Salary data, May 2025 release

What general pediatricians earn, state by state.

Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for general pediatricians from the May 2025 release, published May 15, 2026: national pay and its spread, every state BLS publishes, and the metro areas at the top, with the survey’s limits beside the numbers.

The national figures.

Verified BLS May 2025 national file

Employment
39,390
Jobs on employer payrolls, relative standard error 4.9%
Mean annual wage
$212,110
$101.98 an hour, relative standard error 2.6%
Median annual wage
$210,040
$100.98 an hour; half earn more, half less

Pediatricians, General (29-1221), United States, all industries. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates, published May 15, 2026.

Who BLS counts here. “Diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases and injuries in children. May refer patients to specialists for further diagnosis or treatment, as needed. Excludes "Family Medicine Physicians" (29-1215) and "General Internal Medicine Physicians" (29-1216).” (BLS, 2018 occupation definitions)

Verified

Pay across the range, nationally

PercentileAnnual wageHourly wage
10th percentile$91,470$43.98
25th percentile$138,290$66.49
Median (50th percentile)$210,040$100.98
75th percentile$273,700$131.59
90th percentile$338,500$162.74
Mean$212,110$101.98
Ten percent of general pediatricians on payrolls earn less than the 10th percentile and ten percent more than the 90th. BLS, May 2025 release, national file.

By state.

BLS’s state file covers 54 areas: the states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For general pediatricians, 50 of them have a published mean wage, 1 shows * (no wage estimate) and 3 have no row for general pediatricians at all.

Verified BLS May 2025 state file

Pediatricians, General by state, May 2025

State EmploymentPer 1,000 jobsLocation quotientMean annual wageMedian annual wage
Alabama ** Not available ** Not available ** Not available $237,810 $209,490
Alaska 60 0.172 0.68 $282,020 $267,390
Arizona 1,230 0.381 1.50 $239,830 $233,950
Arkansas 100 0.078 0.31 $182,700 $160,440
California 6,680 0.367 1.45 $221,480 $214,140
Colorado 570 0.199 0.79 $199,990 $196,440
Connecticut 1,310 0.774 3.06 $220,010 $216,830
Delaware 180 0.372 1.47 $213,680 $219,190
District of Columbia ** Not available ** Not available ** Not available $116,210 $79,240
Florida 700 0.071 0.28 $172,610 $182,010
Georgia ** Not available ** Not available ** Not available $153,380 $149,990
Hawaii 470 0.752 2.97 $177,890 $197,090
Idaho 60 0.074 0.29 $273,550 $297,680
Illinois 1,180 0.193 0.76 $225,740 $196,760
Indiana 1,080 0.339 1.34 $195,330 $177,300
Iowa 230 0.150 0.59 $221,690 $262,440
Kansas 110 0.078 0.31 $221,860 $209,840
Kentucky 380 0.188 0.74 $188,030 $175,690
Louisiana 40 0.020 0.08 $378,020 $502,720
Maine 130 0.207 0.82 $243,380 $245,920
Maryland 580 0.211 0.83 $202,610 $181,640
Massachusetts 2,310 0.636 2.51 $228,920 $221,170
Michigan 1,340 0.304 1.20 $195,760 $204,690
Minnesota 890 0.301 1.19 $228,400 $226,660
Mississippi 40 0.037 0.15 $214,380 $183,650
Missouri 500 0.169 0.67 $225,730 $223,910
Montana 50 0.098 0.39 $284,770 $273,260
Nebraska 290 0.280 1.11 $210,390 $175,990
New Hampshire 210 0.307 1.21 $255,760 $273,410
New Jersey 1,280 0.298 1.18 $194,010 $201,560
New Mexico 270 0.306 1.21 $216,420 $202,390
New York 4,570 0.472 1.86 $205,770 $212,150
North Carolina 740 0.150 0.59 $183,450 $183,550
North Dakota 90 0.200 0.79 $242,000 $234,950
Ohio 2,110 0.379 1.50 $223,710 $217,970
Oklahoma 280 0.164 0.65 $257,980 $236,780
Oregon 620 0.313 1.24 $228,070 $224,690
Pennsylvania 1,120 0.184 0.73 $236,790 $226,440
Puerto Rico 1,020 1.085 4.28 $97,770 $98,350
Rhode Island 180 0.360 1.42 $215,550 $218,080
South Carolina 420 0.181 0.71 $233,160 $217,120
South Dakota 80 0.185 0.73 $288,400 $257,610
Tennessee 740 0.227 0.90 $188,280 $176,210
Texas 2,740 0.195 0.77 $194,140 $173,360
Utah 310 0.178 0.70 $220,460 $210,360
Vermont 130 0.417 1.65 $207,630 $215,350
Virginia 750 0.182 0.72 $210,010 $195,940
Washington 480 0.136 0.54 $201,120 $169,540
West Virginia 140 0.194 0.76 $164,720 $158,470
Wisconsin 350 0.117 0.46 $245,400 $269,790
Wyoming 100 0.356 1.41 * Not available * Not available

In state order.

  • * BLS: indicates that a wage estimate is not available.
  • ** BLS: indicates that an employment estimate is not available.

The location quotient compares the occupation’s share of jobs in the state with its share nationally: above 1, the state has more general pediatricians for its size than the country does.

No estimate for general pediatricians: Guam, Nevada, Virgin Islands.

BLS, May 2025 release, state file.

Metro areas at the top.

