Find a Job You Really Want In
Doctors are one of the most highly respected jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as doctors in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since doctors are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where doctors have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around, and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for doctors. After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s doctors:
- Georgia
- South Dakota
- Arkansas
- Mississippi
- Indiana
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Louisiana
So there you have it — Georgia is the best of the best when it comes to being a doctor.
How did it end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for doctors and for more on the top ten states.
How we determined the best states to be a doctor
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Pay
So in order to find out the best states for doctors in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well doctors get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for doctors in California is $199,200 and the average salary in Illinois is $185,190, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for doctors in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for doctors.
1. Georgia
Total Jobs: 1,440
Average Annual Salary: $260,370
Average Entry Level Salary: $163,120
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.99
2. South Dakota
Total Jobs: 160
Average Annual Salary: $257,260
Average Entry Level Salary: $174,750
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.07
3. Arkansas
Total Jobs: 320
Average Annual Salary: $265,360
Average Entry Level Salary: $171,000
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.77
4. Mississippi
Total Jobs: 270
Average Annual Salary: $240,780
Average Entry Level Salary: $172,770
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.69
5. Indiana
Total Jobs: 860
Average Annual Salary: $252,310
Average Entry Level Salary: $130,080
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.82
6. Alabama
Total Jobs: 470
Average Annual Salary: $250,340
Average Entry Level Salary: $134,060
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.71
7. North Carolina
Total Jobs: 960
Average Annual Salary: $249,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $156,910
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.66
8. Kentucky
Total Jobs: 540
Average Annual Salary: $222,770
Average Entry Level Salary: $117,060
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.84
9. Minnesota
Total Jobs: 1,000
Average Annual Salary: $232,520
Average Entry Level Salary: $108,600
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.01
10. Louisiana
Total Jobs: 300
Average Annual Salary: $237,820
Average Entry Level Salary: $156,070
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.44
There You Have It
If you’re looking to start out your career as a doctor these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be a doctor in America:
Detailed List Of The Best States For Doctors
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | $260,370 |
| 2 | South Dakota | $257,260 |
| 3 | Arkansas | $265,360 |
| 4 | Mississippi | $240,780 |
| 5 | Indiana | $252,310 |
| 6 | Alabama | $250,340 |
| 7 | North Carolina | $249,070 |
| 8 | Kentucky | $222,770 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $232,520 |
| 10 | Louisiana | $237,820 |
| 11 | Florida | $205,460 |
| 12 | Utah | $217,580 |
| 13 | South Carolina | $214,970 |
| 14 | Texas | $175,980 |
| 15 | Massachusetts | $230,440 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | $227,440 |
| 17 | Iowa | $218,990 |
| 18 | Virginia | $197,010 |
| 19 | Nevada | $227,340 |
| 20 | New Jersey | $210,840 |
| 21 | Ohio | $199,250 |
| 22 | Oregon | $214,810 |
| 23 | New Mexico | $233,710 |
| 24 | New Hampshire | $223,510 |
| 25 | Illinois | $185,190 |
| 26 | Kansas | $203,840 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $231,040 |
| 28 | Nebraska | $208,150 |
| 29 | Rhode Island | $194,090 |
| 30 | Montana | $222,950 |
| 31 | Washington | $215,760 |
| 32 | Maryland | $210,960 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $197,830 |
| 34 | Maine | $204,820 |
| 35 | Michigan | $143,080 |
| 36 | Vermont | $178,320 |
| 37 | Missouri | $223,600 |
| 38 | Delaware | $196,570 |
| 39 | Connecticut | $193,370 |
| 40 | Alaska | $215,070 |
| 41 | California | $199,200 |
| 42 | Hawaii | $209,180 |
| 43 | Colorado | $193,140 |
| 44 | Arizona | $192,040 |
| 45 | Tennessee | $175,000 |
| 46 | New York | $187,170 |
| 47 | Pennsylvania | $170,970 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
