Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric salary

SOC 29-1241 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$300,080

per year, nationally

Middle half

$173,650–$421,530

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

8,950

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.3%

300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$100,180$489,710

10th: $100,180
25th: $173,650
Median: $300,080
75th: $421,530
90th: $489,710

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Internship/residency

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where ophthalmologists, except pediatric earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Rhode Island	$450,370	102.3	180	6.18×
2	New Hampshire	$404,330	104.2	50	1.27×
3	California	$400,150	110.7	820	0.78×
4	Florida	$399,440	103.4	580	1.02×
5	Iowa	$394,900	87.8	90	1.02×
6	Georgia	$382,920	96.3	120	0.44×
7	Minnesota	$372,200	98.6	180	1.04×
8	New York	$360,050	107.9	960	1.73×
9	Nevada	$345,600	100.0	—	—
10	Maine	$337,850	97.0	90	2.48×
11	Oregon	$334,450	103.4	210	1.88×
12	Massachusetts	$325,200	105.8	450	2.14×
13	Texas	$323,010	97.1	—	—
14	Alabama	$305,200	88.8	—	—
15	Washington	$304,830	107.0	180	0.87×
16	Pennsylvania	$304,290	97.6	310	0.87×
17	Colorado	$288,050	103.1	100	0.61×
18	Illinois	$284,630	100.0	620	1.77×
19	Ohio	$271,270	92.8	150	0.46×
20	Arkansas	$259,320	86.9	30	0.43×
21	Vermont	$258,910	98.0	30	1.83×
22	Tennessee	$231,040	91.9	230	1.23×
23	Missouri	$228,410	90.8	—	—
24	Oklahoma	$215,760	87.8	—	—
25	South Carolina	$214,160	93.7	100	0.75×
26	Wisconsin	$213,890	94.1	250	1.47×
27	South Dakota	$211,990	88.6	130	5.03×
28	Maryland	$211,770	105.0	260	1.65×
29	Utah	$188,490	98.9	30	0.35×
30	Michigan	$179,720	96.2	150	0.61×
31	Virginia	$177,410	101.1	—	—
32	Indiana	$168,600	93.3	160	0.86×
33	Louisiana	$155,250	88.2	30	0.31×
34	Kentucky	$101,940	90.2	70	0.62×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where ophthalmologists, except pediatric wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for ophthalmologists, except pediatric

The 30 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$700,850	110.4	60	0.92×
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$433,520	113.6	—	—
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$429,080	115.6	—	—
4	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$412,900	100.1	60	0.38×
5	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$399,020	101.8	200	4.92×
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$389,450	104.8	—	—
7	Worcester, MA	$387,810	102.5	30	1.69×
8	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$359,980	103.1	210	0.91×
9	Portland-South Portland, ME	$337,850	101.9	60	3.84×
10	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$332,670	100.2	—	—
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$325,200	108.3	330	2.15×
12	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$320,450	98.6	180	0.96×
13	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$302,410	112.6	—	—
14	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$298,430	100.0	—	—
15	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$284,630	103.6	510	1.97×
16	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$280,210	100.3	—	—
17	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$269,700	95.8	—	—
18	Rochester, NY	$269,570	97.0	40	1.50×
19	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$260,000	101.6	40	4.16×
20	Winston-Salem, NC	$258,750	92.0	—	—
21	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$255,480	94.7	—	—
22	Syracuse, NY	$239,000	95.7	40	2.03×
23	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$232,300	96.3	120	1.93×
24	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$226,640	108.9	—	—
25	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$218,380	99.6	80	3.04×
26	Oklahoma City, OK	$215,760	90.4	—	—
27	Rapid City, SD	$211,990	89.2	70	15.81×
28	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$210,490	104.5	130	1.64×
29	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$182,490	92.9	30	2.00×
30	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$168,600	95.7	110	1.74×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where ophthalmologists, except pediatric wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where ophthalmologists, except pediatric earn the most

Best paying metro areas for ophthalmologists, except pediatric

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