BLS publishes figures for general pediatricians in 106 of its 393 metropolitan areas. The ten with the highest published mean wage and the ten with the most jobs:

Verified BLS May 2025 metro area file

Highest mean annual wage

Metro area EmploymentLocation quotientMean annual wageMedian annual wage
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 100 0.36 $340,410 $395,040
Vallejo, CA ** Not available ** Not available $306,510 $357,320
St. Cloud, MN 60 2.13 $304,330 $298,830
Fresno, CA 410 3.36 $294,660 $289,290
Manchester-Nashua, NH 80 1.51 $288,830 $287,040
Anchorage, AK 50 1.01 $277,830 $251,830
Bakersfield-Delano, CA 70 0.79 $276,350 $290,420
York-Hanover, PA 40 0.77 $274,970 $344,960
Tulsa, OK 120 1.01 $274,320 $208,040
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 60 0.29 $269,730 $276,470

Ranked on published figures only. BLS, May 2025 release, metropolitan area file.

Verified BLS May 2025 metro area file

Most jobs

Metro area EmploymentLocation quotientMean annual wageMedian annual wage
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 4,510 1.88 $201,550 $216,040
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 3,080 1.94 $201,090 $176,900
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 1,860 2.72 $235,680 $221,170
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 1,080 1.80 $245,770 $233,950
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 1,040 1.25 $167,810 $124,190
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN 920 3.30 $186,190 $170,020
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 870 1.19 $238,640 $226,440
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 860 0.75 $219,140 $188,340
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 810 1.35 $248,510 $207,450
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 730 1.51 $210,140 $218,000

Ranked on published employment only. BLS, May 2025 release, metropolitan area file.

  • ** BLS: indicates that an employment estimate is not available.

What these figures leave out.

BLS’s own notes on the survey, in plain words, with the page each one comes from.

An employer survey
BLS asks employers, not physicians. The survey measures employment and wages for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments, so every figure here describes physicians on a payroll. (BLS technical notes)
No self-employed physicians
The survey does not count the self-employed or owners and partners in unincorporated firms, so physicians in their own unincorporated practice are left out. Salaried officers and staff of incorporated practices are counted. (BLS technical notes)
What counts as a wage
Wages are straight-time gross pay. The base rate, incentive pay and production bonuses are in; overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and the employer’s cost of benefits are not. (BLS technical notes)
A ceiling on some wages
Where a cell shows #, BLS gives no figure, only that the wage is equal to or greater than $115.00 per hour or $239,200 per year. This page prints that floor; the wage itself may be well above it. (BLS national file notes)
Three years of responses
The May 2025 figures combine six semiannual panels of survey responses collected over three years, from November 2022 to May 2025. Wages reported in the earlier panels are adjusted to the May 2025 reference date. (BLS technical notes)
Standard errors
Each estimate comes with a percent relative standard error, a measure of how precise it is. Nationally, the employment figure for general pediatricians carries one of 4.9 percent and the mean wage one of 2.6 percent; each state and metro row carries its own. (BLS national file notes)
Rounded counts
Employment is rounded to the nearest ten, and BLS leaves out a state or metro area, or marks a cell, where it publishes no estimate. (BLS national file notes)

Using these figures.

Physician recruitment cost calculator

Prices a vacancy route by route, with the national mean on this page as first-year pay for the agency fee unless you enter the offer you have in mind.

Questions about pay for general pediatricians.

What does a pediatrician make in my state?

Find the state in the state table: it gives the mean and median annual wage BLS publishes for general pediatricians there, with employment and the location quotient. Nationally the mean annual wage is $212,110 and the median $210,040 (BLS, May 2025 release).

50 of the 54 state-level areas have a published mean. The rest have no wage estimate for general pediatricians; they are listed under the table.

Why is this lower than a physician pay survey I saw?

It may not be. Where it is, look first at who and what BLS counts:

  • The survey does not count the self-employed or owners and partners in unincorporated firms, so physicians in their own unincorporated practice are left out. Salaried officers and staff of incorporated practices are counted.
  • Wages are straight-time gross pay. The base rate, incentive pay and production bonuses are in; overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and the employer’s cost of benefits are not.
  • The May 2025 figures combine six semiannual panels of survey responses collected over three years, from November 2022 to May 2025. Wages reported in the earlier panels are adjusted to the May 2025 reference date.
  • A wage shown as # is at least $239,200 a year and may be far above it; the page prints only the floor.

A survey that asks physicians or medical groups directly counts different people and different pay. Compare the same specialty, the same kind of employer and the same year.

How many general pediatricians work in the United States?

BLS counts 39,390 general pediatricians on employer payrolls (BLS, May 2025 release), rounded to the nearest ten, with a relative standard error of 4.9%. Self-employed physicians and owners of unincorporated practices are not in that count, so it describes the employed part of the field.

Which metro area pays general pediatricians the most?

Of the 106 metro areas where BLS publishes figures for general pediatricians, Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA has the highest published mean annual wage: $340,410 (BLS, May 2025 release), on employment of 100. A small metro area can lead on a few dozen jobs, so read the employment and the standard error with the wage. The metro tables show the top ten by mean wage and by employment.

What do *, ** and # mean in these tables?

They are the marks BLS puts in a cell instead of a figure. In its own words: # indicates a wage equal to or greater than $115.00 per hour or $239,200 per year; * indicates that a wage estimate is not available; ** indicates that an employment estimate is not available. This page prints “Not available” for the first two and the floor for the third (“$239,200 or more”), never a zero.