Dermatologist salary

How much does a dermatologist make?

A dermatologist makes $328,730 at the U.S. median; the lowest-paid 10% earn under $102,810 and the best-paid 10% over $578,560.^[onet_derm] The BLS mean, $323,530, is close to the median, which means the pay distribution is fairly balanced around the middle.^[oews_api]

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare (with the 0.9% surtax over $200,000); before state tax.

Dermatology is a small specialty in the BLS survey: 11,370 wage-and-salary jobs, about 1.5% of all non-surgical physician jobs.^[oews_api] The survey counts employees only, so dermatologists who own their practice and are paid from its profits are not in these numbers.^[oews_tec]

Dermatologist salary per hour

On BLS's standard 2,080-hour year, a dermatologist earns $158.04 an hour at the median, $67.30 at the 25th percentile and $217.52 at the 75th.^[oews_faq] The hourly figure is a conversion, not a measured hourly rate: BLS collects annual pay for physicians and divides it by 2,080.

Dermatologist salary by state

Among states with a published figure, Minnesota has the highest average dermatologist pay at $510,270, ahead of Wisconsin ($459,550) and New Hampshire ($438,070).^[oews_api] Maine, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah were published only as “$239,200 or more”. 20 states have no May 2025 dermatologist estimate at all, among them Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia; with so few dermatologists, BLS often cannot publish a reliable state figure.

Jobs: BLS OEWS employment estimate, May 2025. “—”: not released. “≥ $239,200” means BLS published only that the wage is at least that much (its top-code of $115.00 an hour). No May 2025 wage estimate for Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Download all dermatologist wages as CSV (nation, 51 states and every published metro area: mean, 10th–90th percentiles, jobs)

The top metro medians are below.^[onet_derm] Small samples make single metro values volatile.

Dermatologist salary in New York, Texas, California and Florida

New York dermatologists earn a median of $374,010 and Texas dermatologists $218,670, BLS estimates for May 2025; California and Florida, two of the biggest states, have no published dermatologist wage at all.^{[oews_api][onet_derm]} BLS counted 2,070 dermatologist jobs in New York and 780 in Texas.

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare (with the 0.9% surtax over $200,000); before state tax.

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare (with the 0.9% surtax over $200,000); before state tax.

In Texas the median sits well below the mean ($291,630), while the 75th percentile jumps to $349,990: a large group of lower-paid salaried jobs sits under a high-earning top half. For California and Florida, any “state dermatologist salary” you see elsewhere is not a BLS figure; the national percentiles are the closest official benchmark.

Dermatologist pay compared with other specialties

Dermatologists out-earn most office-based specialties: in the May 2025 data their median is above psychiatrists, general pediatricians, family medicine physicians, general internists, neurologists, but below emergency medicine physicians and radiologists and anesthesiologists.^{[oews_api][onet_derm]}

To line up any two careers in your state, use the comparison tool below. The full specialty ranking is on doctor salary by specialty, and the procedural specialties are on anesthesiologist salary and surgeon salary.

Dermatologist vs plastic surgeon salary

Plastic surgeons earn more than dermatologists in the one source that measures both: Doximity's 2026 survey of full-time physicians puts plastic surgery at $625,757 and dermatology at $497,509 on average, a gap of $128,248.^{[doximity_2026]} BLS cannot make that comparison, because plastic surgeons have no occupation code; they are counted in “surgeons, all other” (median $414,010) with general, thoracic, vascular and neurological surgeons.^{[onet_def][oews_api]}

Doximity figures are a private survey, not official statistics, and are not mixed into the BLS tables or calculators on this page. The survey's neurosurgery and other surgical figures are compared on neurosurgeon salary.

How long does it take to become a dermatologist?

It takes about 12 years after high school to become a board-eligible dermatologist: four years of college, four of medical school and 4 of residency.^[acgme_derm] The dermatology program itself is 36 months, and residents must first finish a broad clinical first year (PGY-1) in another specialty or a transitional year. Budget for the training with the medical school cost and loan calculator.

*Simple interest at 8.07% with no payments, no capitalization. Stipends: AAMC survey means as of July 1, 2025.^{[aamc_stipend][fsa]}

The median graduate's $215,000 grows to $284,402 over the four training years, and a 10-year payoff then costs $3,364 a month; a 12-month fellowship such as dermatopathology pushes it to $3,535.^{[aamc_afford][fsa][acgme_dpath]}

Why dermatologist salary figures differ between sources

Salary figures for dermatologists differ between websites mainly because they use different years, different averages and different groups of workers. Check these six things before comparing any number with the BLS figures on this page.^{[oews_tec][oews_faq]}