Surgeon salary by type and state

How much does a surgeon make?

A surgeon makes $369,540 at the median across all surgical occupations BLS surveys, and the top 10% earn more than $640,680.^[oews_api] The range is wide: the 10th percentile is $83,630, so the bottom of the distribution sits closer to primary-care pay than to the surgical median. Surgeons out-earn non-surgical physicians, whose median is $271,090, by $98,450.

*Single filer, 2026 federal income tax and FICA (with the 0.9% surtax over $200,000), before state tax. A single surgeon at the median keeps about $258,744.

Surgeon salary by type of surgeon

Pediatric surgeons earn the most at a median of $559,030, then surgeons in other specialties at $414,010.^{[onet_pedsurg][onet_ortho][onet_surgoth][onet_ophth]} The occupation system lists only ophthalmologists, orthopedic surgeons and pediatric surgeons separately; every other surgeon, including general, plastic, cardiothoracic, vascular and neurological surgeons, falls in “surgeons, all other”, defined as “all surgeons not listed separately”.^[onet_def] It is also the largest group, with 25,140 jobs. Because neurosurgeons are inside it, there is no official neurosurgeon figure; see neurosurgeon salary for the group data and the one open survey that reports neurosurgery separately.

Wage and salary employees only; self-employed physicians are not surveyed.

Pediatric surgery is tiny, 1,190 jobs, so its figures move a lot from year to year. For anesthesia, the specialty that works beside surgeons in every operating room, see anesthesiologist salary.

Orthopedic surgeon salary

Orthopedic surgeons earn a median of $358,550 and a mean of $373,570.^{[onet_ortho][oews_api]} Missouri has the highest published state average at $624,070. BLS counted 14,100 orthopedic surgeon jobs; pick “Orthopedic surgeon” in the calculator to see your state and metro.

General surgeon salary by state

For general and other surgeons, North Dakota has the highest average at $526,650, followed by New Jersey ($503,070) and Iowa ($488,900).^{[oews_api][onet_surgoth]} Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota: mean published only as $239,200 or more. No May 2025 figure for District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Utah.

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 District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Utah.

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

The highest published metro medians for this group start with Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI ($762,360).^{[onet_surgoth]}

How long it takes to become a surgeon

General surgery residency lasts 5 years after medical school, so a general surgeon trains about 13 years after high school; orthopaedic surgery residency is 5 years.^{[acgme_surg][acgme_ortho]} ACGME requires general surgery programs to be 60 months long. Those years shape the debt picture on how much medical school costs; for all specialties side by side see doctor salary.