By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
New data has surprisingly revealed that Kentucky is one of the best states to practice medicine as a physician. The research, conducted by university ranking site Research.com, examined statewide data on the mean salary of physicians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The states with the highest annual mean salary have been named the best places for kickstarting a career in medicine as a physician.
North Dakota finished in the top spot, with an average salary of $351,270, which is 31.3 percent above the national average of $267,371.
Next are Wyoming, South Carolina, Indiana and Colorado, to round out the top five.
However, Kentucky is number six, according to the research.
Physicians in the Bluegrass State have a mean salary of $316,730, which is 18.4 percent above the national average. Kentucky’s best-paid medical profession, with a mean salary of $376,940, is a physician who specializes in pathology.
The remainder of the top ten states are New Hampshire, Connecticut, Nebraska and Louisiana, with a mean salary of $306,030.
On the other end of the scale, the least lucrative state to kickstart a career as a physician is Pennsylvania. With a mean salary of $187,330, the state’s physicians earn 29.9 percent below the national average. However, the best-paid job in the state of Pennsylvania belongs to cardiologists, with a mean salary of $408,950.
The rest of the states that appear in the bottom ten are New Jersey, Rhode Island, Michigan, Arizona, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina and Arkansas.
The study examined mean salaries of medical professionals as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The final rankings consider the mean salary of physicians, as this is a more generalized term for a doctor who has earned a medical degree, with the highest-earning states being named in the top ten. The study also included mean salaries for other medical professionals.