Anesthesiologist Salary in Ohio 2026,
$490,530 Median | BLS Data by City

A median $490,530 a year, or $235.83 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 25.3% above the national median of $391,490. The band runs $172,330 at the 10th percentile to $543,850 at the 90th, with the 25th at $326,360 and the 75th at $506,840. The upper half is unusually compressed, which describes a well-defined established practising tier.

Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek at $455,300, then Columbus $441,230 and Cincinnati $419,600 — the only three published rows, and all of them below the $490,530 statewide median. That is the informative part: the state's highest-paid anaesthesia work is not in its largest metros but in the smaller and rural markets that must pay to staff theatres.

Because there are not many of them. A location quotient of 0.56 on about 780 anesthesiologists means Ohio employs the specialty at little over half the national rate, against a state with substantial surgical volume across a large hospital system footprint. That imbalance is priced. Ohio's hospitals also rely heavily on certified registered nurse anesthetists within care teams, but a care team still requires a physician to direct it, so thin physician supply translates directly into competitive compensation.

Less than in most high-paying states, but through more layers. The state income tax is 2.75% on the rate basis used here — low by national standards after successive consolidations of the bracket structure. On top of that, hundreds of Ohio municipalities levy their own income tax on wages earned within their boundaries or on residents, and Ohio school districts may levy a school district income tax on residents. Working in one city and living in another district can mean three separate income tax filings.

The published figures make a strong case: 25.3% above the national median, a low state income tax rate, and a supply position that favours the practitioner. The caveat is where the best-paid work sits. All three published metros — Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, Columbus and Cincinnati — come in below the state median, which means the premium is concentrated in smaller and rural markets. Those posts carry heavier call and less subspecialty support, which is precisely why they pay.

Because the state median is being lifted by employment outside them. Ohio has a large number of community and rural hospitals maintaining surgical services, and each needs anaesthesia cover regardless of volume. Where a hospital cannot draw on a nearby academic or metropolitan supply, it must pay enough to move someone — and with only about 780 anesthesiologists statewide, a relatively small number of well-compensated non-metro posts can pull the statewide median above every published metro row. Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek at $455,300, Columbus at $441,230 and Cincinnati at $419,600 represent markets with more supply and more competition for posts.

The sample is about 780 anesthesiologists, only three metro rows are published, and the upper half of the band is compressed into about thirty-seven thousand dollars between the 75th and 90th percentiles, which limits what the distribution can tell you about the top of the market. The wage measure also excludes call pay, group partnership distributions and productivity arrangements, all significant in anaesthesia. And a 0.56 location quotient means the state's care team structure sits behind these numbers in ways the estimate cannot show.

Market first, and unusually it points away from the metros — the premium in this state sits outside Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, Columbus and Cincinnati, in the smaller markets that must recruit. Subspecialty second, with cardiac, paediatric and pain medicine practice carrying the most. Practice structure third: group partnership rather than hospital employment. And call burden fourth, since thin supply means call obligations in Ohio's smaller hospitals are heavier and compensated accordingly.