in the United States increased to 2.77 per 1000 people in 2019 from 2.74 per 1000 people in 2018. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Medical Doctors.

The average for 2020 based on 27 countries was 3.56 doctors per 1,000 people. The highest value was in Austria: 5.35 doctors per 1,000 people and the lowest value was in Brazil: 2.05 doctors per 1,000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2021, in some specialties, female primary care physicians (PCPs) were more common than men. Geriatrics and pediatrics were specialties where PCPs were predominantly female in the United States. For instance, two-thirds of PCPs who specialized in pediatrics were women. On the other hand, just 41 percent of PCPs who specialized in internal medicine in the U.S. were female in 2021.

Graph and download economic data for Total Revenue for Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists, Establishments Subject to Federal Income Tax, Employer Firms (REVEF621112TAXABL) from 1998 to 2022 about mental health, physicians, employer firms, accounting, revenue, establishments, tax, services, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Wage and salary workers: Physicians and surgeons occupations: 16 years and over: Women (LEU0254701200A) from 2000 to 2019 about surgeons, physicians, medical, occupation, females, full-time, salaries, workers, 16 years +, wages, employment, and USA.

As of May 2024, the number of primary care physicians in the U.S. amounted to *******. In comparison, there were ******* specialist physicians that year, making a total of over *** million professionally active physicians in the U.S.

The world of pain management has seen substantial progress with the advent of telemedicine. The surge in its acceptance among healthcare professionals transforms traditional care practices by enhancing accessibility and patient engagement. However, keeping up with the rapidly evolving regulations in telemedicine is triggering considerable investment in technology to facilitate a seamless transition. To tackle the rampant opioid crisis, many physicians are now focusing on multidisciplinary holistic pain management strategies instead of individual treatment. The healthcare community is transitioning towards more responsible prescription practices and collaborating with addiction experts, thus respecting stricter guidelines in response to societal needs. Industry-wide revenue has been growing at an average annualized 0.8% over the past five years and is expected to total $44.5 billion in 2024, when revenue will rise by an estimated 0.7%. Adopting patient-centric care, aiming to empower patients and make them active participants in their healthcare journey, is becoming a norm in pain management. It promotes a healthcare system that considers patients' unique needs and shared decision-making processes. This shift transforms patient experiences with an increased focus on patient education, rapport-building and participation. Furthermore, the sector is increasingly integrating digital health tools and AI analytics in practices, paving the way for more individualized treatment plans. There's a robust growth in the investment for interoperable technologies that facilitate a comprehensive understanding of a patient's health. Lastly, the sector is transitioning towards value-based care models, prioritizing overall quality outcomes over conventional fee-for-service systems. Industry revenue is forecast to grow at an annualized 3.2% over the five years through 2029 to total $52.2 billion.

As of January 2025, there were a total of 535,012 primary care physicians (PCPs) active in the United States. Of these, most were in the field of internal medicine. This was followed by PCPs in family medicine/general practice. Despite the aging population, there were only 1,626 active Geriatricians in the United States.

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.

In the United States, there were roughly *** thousand primary care physicians (PCPs) actively working in 2022. Most PCPs were either specialized in family medicine or internal medicine. The ***** most common specialty for primary care physicians in the United States was pediatrics.

Graph and download economic data for Total Revenue for Offices of Physicians, Establishments Subject to Federal Income Tax (REV6211TMSA) from Q1 2009 to Q1 2025 about physicians, revenue, establishments, tax, federal, income, and USA.

This table provides statistics on the Number of Full-Time Equivalent Physicians by Specialty, based on fee-for-service payments under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). This table is an Excel version of a table in the “Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Statistical Supplement” report published annually by Alberta Health.