Medscape drops radiology to 3rd highest paid specialty after scrubbing salary survey data
Medscape has dropped radiology to the third highest paid specialty in its latest salary survey after scrubbing the data to ensure its accuracy.
The news website first released its annual compensation report in April, claiming radiology had risen to the second highest paid specialty, surpassing cardiology and plastic surgery. After the revisions, radiology’s average salary of $526,000 (modified from $520,000) keeps the specialty ahead of cardiology ($520,000 at No. 4) but behind plastic surgery ($544,000 and now at No. 2). Meanwhile, orthopedic specialists remained in the top spot, at $564,000.
“This report, originally published on April 11, 2025, has been updated to correct inaccuracies in the statistical model,” the website said in an editor’s note published Tuesday. “Medscape is now providing revised data that has been revalidated for accuracy.”
The updates also modified radiologists’ year-over-year increase in pay, which is now 5% (rather than the originally reported 4% in April).
Medscape administered the 10-minute online survey between October and January, reaching a total of 7,322 respondents across 30 or so specialties. This included about 220 radiologists, a number that remained the same after the updates.
You can read our original coverage of the salary survey here, with the story now updated to include the new numbers.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.