Radiology Tech Salary Guide 2026: By State, Experience, Modality, and Travel Pay

Anesthesiologist salary in the United States typically falls between $360,000 and $570,000 a year, and the exact figure you see depends heavily on which data source and compensation model is being measured. National payroll data puts the median base salary at $391,490, while physician self-report surveys report average total compensation between $499,000 and $570,000.

That gap isn’t a data error. It reflects real differences in what gets counted — base pay only, versus bonuses, call pay, and partnership distributions — and who gets counted, since employed physicians and practice owners are tracked very differently. This guide breaks down anesthesiologist compensation by state, experience, employment model, and subspecialty, and shows how to evaluate a real job offer rather than a single headline number.

Quick Facts

• National median base salary: $391,490 per year
• National average total compensation (self-reported): 499,000–570,000 per year
• CRNA median, for comparison: $236,590 per year — physicians earn roughly 65% more
• Highest-paying states: Washington, Minnesota, and Ohio, all above $490,000 median
• Locum tenens rate: 350–450 per hour, with 24-hour call shifts paying 6,000–9,000 per day
• Partnership upside: Private practice partners often earn 150,000–300,000 more per year than employed peers after buy-in

Why Salary Figures Vary So Widely

Anesthesiologist compensation reports can range from roughly $432,000 to $565,000 for what looks like the same job title. Here’s the explanation that resolves nearly every discrepancy you’ll encounter when researching this topic.

Government payroll data is built from mandatory employer wage reports. By design, it excludes self-employed physicians, partners in unincorporated practices, and any bonuses, call pay, or profit-sharing — capturing only fixed base wages of employed anesthesiologists. Physician self-report surveys, by contrast, ask physicians or employers directly about total compensation, which includes bonuses, RVU incentives, and, in some cases, partnership distributions.

Once you know which type of figure you’re reading, the “conflicting” numbers stop being conflicting — they’re measuring different populations and different pay components.

Read more: Anesthesiologist Salary

Physician Salary Trends Shaping Anesthesiology Pay

Anesthesiologist compensation doesn’t move in isolation — it tracks broader shifts in physician pay overall, with a few specialty-specific accelerants layered on top.

Industry-wide, physician compensation growth has been slowing. Recent annual survey data shows overall physician pay rising only around 3.6% year over year, the softest growth rate recorded since 2011, as hospital margins tighten and reimbursement growth flattens. Anesthesiology has been an exception to that slowdown: organizational compensation surveys show anesthesiology-specific pay climbing about 5.5% in a single recent year, continuing an average annual growth trend near 4.5% over the prior three years.

Three forces are driving that outperformance. First, a persistent anesthesiologist shortage in many regions, especially rural and mid-sized metro markets, has pushed hospitals to compete harder on sign-on bonuses, student loan repayment, and base pay. Second, growing case volume in outpatient surgery centers and expanding procedural specialties (interventional cardiology, GI, pain management) has increased demand for anesthesia coverage outside traditional hospital operating rooms. Third, private-equity consolidation of anesthesia groups has, in some markets, driven up short-term compensation as groups compete for physicians ahead of contract renewals, even as it raises longer-term questions about autonomy and equity terms.

For anyone comparing job offers over multiple years, the practical implication is that a compensation figure quoted today can meaningfully understate what’s realistic a year or two from now — particularly in high-demand subspecialties like cardiac and critical care anesthesiology, where growth has outpaced the specialty average.

Components of an Anesthesiologist Compensation Package

Base salary is only one piece of what anesthesiologists actually earn. A full offer typically includes several of the following:

• Base salary: fixed annual pay, averaging around $393,000 in recent survey data.
• Production/RVU bonus: additional pay tied to work relative value units generated per case. Roughly 57% of anesthesiologists report receiving a bonus, averaging about $34,700.
• Call stipend: extra pay for taking overnight, weekend, or holiday call, on top of base and bonus.
• Sign-on bonus: typically 35,000–100,000, with a national average near $39,000; underserved markets can offer 100,000–200,000 or more.
• Student loan repayment: increasingly common in rural and underserved-market packages, ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 paid out over several years.
• Retention bonus: paid after a set employment period to reduce turnover, often bundled with the sign-on bonus into a single combined package.
• Partnership distribution: profit-sharing paid to practice owners, distinct from salary and typically the largest income component for private-practice partners.

A real-world example illustrates this well: one 2025 hospital-employed generalist position advertised a total starting package of $640,000, combining base salary, a $100,000 starting and retention bonus, annual incentive bonuses, up to $200,000 in optional student loan repayment, and relocation assistance. Packages like this show why base salary alone understates what many anesthesiologists earn.

Employment Models: W-2, 1099, and Partnership

How an anesthesiologist is employed changes both the pay structure and the financial risk involved.

• W-2 hospital-employed: Fixed salary plus bonus, benefits included, no partnership upside, lowest financial risk. Common for new graduates.
• W-2 academic: Lower base pay — median around $450,000 versus $500,000 in nonacademic settings — but includes protected research time, teaching duties, and typically lighter call.
• 1099 independent contractor / locum tenens: Paid hourly or per diem with no benefits, but rates run higher to compensate: 350–450 per hour in 2026, with premium settings such as cardiac anesthesia reaching 450–475 per hour.
• Private practice partnership track: Employed at a reduced “associate” salary of 380,000–450,000 for one to three years, followed by a buy-in and full partner distributions.
• Private equity-affiliated groups: An estimated 20% of anesthesia practices have been acquired through private-equity buyouts, which can change compensation structure and long-term equity potential.

