The average annual salary for radiologists in 2018 is $401,000, up 1% from $396,000 a year ago, according to a new survey by Medscape that tracked physician compensation in multiple specialties.
Radiologists landed in the fifth spot in Medscape's "Physician Compensation Report 2018," which provides physician compensation across multiple medical specialties. More than 20,000 doctors in 29 medical specialties responded to the survey, according to Medscape.
The survey reported an average annual salary for all physicians of $299,000, up 1.7% from $294,000 in 2017. Medscape found that specialists on average earned $100,000 more than primary care physicians. The lowest compensation was for pediatricians at $212,000 and family practice physicians at $219,000.
| Top 5 physician specialties by salary | |
| Specialty | Average annual salary |
| Plastic surgery | $501,000 |
| Orthopedics | $497,000 |
| Cardiology | $423,000 |
| Gastroenterology | $408,000 |
| Radiology | $401,000 |
The survey also tracked other workplace issues besides salary, such as professional challenges. In all, 71% of survey respondents reported that they spent more than 10 hours a week on paperwork, an increase of 13 percentage points in just one year.
What's more, radiology was among the five specialties with the lowest percentage of female physicians; the other four were orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, and otolaryngology. In all, women make up 15% of the radiologist workforce.
Still, survey respondents across all specialties said that being a physician is rewarding despite the challenges, according to Medscape. While 62% of all respondents said that in hindsight they might have chosen a different specialty, 96% of radiologists said they would choose radiology again.
In addition, 77% of physicians overall said they were satisfied with their decision to become a doctor, a sentiment expressed by 78% of radiologists.
