The median salary for radiologists in the U.S. was over $500,000, and it was even higher at smaller practices, according to the latest results from a physician compensation survey by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA).
At all radiology practices that were surveyed by AMGA, diagnostic radiologists reported an annual median salary of $509,447. This represented an increase over the annual median salary reported last year, which itself had fallen compared with 2018.
Annual median salaries for diagnostic radiologists, 2018‑2020 | |||
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
Annual median salary | $487,239 | $482,599 | $509,447 |
The findings are a contrast from 2019, when radiologists largely missed out on salary increases experienced by other medical specialties.
On a regional basis, radiologists in the northern region had the highest median salary, at $554,400, while the lowest median was in the survey's eastern region, at $479,185. In between the two were the western region, at a median salary of $521,073, and the southern region, at $521,986.
In comparing salaries by practice size, larger practices (with more than 300 full-time employees) reported lower salaries in the AMGA survey, while radiologists at smaller practices enjoyed higher pay. Radiologists at midsized practices tended to be the most productive, as measured by work relative value units (RVUs).
Radiologist salaries by number of employees | ||
Practice type | Median annual salary | Work RVUs |
All practices | $509,447 | 10,020 |
50 to 150 employees | $589,730 | 9,920 |
151 to 300 employees | $578,826 | 11,236 |
More than 300 employees | $504,183 | 9,918 |
For the survey, the AMGA's AMGA Consulting arm received responses from 317 medical groups, representing over 127,000 healthcare providers and 1,400 executive positions. Data collection started in January 2020.