OB-GYN Salary in California 2026,
$301,240 Median | BLS Data by City

A median $301,240 a year, or $144.83 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 2.8% above the national median of $292,910. The band runs $103,330 at the 10th percentile to $401,440 at the 90th, and the 25th percentile of $198,720 is far below the median because residency, part-time practice and office gynaecology sit in the same estimate as full-scope obstetric practice.

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at $375,400, well ahead of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim $301,240, Visalia $294,840, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad $293,400 and Fresno $287,490. The Inland Empire leading the coastal metros by about seventy-four thousand dollars is a recruitment premium, in a region where obstetric capacity has thinned and physicians are harder to attract.

Because it has to. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario has a large and growing population, a comparatively thin physician supply, and a payer mix weighted toward public programmes — a combination that makes obstetric recruitment genuinely difficult. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has academic centres, a deep physician labour market and no shortage of applicants, so it does not need to bid. The $375,400 figure is the price of persuading obstetricians to practise where the need is greatest rather than where they would otherwise choose.

A significant number have, particularly in rural counties and at lower-volume facilities. Maintaining a labour and delivery service requires round-the-clock obstetric, anaesthetic and neonatal cover and staffing that meets California's mandated nurse ratios, and at low birth volumes that fixed cost has proved unsustainable. The consequences show in this data indirectly: a location quotient of 0.65 in the country's most populous state, and inland markets paying premiums to recruit. For patients in the affected counties, the nearest delivery service can be a long drive away.

It is the largest financial argument against practising here. California's income tax is the highest in the country at 13.3% at the top of a progressive schedule, income above $1m attracts an additional 1% Mental Health Services Tax, and State Disability Insurance at 1.3% of all wages in 2026 is uncapped — unusual, and worth several thousand dollars a year at obstetric incomes. Set against a gross premium of only 2.8% over the national median, the after-tax comparison with most other states is unfavourable, which is precisely why hard-to-recruit California markets pay what they do.

A location quotient of 0.65 in the most populous state in the country demands an explanation, and there are several strands. Obstetric service closures have reduced the number of sites where full-scope practice is possible, which reduces posts. California's cost of living and highest-in-the-nation income tax make the state a hard sell against a specialty median only 2.8% above the national figure. Malpractice and practice costs are high. And a substantial share of routine obstetric and gynaecological care in California is delivered by certified nurse-midwives and advanced practice clinicians counted in other codes. The shortfall is real, and the Inland Empire's $375,400 is the market's response to it.

The band around it is not a smooth distribution. With $198,720 at the 25th percentile and $331,190 at the 75th, the lower half is weighted with residents, part-time practitioners and office gynaecologists who do not take obstetric call, while full-scope practice sits above the median. The wage measure excludes partnership distributions and call pay, both material in this specialty. And with about 1,610 physicians statewide the metro rows rest on small samples — Visalia's $294,840 and Fresno's $287,490 in particular should be read as directional.

Market first, and unusually it points inland: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at $375,400 against Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim at $301,240 is about seventy-four thousand dollars for taking a harder-to-fill post. Scope second — maintaining full obstetric practice with a delivery service and call roster rather than office gynaecology alone is most of the distance from the $198,720 quarter-point to the median. Subspecialty third, with maternal-fetal medicine and gynaecologic surgery reaching toward the $401,440 ninetieth percentile. Practice structure fourth, though California's tax position blunts the value of ownership income more than most states do.