Partnership Economics in Detail

Partnership is where the largest compensation gap in anesthesiology opens up. A typical track looks like this:

1. Years 1–2 (associate): Base salary of 380,000–450,000 with standard call obligations, while proving productivity to the group.
2. Buy-in: A cash payment or reduced-pay “earn-in” period of roughly 100,000–400,000, depending on group size and revenue.
3. Full partner: Pre-tax distributions of 500,000–900,000 or more, depending on case volume and hospital contract terms.

Partners often earn 150,000–300,000 more annually than employed anesthesiologists once fully vested, though the buy-in is real capital at risk, and the upside depends on the group retaining its hospital contract.

From Residency to Retirement: A Compensation Timeline

• Medical school: No salary; tuition and living costs are typically financed through loans.
• Residency (PGY-1 to PGY-4): Stipends generally range from about $60,000 in PGY-1 to 75,000–86,000 by PGY-4, with a national median resident salary around $68,000. Academic medical centers in high-cost cities pay meaningfully more than community programs.
• Fellowship (optional, one year): Pay is similar to senior residency, generally in the 70,000–90,000 range, before subspecialty premiums begin.
• First attending job (Year 1): 320,000–450,000, depending on setting, location, and whether a fellowship was completed.
• Mid-career (5–10 years): 380,000–600,000, reflecting rising productivity and, for many, a partnership buy-in.
• Senior/partner (10–15+ years): 450,000–900,000 or more, with the top of that range reserved for full partners in high-volume private groups.

Average Anesthesiologist Salary by State

Location remains the single biggest driver of pay after employment model. Median annual wages by state:

When adjusted for regional cost of living, Minnesota overtakes Washington as the top real-value state, while high-cost states such as New York fall further down the ranking.

Why do Texas and D.C. look unusually low? This is almost certainly a data-coverage artifact rather than evidence that anesthesiologists in those markets are underpaid. Government payroll data excludes self-employed physicians and partners in unincorporated practices. Texas has a large share of physician-owned, partnership-structured anesthesia groups; if a significant portion of practicing anesthesiologists there are technically partners rather than employees, their income simply isn’t captured, pulling the reported median toward the smaller pool of employed physicians who remain. D.C.’s small physician population and skew toward academic and government employment can similarly distort a state-level median built from a smaller sample. Real-world job postings and locum rates in both markets are consistent with the $400,000-plus range seen nationally, not the lower state-level figure alone.

Anesthesiologist Salary by Subspecialty

Fellowship training changes earning potential meaningfully. Average total compensation by subspecialty:

Cardiac anesthesiology pays the most, reflecting case complexity and liability. Pediatric anesthesiologist salary sits close to the specialty average — fellowship-trained pediatric anesthesiologists typically pursue this path primarily for clinical focus rather than a guaranteed pay premium.

Anesthesiologist Salary vs. Surgeon Salary and CRNA Pay

Anesthesiologist compensation compared to certified registered nurse anesthetists: The national median for CRNAs is $236,590, versus $391,490 for anesthesiologists — physicians earn roughly $155,000 more at the median. The gap reflects an additional six to eight years of training (medical school plus a four-year residency versus a nurse anesthesia doctorate) and a broader scope of practice, including independent management of complex cases and perioperative medicine.

Anesthesiologist salary vs. surgeon salary: General surgeons average about $434,000, close to typical anesthesiologist figures, while surgical subspecialists such as neurosurgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons average 720,000–750,000 or more. Across all physician specialties combined, average compensation is roughly 374,000–376,000, meaning anesthesiologists sit comfortably above the physician-wide average regardless of which specialty-specific figure is used.

Locum Tenens and Hourly Pay

For anesthesiologists considering locum tenens work, or simply wanting an hourly-rate reference, current market rates are:

A 24-hour call shift can pay 6,000–9,000, the highest single-shift earning type in anesthesia locums. Physicians working 10–15 shifts a month can gross 480,000–810,000 annually before taxes and expenses.

How to Increase Anesthesiologist Earnings

• Pursue a high-paying fellowship: Cardiac anesthesiology and critical care carry the largest premiums over general anesthesiology.
• Consider geographic arbitrage: Moving from a lower-paying, high-cost state to a higher-paying, lower-cost one can improve both nominal pay and real purchasing power.
• Evaluate partnership tracks seriously: The long-run financial upside of partnership can exceed employed compensation by 150,000–300,000 a year, though it requires capital and risk tolerance.
• Take on strategic call coverage: Call stipends and 24-hour shifts pay disproportionately well relative to standard daytime hours.
• Negotiate the full package, not just base salary: Sign-on bonuses, student loan repayment, and retention bonuses are often more negotiable than base salary itself.
• Consider locum tenens periods: Short-term assignments can pay $400 or more per hour, useful for paying down debt quickly or supplementing a lower-paying permanent role.

Offer Evaluation Checklist

Before comparing two job offers by salary number alone, check:

• Base salary versus total compensation, including bonus, call pay, and benefits value.
• Whether the role is employed, contract-based, or partnership-track.
• Call frequency and whether call is compensated separately.
• Sign-on bonus terms, including any payback clause if you leave early.
• Student loan repayment eligibility and vesting schedule.
• For partnership tracks: buy-in amount, timeline, and historical partner distributions.
• Malpractice coverage type (occurrence versus claims-made) and who covers tail coverage, often worth 50,000–120,000.
• Cost of living and state income tax in the job’s location.

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