Hospitalist Salary by State: Reading the 2025 BLS Data

Hospital medicine is one of the fastest-growing physician careers of the last two decades, and 7-on/7-off schedules have made it a favorite for physicians who want intensity at work and real time off. Benchmarking hospitalist pay against federal data takes one honest step, though, because the government doesn't count hospitalists separately.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program (May 2025), general internal medicine physicians in the United States earn an annual mean wage of $267,200 and an annual median wage of $256,560. 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.

A classification note before the table: BLS has no standalone hospitalist series. Most hospitalists are internal medicine physicians, so the figures below are the General Internal Medicine Physicians category — which blends inpatient hospitalists with outpatient general internists. Hospitalist-specific offers frequently sit above this blended baseline because of night, weekend, and holiday coverage built into the job.

The table below breaks the same May 2025 BLS OEWS dataset down by state.

Rank	State	Annual mean wage
1	Georgia	$388,060
2	Minnesota	$387,730
3	Maine	$349,150
4	Indiana	$339,500
5	Wisconsin	$334,100
6	South Dakota	$331,820
7	Washington	$327,250
8	North Dakota	$319,790
9	Idaho	$317,600
10	Alaska	$317,260
11	South Carolina	$315,380
12	GU	$305,830
13	Utah	$303,040
14	Rhode Island	$298,550
15	Alabama	$294,500
16	Oregon	$294,070
17	Colorado	$291,400
18	Vermont	$287,550
19	Ohio	$286,650
20	North Carolina	$283,840
21	Maryland	$276,280
22	Mississippi	$275,760
23	California	$273,270
24	Oklahoma	$270,930
25	Florida	$266,790
26	Missouri	$259,950
27	Texas	$254,300
28	Massachusetts	$253,080
29	Kentucky	$250,140
30	Louisiana	$238,520
31	Tennessee	$238,020
32	Arizona	$230,970
33	New Hampshire	$229,630
34	Pennsylvania	$226,950
35	Nebraska	$226,440
36	Connecticut	$216,230
37	New York	$213,360
38	Arkansas	$210,540
39	District of Columbia	$207,560
40	Michigan	$194,040
41	Illinois	$192,450
42	Iowa	$191,200
43	West Virginia	$189,160
44	New Jersey	$165,650
45	Nevada	$162,050
46	Puerto Rico	$131,450

Figures are U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS annual mean wages, May 2025 (46 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

Shift structure is the real negotiation. Hospitalist compensation turns on census caps, night coverage (dedicated nocturnists versus rotating nights, which usually carry a premium), swing shifts, and how holidays are handled. Two jobs with the same annual figure can differ enormously in shifts worked — always reduce an offer to pay per shift and patients per shift before comparing.

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 Hospitalist 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 2025.
• BLS OEWS: General Internal Medicine Physicians — the occupation series behind the table above.