Published GME salary scale · San Diego, CA

UC San Diego Resident Salary 2025–26: $91,211 PGY-1

UC San Diego pays PGY-1 residents $91,211 in 2025–26, rising to $115,742 by PGY-8, according to its published salary scale. Adjusted for the cost of living in the San Diego area, that PGY-1 salary is worth $81,521 in U.S.-average dollars, ranking 8 of 72 institutions SalaryDr tracks.

Sponsoring institution: UC San Diego Health

These rates took effect October 1, 2025 and were still UC San Diego’s published scale when we last checked on September 25, 2026.

PGY-1 salary
$91,211
PGY-8 salary
$115,742
PGY-1, cost-of-living adjusted
$81,521
Resident Pay Index rank
8 of 72

UC San Diego salary by PGY year (2025–26)

Annual salary from the published scale. The adjusted column converts each figure to U.S.-average dollars using the San Diego area’s price level (111.9, where the U.S. = 100).

UC San Diego resident salary by postgraduate year, 2025–26
LevelAnnual salaryMonthlyCost-of-living adjusted
PGY-1$91,211$7,601$81,521
PGY-2$93,829$7,819$83,861
PGY-3$97,035$8,086$86,726
PGY-4$100,382$8,365$89,717
PGY-5$103,991$8,666$92,943
PGY-6$107,402$8,950$95,991
PGY-7$110,565$9,214$98,818
PGY-8$115,742$9,645$103,445

Resident Physician pay levels 1-8, effective October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. The 2026-27 column is marked TBD.

How UC San Diego compares

The median PGY-1 salary across the 72 institutions SalaryDr tracks is $71,664, or $74,182 after adjusting for cost of living. UC San Diego pays $19,547 more than that median before the adjustment and $7,339 more than it after.

Nearby institutions

UC San Diego compared with nearby institutions
InstitutionCityPGY-1Cost-of-living adjustedRank
Stanford2025–26 scalePalo Alto, CA$96,949$87,7981
UCLALos Angeles, CA$98,466$86,7042
Kaiser Permanente NorCalOakland, CA$97,940$84,7145
UCSF2025–26 scaleSan Francisco, CA$96,953$83,8606
UC San Diego2025–26 scaleSan Diego, CA$91,211$81,5218
UC IrvineOrange, CA$90,072$79,31211

See all 72 institutions in the Resident Pay Index · Resident salaries in California

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Source and methodology

Salary source
UC San Diego Health, published salary scale (PDF)
Academic year
2025–26 (rates effective October 1, 2025)
Last checked
What it says
House Officer Salary Scale 2025-2026, eff: 10/1/25 - 6/30/26 ... Pay Level 1 $91,211
Cost of living
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area: 111.9 (U.S. = 100), 2024 data. Adjusted salary = published salary ÷ (price parity ÷ 100).

Figures are base salary as the institution publishes it. They exclude stipends, bonuses, moonlighting and taxes unless noted. Report an error