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Job outlook for medical photographers in the United States
Are medical photographer jobs in demand?
Medical photographer job and salary trends over time
Medical photographer jobs over time
Medical photographer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 53 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 65 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 64 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 64 | 0.00% |
Average medical photographer salary over time
Medical photographer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $81,114 | $39.00 | +13.8% |
| 2024 | $71,289 | $34.27 | +6.7% |
| 2023 | $66,809 | $32.12 | +4.6% |
| 2022 | $63,842 | $30.69 | --4.6% |
| 2021 | $66,947 | $32.19 | +7.4% |
Medical photographer jobs by state
Most common states for medical photographers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 149 | 21% |
| 2 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 498 | 17% |
| 3 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 910 | 16% |
| 4 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 250 | 15% |
| 5 | Delaware | 961,939 | 144 | 15% |
| 6 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 301 | 14% |
| 7 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,632 | 13% |
| 8 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 778 | 13% |
| 9 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 1,281 | 12% |
| 10 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 505 | 11% |
| 11 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 319 | 11% |
| 12 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 200 | 11% |
| 13 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 854 | 10% |
| 14 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 476 | 10% |
| 15 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 309 | 10% |
| 16 | California | 39,536,653 | 3,311 | 8% |
| 17 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 221 | 7% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 9 | 0% |
| 19 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 6 | 0% |
| 20 | Vermont | 623,657 | 2 | 0% |
Most common cities for medical photographers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $155,665 |
Medical Photographer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of medical photographer experts
Michigan State University
Georgia State University
University of South Dakota
Birmingham-Southern College
Columbia College Chicago
George Fox University
Weill Cornell Medicine
Peter Glendinning
W.J. Beal Distinguished ProfessorMichigan State University
Fine And Studio Arts
What general advice would you give to a Medical Photographer?
Peter Glendinning: More photographs are made in 2 minutes today than were made in the first 20 years of
the medium's existence, from 1839-1859, but the markets for professional photography are endlessly greater today than they were at the beginning as well. While everyone with a mobile phone camera can make photographs, it has raised the awareness that there
is a big difference between professionally made images and amateur ones. A photographer who can demonstrate their expertise is as much in demand today as at any time in the medium's history.
What Medical Photographer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Peter Glendinning: In my experience, people like being a photographer for reasons that often have to do with what they like doing in life, what their personality is, what their passions outside of photography are. The "people person," the "quiet poet," the "analytical type," and more, all can find a field in photography that suits them well, whether fashion photography, landscape photography, architectural photography or other. Someone who is lazy, disorganized, feels they already know everything, undisciplined, lacking in courage, will probably not like this field.
What will help Medical Photographers increase their earning potential?
Peter Glendinning: More photographs are made in 2 minutes today than were made in the first 20 years of the medium's existence, from 1839-1859, but the markets for professional photography are endlessly greater today than they were at the beginning as well. While everyone with a mobile phone camera can make photographs, it has raised the awareness that there is a big difference between professionally made images and amateur ones. A photographer who can demonstrate their expertise is as much in demand today as at any time in the medium's history.
What soft skills should all Medical Photographers possess?
Jill Frank: Listening, being observant, trusting your vision. It is always important to work well in teams and have the patience to be a good collaborator.
What skills will help Medical Photographers earn the most?
Jill Frank: This is probably too abstract a question for the field of art, but I will try my best: the better you are at taking photographs and marketing yourself & the better you are at moving seamlessly across different media and speaking to the relevant issues, the greater your success will be.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Medical Photographer job market given the pandemic?
John Banasiak: Our best case scenario for graduates with an Art Degree are careers as professional Artists. With the pandemic there could be problems with gallery attendance and as a result there would be problems with sales of Art. There are mechanisms that enable online sales and online exhibitions of work, but they are not as powerful as real life exhibitions and interactions with Artists and the viewing public. Of course with Photography there are many off shoots of useful careers like photojournalism, medical photography, studio/fashion/commercial photography, etc.
What soft skills should all Medical Photographers possess?
Pamela Venz: Observation: all artists have highly developed skills of observation, attention to detail and applying their skills of observation to whatever task is at hand.
