OB/GYN Salary by State (2025 BLS Data)

Obstetrics and gynecology carries a combination few specialties match: surgical skill, continuity primary care, and deliveries that happen on the baby's schedule rather than the physician's. Workforce reports have warned about OB shortages for years, and growing maternity-care deserts — counties with no delivering hospital at all — have made recruiting OB/GYNs a genuine emergency in parts of the country.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program (May 2025), obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States earn an annual mean wage of $279,040 and an annual median wage of $292,910. 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 2025 BLS OEWS dataset down by state.

Rank	State	Annual mean wage
1	Louisiana	$397,990
2	Utah	$385,660
3	Vermont	$376,670
4	Maine	$370,520
5	Oregon	$366,460
6	Alaska	$365,560
7	Oklahoma	$364,140
8	Washington	$352,950
9	Arizona	$336,640
10	Maryland	$330,570
11	Minnesota	$329,280
12	North Dakota	$327,910
13	Georgia	$319,300
14	Wisconsin	$313,520
15	Iowa	$311,940
16	South Dakota	$307,380
17	New York	$306,240
18	Nebraska	$300,500
19	Tennessee	$296,570
20	Delaware	$294,730
21	Massachusetts	$289,280
22	Indiana	$279,910
23	New Hampshire	$279,730
24	New Mexico	$278,630
25	Virginia	$273,790
26	California	$272,520
27	South Carolina	$268,740
28	Kentucky	$268,360
29	West Virginia	$265,520
30	Rhode Island	$255,560
31	Michigan	$250,650
32	Connecticut	$250,000
33	North Carolina	$249,890
34	Texas	$248,730
35	Hawaii	$245,990
36	Illinois	$244,730
37	Idaho	$230,470
38	Ohio	$227,230
39	Kansas	$222,220
40	New Jersey	$222,080
41	Alabama	$208,080
42	Puerto Rico	$138,420

Figures are U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS annual mean wages, May 2025 (42 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

Malpractice climate is a pay variable unique in its size here. OB premiums vary several-fold between states, and who pays them — you or the employer — plus whether coverage is occurrence or claims-made with tail, can swing an offer's real value dramatically. Laborist and OB-hospitalist roles have also emerged as a distinct market, trading practice ownership for shift-based predictability.

Local demand beats national averages. A state's figure reflects how hard its employers are competing for a limited pool. Shortage markets — often rural or rapidly growing — pay above trend and sweeten offers with bonuses and loan repayment the survey can't see.

Cost of living reshapes the ranking. Several states near the top of nominal-wage tables fall in real terms once housing and taxes are counted, and vice versa. Run any two states through our cost-of-living comparison before you conclude one offer is bigger.

Who employs you matters. Health-system employment, independent or democratic groups, academic medicine, and staffing arrangements each price the same specialty differently — in cash, in upside, and in risk.

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

How to read these numbers

A few caveats keep this table useful instead of misleading.

Median first, mean second. The mean is sensitive to a small number of very high earners; the median is the midpoint and usually the better proxy for a typical offer. Read both to understand the spread in your market.

One number, many jobs. Each state figure blends employers, settings, and experience levels — a first-year attending and a 25-year veteran, a rural solo practice and a flagship academic center — into a single average. Expect your own market position to move you off the line.

The survey measures wages, not packages. Bonuses, productivity incentives, call stipends, benefits, retirement match, paid time off, and loan repayment sit outside OEWS. Evaluate offers on total value.

Self-employment is invisible here. Partnership income and 1099 arrangements are not fully captured, which is one reason real-world compensation in some markets runs above what a wage survey suggests. 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: Obstetricians and Gynecologists — the occupation series behind the table above.