Salaries for radiology professionals edged higher in 2021, as both radiologists and radiologic technologists (RTs) enjoyed rising incomes. The latest figures for AuntMinnie.com's annual survey of benefits and compensation found that salaries for technologists, in particular, hit a milestone last year.
The average base annual salary for radiologic technologists in the U.S. cracked $80,000 for the first time in the history of SalaryScan, as RTs reported an average annual salary of $80,209 across all modalities. RTs who specialized in particular modalities saw even higher wages, with the exception of mammography technologists.
Meanwhile, salaries for radiologists continued to edge up compared with SalaryScan numbers released last year. In 2021, radiologists had an average annual base salary of $432,627, regardless of modality specialization. That compared to $421,776 in 2020 and $408,023 in 2019, which was the first year the base salary exceeded $400,000.
Among different modality specializations, radiologists who concentrated on CT were the highest-compensated, at $465,703, while MRI specialists reported an average base salary of $446,780. Nuclear medicine specialists brought up the rear with an average base salary of $410,571.
When examining the numbers geographically, topping the regional charts for U.S. radiologist salaries was the U.S. Middle Atlantic region, with an average base salary of $458,429. Next were radiologists in the U.S. West South Central, at $454,978, and then U.S. West North Central, at $450,400.
On the other hand, 2021 represented a regression to the mean for radiologists in the U.S. Pacific region, which usually competes with the U.S. New England area for lowest radiologist salary. Radiologists on the West Coast were on top in the 2020 SalaryScan numbers, but last year they fell to second to last place at $390,734 -- besting only, you guessed it, U.S. New England radiologists, which came in at $385,400.
For radiologic technologists, the average base annual salary for RTs crossed the $80,000 threshold for the first time in 2021, at $80,209. As in past SalaryScan surveys, technologists were able to earn higher salaries by specializing, with interventional technologists pulling in an average of $89,034 per year and those in nuclear medicine bringing in $85,279.
On a geographic basis, technologist salaries were almost the reverse image of radiologist salaries, with RTs in the U.S. Pacific and U.S. New England regions pulling down the highest compensation -- $102,451 and $92,053, respectively. At the bottom were RTs in the U.S. East South Central, with an average annual salary of $69,397.
SalaryScan is based on data acquired from AuntMinnie.com members in the U.S. from January to February 2022. AuntMinnie.com members can conduct searches on comparable salaries in their professions, regions, and states by going to the SalaryScan data query tool in AuntMinnie.com's Radiology Jobs section.
