How much do anesthesiologists make in 2026?
Anesthesiologists earn a national median of $391,490 a year ($188.22 an hour) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1211), one of the highest medians BLS publishes for any occupation. The reported range is exceptionally wide: the 10th percentile sits at $101,460, which largely reflects residents and fellows captured in the survey, while the 25th percentile is already $207,000 and the 90th percentile is $557,130. Practice structure drives most of the spread — academic departments pay below private anesthesia groups, and independent groups with favourable payer mixes and call-heavy schedules sit at the top. Employment growth is 3.2% through 2034 on a small base of about 1,300 openings a year. → Full anesthesiologist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $391,490 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Anesthesiologists earn a national median $391,490/yr ($188.22/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1211); the P10 to P90 range is $101,460 to $557,130.
- The P10 of $101,460 is not a job offer: OEWS captures residents and fellows in the same code, which is why the 25th percentile jumps to $207,000.
- Practice structure sets the spread far more than geography — academic departments sit below hospital employment, and private anesthesia groups with strong payer mixes sit above both.
- Employment growth is a modest 3.2% through 2034 with roughly 1,300 openings a year, so pay is defended by scarcity of trained anesthesiologists rather than by headcount expansion.
US Anesthesiologist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do anesthesiologists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 29-1211; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1211, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does an anesthesiologist earn at each career stage?
Anesthesiology has no licence tiers above board certification, so the stages below track the training-to-partnership arc that the wide OEWS distribution actually reflects. Each median is anchored to the BLS percentile distribution for SOC 29-1211.
By State
Which states pay anesthesiologists the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. For this occupation geography is the weakest of the pay levers: payer mix, group ownership and call burden move the number far more, and the highest anesthesiology earnings are often outside the highest-cost metros.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($450,210), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
anesthesiologist pay by state — all 14 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay anesthesiologists the most?
Modeled metro estimates: national median scaled by the state wage index and then by the published metro index. They are illustrative of local wage levels rather than BLS metropolitan-area observations for this occupation.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an anesthesiologist’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does anesthesiologist pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Anesthesiologists sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify anesthesiologist wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an anesthesiologist actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Anesthesiologist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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