How to compare family physician salary and compensation
Knowing what and how family physicians are paid can power your career plans.
From starting salaries to compensation by state and setting, here you will find answers to your questions about the financial side of practicing family medicine and the tools that can help you evaluate offers or advocate for more.
Answers to your compensation questions
What is the average salary of a family physician?
According to 2024 data from the AAFP Family Medicine Career Benchmark Dashboard, the average full-time compensation for family physicians was $297,189.
Compensation varies by experience:
Starting physicians earned an average of $261,017
Physicians with 20-plus years of experience reported an average of $307,719
Average income by clinical focus area
The career benchmark dashboard has average career data for more than 35 clinical areas of focus and clinical settings in family medicine, including:
Sports medicine (average compensation of $321,341 reported)
Family medicine with obstetrics (average full-time compensation of $291,228 reported)
What is the family physician income by state?
Family physicians reported a wide range of full-time income depending on location, from $246,554 in Washington, D.C., to $343,731 in Iowa.
Geographic variation is one of many factors to consider when reviewing salary benchmarks.
How are family physicians paid?
Family physician compensation typically includes:
Base salary
Productivity bonuses or relative value units (RVUs)
Quality or value-based incentives
Supervision or precepting stipends
Hourly rates (for part-time or PRN roles)
Other factors, such as practice type, setting, call coverage and patient panel size, can also affect your take-home pay. And your demographics, including gender and race, location and years in practice can all influence what you’re offered.
Understanding these nuances is essential when comparing offers or evaluating your own compensation package.
Where can I find physician compensation data?
The Family Medicine Career Benchmark Dashboard is the most comprehensive tool for family physicians to compare income, benefits and job satisfaction across the specialty. It’s free for AAFP members and includes:
Real-world data from more than 8,500 family physicians
Dozens of filters to refine your comparisons by experience, gender, geography, practice model and more
You can also explore salary data from Resolve, an AAFP Member Advantage partner that draws on the Medical Group Management Association's benchmarks and proprietary employment contract data.
Explore family physician salary data
What can I do with the Career Benchmark Dashboard?
This free member tool allows you to filter salary, benefits and career satisfaction data by:
Years in practice
Practice ownership
Gender identity
Work setting
Region and state
The dashboard also tracks trends in retirement benefits, leave policies, call frequency and practice satisfaction, giving you a more complete view of what family physicians like you are earning and experiencing.
Where can I find information on family medicine jobs and salaries?
When you’re job hunting, it helps to know what a competitive offer looks like. Many postings on the AAFP CareerLink, include salary ranges along with job descriptions. CareerLink makes it easy to:
Search and filter current openings
Save listings and sign up for alerts
View roles with known salary info
Once you’ve received an offer, be ready to negotiate. Even small improvements can make a big difference over time.
