10 Highest Paying States for ER Doctors

What are the highest paying states for ER Doctors?

Being an emergency physician can be a very stressful but fulfilling specialty in the field. The adrenaline rush keeps you going, but as the day turns into dawn, you might be asking yourself “Is the pay really worth it?”  We now know from our previous list of the 19 Highest Paying Jobs for Doctors, being an emergency room physician is one of the most financially rewarding specialties. However, cities and states have varied salary structures for these doctors, as we will see in this list fo the highest paying states for ER doctors.

Emergency Medicine as a specialty is fairly new, only starting out in the 1960’s. Prior to this, emergency rooms across the country were staffed by interns and medical residents mostly from internal medicine and family medicine. Some physicians recognized the need for specialized doctors in emergency care, and so during this time, a 24/7 emergency care unit was established at Alexandria Hospital in Virginia, which was to be known as the Alexandria Plan. This was followed by the establishment of the ACEP, or the American College of Emergency Physicians, which paved the way for the recognition of emergency medicine as a separate training program.

For the list of the highest paying states for ER doctors, Insider Monkey scoured the web for information on pay per state, which was mainly provided by ACEP and Medscape. Supplemental salary information was also retrieved from Salary and Health Worker Salary. We compiled the salary data for each source and each state, and each state’s salaries were then averaged, coming up with our own average annual salary for ER doctors.

So if you are an emergency room physician and still asking yourself if the pay is worth it, you might want to check this list of the highest paying states for ER doctors. The grass may be greener on the other side after all!

10. Pennsylvania

Average annual salary: $312,676

Ranked as the 29th healthiest state in a 2013 survey, Pennsylvania comes in at 10th on our list. Some hospitals offering ER training are Penn State, Drexel University, and St. Luke’s Hospital.

9. North Carolina

Average annual salary: $313,522

The Tar Heel state has a number of medical institutions offering ER training for 3 years. University of Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill and Carolinas Medical Center at Charlotte are only 2 hospitals in the state offering a 3-year residency program.

8. New Mexico

Average annual salary: $315,040

Although the 6th least densely populated state in the US, the state still pays its doctors handsomely. For residency training in emergency medicine, only the University of New Mexico Medical Center is accredited by the ACEP.

7. Wisconsin

Average annual salary: $317,268

“America’s Dairyland” also has some great “cheese” for ER doctors. There are two hospitals in which ER training is accredited – the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals.

6. Louisiana

Average annual salary: $318,221

Three accredited institutions offer emergency medicine training in the state. Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge and at Shreveport both offer 3 years of training while the university’s campus at New Orleans offers 4 years of training.

5. Georgia

Average annual salary: $323,416

Being the 8th most populous state in the US, and the 5th highest paying state for ER doctors, it comes as no surprise that there are more than 15,000 doctors in practice here. However, only 2 hospitals offer training for emergency medicine – Emory University School of Medicine and Medical College of Georgia.

4. Illinois

Average annual salary: $324,032

Home of the jazz and blues, Er doctors will certainly feel “jazzy” instead of blue when working here. A number of hospitals and medical centers offer ER training, and in Chicago, the accredited institutions are Cook County Hospital, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

3. Mississippi

Average annual salary: $324,703

Although the state is ranked as the last in healthcare among all states, Mississippi still compensates its ER doctors with a higher than average annual salary. The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson is the only institution that offers ER training in the state.

2. California

Average annual salary: $334,870

According to a CNN report, if California were a country, it would be the “8th or 9th largest economy in the world”. It may be because of their economy that the state can afford to pay its doctors handsomely. The University of Southern California Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles are only 2 out of a number of institutions offering ER training in the state.

1. Texas

Average annual salary: $340,590

The largest among the lower states, Texas is also the highest paying state for ER doctors. Coincidence? Most probably, but no one’s complaining. Accredited institutions include University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio.