Family Medicine Physician Salary by State (2024 BLS Data)

Family medicine is the backbone of American primary care and, helpfully for benchmarking, the physician specialty with the most complete federal wage coverage — nearly every state publishes data. Primary-care shortages have pushed health systems, retail players, and value-based groups into open competition for family physicians, and loan-repayment programs sweeten rural offers further.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program (May 2024), family medicine physicians in the United States earn an annual mean wage of $256,830 and an annual median wage of $238,380. The median is the midpoint — half earn more, half earn less — and it is usually the safer "typical" reference because the mean gets pulled around by the highest earners.

The table below breaks the same May 2024 BLS OEWS dataset down by state.

Rank	State	Annual mean wage
1	Idaho	$322,630
2	Nebraska	$313,750
3	Arizona	$306,890
4	Massachusetts	$301,270
5	Indiana	$295,310
6	Wisconsin	$293,630
7	Iowa	$292,030
8	New Mexico	$291,980
9	Alaska	$286,990
10	Georgia	$286,050
11	Pennsylvania	$283,590
12	Kentucky	$277,570
13	Minnesota	$277,170
14	Montana	$275,990
15	Wyoming	$271,290
16	Texas	$270,420
17	Utah	$269,090
18	Maryland	$269,020
19	North Dakota	$266,220
20	Mississippi	$261,520
21	New Jersey	$258,880
22	California	$257,060
23	Tennessee	$256,650
24	Oregon	$254,080
25	South Carolina	$253,640
26	Oklahoma	$253,090
27	West Virginia	$249,170
28	New Hampshire	$248,550
29	Kansas	$244,390
30	Rhode Island	$244,270
31	Florida	$243,800
32	Vermont	$238,710
33	Delaware	$238,210
34	Louisiana	$238,000
35	District of Columbia	$236,820
36	Ohio	$230,400
37	Missouri	$228,690
38	North Carolina	$226,820
39	Washington	$226,040
40	South Dakota	$223,520
41	Michigan	$222,500
42	Maine	$221,190
43	Virginia	$220,010
44	New York	$213,480
45	Connecticut	$213,400
46	Alabama	$212,590
47	Hawaii	$209,870
48	Illinois	$206,010
49	Arkansas	$117,030
50	Puerto Rico	$113,160

Figures are U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS annual mean wages, May 2024 (50 states/territories with published data; BLS suppresses states with samples too small to publish, and those are omitted rather than estimated).

What moves the numbers

Scope and payment model move family medicine pay more than geography alone. A clinic-only schedule, adding inpatient or obstetric coverage, and value-based arrangements with quality bonuses or panel-size incentives all price differently. Rural full-scope family medicine — clinic, hospital, ER coverage — frequently out-earns urban clinic roles by a wide margin.

Cost of living and real value. High-cost coastal markets often post strong nominal wages that buy less house and childcare than a smaller number in a lower-cost state. Compare offers after adjusting for local costs — our cost-of-living tool does exactly that, state versus state.

Supply, demand, and the rural premium. Hard-to-staff markets pay up. Rural hospitals, critical-access facilities, and fast-growing regions short on specialists routinely add premiums, sign-on bonuses, and loan repayment that never show up in a wage survey.

Setting and employer mix. A state dominated by large health systems prices differently than one with strong independent groups or academic centers. Academic roles often trade cash for protected time; employed positions trade upside for stability.

See who's hiring. Browse open Family Medicine roles on VitalPost — free for clinicians, and pay is shown on a listing whenever the employer posts it.

How to read these numbers

Treat the state figures as a well-sourced baseline, not a personal quote.

Mean vs. median. The mean (average) is pulled by the highest and lowest earners; the median better reflects a typical clinician. When the two diverge, anchor on the median and then ask where your experience, setting, and productivity would place you relative to it.

Every setting is blended. Each state figure averages academic centers, community hospitals, outpatient practices, and every experience level into one number. Your subspecialty focus, call burden, and seniority can put you well above or below it.

Wages aren't total compensation. OEWS captures wages and salaries — not sign-on bonuses, productivity (wRVU) upside, call pay, retirement contributions, malpractice coverage, or loan repayment. Two offers with the same base can differ by six figures in real value.

Owners and partners are undercounted. The survey primarily measures W-2 employees. Physicians with partnership distributions or independent-contractor income often out-earn what a wage survey shows. When you negotiate, pair this federal baseline with specialty compensation surveys and real numbers from colleagues — the BLS data tells you the neighborhood; your diligence prices the house.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024.
• BLS OEWS: Family Medicine Physicians — the occupation series behind the table above.