Anesthesiology · Pay & offer briefing
The number on the offer is only the beginning.
A pay briefing for anesthesiologists comparing employed, academic, and private-practice opportunities.
Free to read · September 15, 2026 snapshot · U.S. dollars per year
The compensation snapshot
158 included salary reports
- 25th percentile
- $470,000
- Median total compensation
- $535,000
- 75th percentile
- $602,813
Half of included reports fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. These are reported total compensation figures, not guaranteed base salaries. The sample is self-selected and is not adjusted for hours, geography, seniority, or job mix.
Start with the practice setting.
The overall number blends different jobs. Use the closest setting as a starting point, then compare responsibilities and schedule.
| Setting | Reports | Median | Middle 50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital employed | 63 | $535,000 | $485,000–$565,000 |
| Private practice | 44 | $550,000 | $508,750–$671,250 |
| Academic | 31 | $467,000 | $411,300–$535,000 |
Only settings with at least 10 included reports are shown. Other or unclassified settings remain in the overall total. Small groups are especially sensitive to who contributes.
The comparison that changes the conversation
Normalize the hours before comparing the headline.
Illustrative offers: $500,000 over 44 weeks at 45 scheduled hours a week is about $253 per scheduled hour. $550,000 over 46 weeks at 55 hours is about $217. These invented examples exclude call, benefits, taxes, and time outside the stated schedule.
Build a second comparison that includes your expected call and extra coverage hours.
Four questions to take into the room.
What are the actual hours and call obligations?
Ask for weeks worked, expected daily hours, late-room coverage, weekend and overnight call, post-call relief, and whether call compensation is included in the advertised total.
What is the clinical model?
Clarify personally performed cases versus medical direction, staffing ratios, locations covered, case mix, and who handles simultaneous coverage needs.
What does partnership change?
Separate employed compensation from partnership distributions. Ask about the buy-in, time to eligibility, voting rights, overhead, distribution formula, and the written conditions for becoming a partner.
What is guaranteed and what is at risk?
Compare base pay, production or unit-based pay, extra shifts, benefits, malpractice coverage, and any repayment obligations. Request worked examples of the compensation formula.
Put the briefing to work
Save it. Share it with someone who needs it.
The briefing above is free to read. Save it to your account, then share your personal link with a colleague comparing offers.
For physicians, residents, and fellows.
Choose your role to save your briefing.
Give a useful briefing. Get a better offer conversation.
When one new colleague joins through your link, confirms their email, chooses Physician, Resident, or Fellow, and saves a briefing, you both unlock the Offer Conversation Kit: a side-by-side worksheet, schedule calculator, and three conversation scripts.
Your colleague does not need to invite anyone. Existing accounts and self-referrals do not count. Salary contributors with active contribution access already qualify. This reward does not unlock the full salary database. No contact uploads or automatic invitations.
What is behind these numbers?
Source: salaryDr salary submissions, extracted September 15, 2026. Includes approved, non-archived attending reports labeled Anesthesiology, with reported total compensation from $30,000 to $2,000,000. Report dates run from 2024-11-29 to 2026-09-02. We retain the latest qualifying report per known contributor within the specialty, using a normalized email when available, otherwise an account ID. 68 included reports lack both identifiers and cannot be reliably deduplicated.
Practice settings are contributor-reported; hospital-employed spelling variants are combined. Compensation, schedules, and roles are not independently audited. This is a descriptive sample, not a representative national survey or an estimate of your individual market value.
Contribute your own salary report to help improve the next briefing.