Recruiting an ophthalmologist.

What does an ophthalmologist earn?

Ranked among the states and the District of Columbia where BLS publishes both the mean wage and the employment figure; 23 of the 51 are left out because BLS withholds or top-codes a figure or has no row. The ophthalmology salary page has every state, the metro areas and BLS’s caveats.

Ophthalmologists other than pediatric ones have a BLS mean of $304,650 (BLS, May 2025 release) a year and a median of $300,080 (BLS, May 2025 release), across about 8,950 (BLS, May 2025 release) on payrolls. Practice owners who are not incorporated fall outside the survey.

Offers combine a salary for the first years with a production bonus based on collections, and partnership brings a share of optical, surgery center and drug revenue. Retina specialists' production depends heavily on injectable drugs, which candidates ask about directly.

Where do ophthalmologists look for jobs?

Where new hires come from

New hires come from residency or after a fellowship

Who employs them

Independent ophthalmology practices, investor-backed eye care platforms, practices that combine optometrists and ophthalmologists, academic centers and multispecialty groups.

Who you compete with for candidates

Platforms offering equity and support staff, practices with their own surgery centers, and academic centers for subspecialists.

Comprehensive ophthalmologists can enter practice after residency, while retina, glaucoma, cornea, oculoplastic and pediatric ophthalmologists add a fellowship. A practice short on retina capacity recruits fellows a year ahead.

Candidates rely on faculty, fellowship directors and colleagues more than on postings. Optometrists in the practice also shape a candidate's view, since they send much of the surgical work.

Every board’s listing, with its posting lengths and how CV access is sold, is in the job board directory; what a physician job posting costs compares them.

The locum agency directory has each agency’s states, malpractice coverage and physician pay where it states them.

What does an open ophthalmology position cost?

What the calculator has for ophthalmology

• Revenue one physician brings in: $1,440,217 a year (estimate, AMN Healthcare (Merritt Hawkins), 2019)
• Locum pay: $175 to $275 an hour (estimate, Locumstory (CHG Healthcare), 2025)
• First-year pay: $304,650 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025)
• Contingency agency fee: 20 to 30% of first-year pay (estimate, MedStaff Nationwide, 2026)

For ophthalmology the calculator's hospital revenue estimate is $1,440,217 (estimate, AMN Healthcare (Merritt Hawkins), 2019) a year. Much eye surgery happens in surgery centers and offices rather than hospitals, so a practice should enter its own collections for a realistic figure.

Locum ophthalmologists are paid $175 to $275 (estimate, Locumstory (CHG Healthcare), 2025) an hour. A retina vacancy has an urgent edge: patients on regular injections cannot simply wait, and the practice may have to refer them to a competitor.

Open the calculator with ophthalmology chosen

Which recruiting channels work for ophthalmology?

Small fellowship classes and close networks mean personal outreach does most of the work. A practice that explains its surgery schedule, technicians and optometry referral base gives candidates what they need to compare offers. Technician staffing deserves a line too, since a surgeon without enough technicians cannot keep a busy clinic moving.

Questions to ask

• How many surgery days a month would the new ophthalmologist have?
• Which subspecialty is short, and how long is that waiting list?
• How are optical, drug and surgery center revenues shared?
• Has the practice been approached by investors, and will you say so to candidates?

Which rules bite ophthalmology recruiting?

Surgery center ownership, comanagement with optometrists and drug revenue all sit near the federal referral rules.

Every federal rule this site cites, grouped by what a practice or recruiter is doing, is on the federal rules page. For the contract itself (pay models, tail coverage, restrictive covenants), read the physician employment contract, clause by clause. These notes describe the rules and cite them; they are not legal advice for a particular offer or contract.