Creative Problem Solving: it's title clearly connects this skill with artist of all disciplines. Successful creative problem solving involves the ability to be flexible, to be open to many different interpretations of everything, to seek resolutions from seemingly unrelated sources and apply those resolutions in innovative ways.
Communication: One cannot succeed if one cannot communicate. Communication skills include not only verbal communication but written communication and for photographers and other artists visual communication as well. The ability to articulate one's ideas to a varied audience is crucial for success in any field.
Individual initiative: No one's path after graduation will be easy regardless of the field of the degree attained. The desire to achieve and the discipline to work towards that achievement cannot be understated.
Teamwork: We all must be able to work alone and to have the discipline to work alone towards a goal. But we are social beings and the ability to work as a member of a team is also crucial for success regardless of the field. Teamwork requires one to compromise, to communicate one's ideas in a diplomatic manner, to accept roles one may not want to do and to delegate roles to a group that reflect each individual's strengths and weaknesses.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Medical Photographer job market given the pandemic?
Verser Engelhard: There can be no question that the pandemic has had a profound impact on the photography market currently, but I do not see lasting trends as a result of the pandemic specifically. No one can be certain of the timing, but I feel like vaccines and therapies will allow the world to start to return to normal sometime in 2021. That said, the pandemic has solidified many of the trends the photography market was experiencing pre-pandemic. Trends like downward pressure on photography budgets, smaller crews, more shots per day, less travel, etc. On the bright side, pent up demand for all types of photography created by the pandemic should make for a strong job market going forward.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Medical Photographers in the next 3-5 years?
Verser Engelhard: Artificial Intelligence and how that is driving innovations in-camera software. The biggest advances being made in cameras are not hardware but software. The investments in research and development at companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google are propelling photography forward in ways that will fundamentally change how photographs are made. Imagine wanting to take a picture of the moon. You point your camera at the moon, and your camera immediately knows what you are trying to photograph. Your camera will assess everything about your chances of success, things like your specific point of view, time of day, lighting, weather conditions, everything. Your camera will then search the internet for everything it needs to create the "perfect" photograph for you, one that could only be made under ideal conditions. Scenarios like this are just the beginning. AI will make the seemingly impossible possible.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Medical Photographers in the next 5 years?
Verser Engelhard: Most definitely an increase. We live in a world that is consuming more and more online every day, and photography makes much of that possible. As demand for content increases, so too will the industries that it relies on. Although technology has seemingly made it possible for anyone to become a photographer (or has made everyone believe they are a photographer), expertise will always have value and be in demand. The photography market is no exception.
Adam Long
Assistant Professor of Art and DesignGeorge Fox University
Department of Art and Design
How do you envision technology impacting Medical Photographers in the next 5 years?
Adam Long: Resolution continues to increase into greater and greater detail. The impact on the field is linked because photographers need to be on the forefront of acquiring the technology that the industry demands. Many people rent gear, and I could see that trend increasing as rapid technological advances continue. Software also continues to make crazy shifts with abilities to automate and analyze through facial recognition and image analysis for automatic masking and layering of content.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Medical Photographers?
Yiye Zhang Ph.D.: I am very proud to have witnessed the efficiency and dedication of our colleagues around the globe during the pandemic. Medical informaticians worked around the clock virtually while maintaining close collaboration with our clinical colleagues to deliver the necessary data to inform healthcare policy and assist with clinical decision-making. In this sense, you could say that the impact on our job productivity was kept minimal.
I do think the pandemic will have an enduring impact on everyone, including our graduates, through the changing mode of learning, the changing economy, and the changing avenue for networking and job hunting. It requires a change in perspective in terms of how we learn and network, but it also opens the door to career opportunities that, perhaps, were impossible to consider due to the physical distance.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Medical Photographers to find work opportunities?
Yiye Zhang Ph.D.: The healthcare sector: hospitals, clinics, public health departments, biotechnology, healthcare consulting, among others. We train our graduates with medical informatics knowledge and skill sets so they can take their informatics training to bring data-driven insights to healthcare across the nation.