Radiology among America's 5 highest paid professions, US News & World Report says
Radiology is among the five highest paid professions in America, according to new data from U.S. News & World Report.
Members of the specialty earned a median salary of approximately $239,200 last year, based on survey data gathered by the media company. That places radiologists just behind anesthesiologists at No. 1, followed by psychiatrists, orthodontists and OB-GYNs on the Best-Paying Jobs list.
Radiologists also were ranked at No. 55 among the 100 Best Jobs for 2026, U.S. News & World Report says. This marks a measurable leap for the profession when compared to the No. 77 ranking seen in the last list. Nurse practitioner nabbed the No. 1 spot for the third year in a row amid high demand for NPs.
“Careers in [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] remain strong in the 2026 rankings due to the persistent need for medical professionals,” Carly Chase, vice president of Careers at U.S. News, said in an announcement. “Nurse Practitioner maintains its No. 1 spot, due to immediate need, flexibility and strong 10-year outlook,” she added.
U.S. News conducted the survey between September and November with the aim of helping job seekers make more informed career decisions. The rankings consider key aspects of a career including growth potential, work-life balance, job safety, unemployment rate and salary. Bureau of Labor Statistics data helped identify jobs with the highest hiring demand. Careers then were scored using five measures—future prospects, wage potential, employment, job safety and stability, and work-life balance.
The news outlet gives radiology an overall score of 5.4 on a 10-point scale. It highlights the specialty’s high wage potential (9/10) and comfort (5.8) while also giving lower marks in other categories such as “future prospects,” likely due to concerns about AI. Radiology is ranked as “average” for its upward mobility, higher for stress levels and below average for flexibility.
“I enjoy the idea of being able to see so many different disease entities on a daily basis,” Eric Rubin, MD, a diagnostic radiologist based in Pennsylvania who works remotely for Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told the website. “I am somebody who likes variety rather than repetition, and while one may think that reviewing one study after another is repetitive, it’s not, because every person is different.”
Radiology also ranked No. 21 on the Best Health Care Jobs list for 2026 and No. 33 among the Best STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Jobs. Other imaging-related careers also made the top jobs lists, including medical equipment repairer (No. 27, with a median salary of $62,630), diagnostic medical sonographer (34/$89,340), radiologic technologist (78/$77,660) and MRI technologist (98/$88,180).
Radiologists earned an average salary of about $359,820 in 2024, according to U.S. News. The outlet highlighted Portland, Maine ($486,860), Lewiston, Maine ($466,700), and Miami, Florida ($459,110), as some of the highest paying cities for radiologists. Minnesota ($515,440), South Dakota ($495,570) and Arizona ($447,530), meanwhile, were among the highest-paying states.
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.