Family Practice Physician Salary Guide

The average annual family medicine physician salary is $240,790 per year in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That being said, family medicine doctors surveyed by Medscape for its 2023 physician compensation report reported an average annual salary of $255,000.

Locum tenens family practice physicians can make upwards of $190–$260 an hour, however, there are many factors that impact rates including location, years of experience, and the level of demand.

If you were to extrapolate the low end of this range over a year (at 40 hours per week), a locum tenens family practice physician could make $395,200 a year or more.

That means locum tenens family practice physicians could make 35% more per year than the average family practice doctor. Making direct salary comparisons between locum tenens and permanent providers can be complicated. While perm family practice physicians are more likely to be salaried, locum tenens doctors are independent contractors earning an hourly rate, which can vary based on which assignments they take in a year.

Furthermore, because locum tenens family practice physicians are paid by the hour, the hours they work are directly reflected in their pay, while a salaried doctor’s additional hours may not be reflected in their salary.

Finally, paid time off and insurance may be reflected in the perm doctor salary structure, but locum tenens providers do have options when it comes to health insurance.

The most recent state breakdown of family medicine physician salaries comes from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, though the BLS was not able to collect enough data for all 50 states. That said, some of the top 5 highest paying states for family medicine physician salaries are:

• Wyoming
• Mississippi
• Arizona
• South Carolina
• Kentucky

How do Family Practice Physician Salaries Compare Against Other Doctor Specialties?

Emergency medicine physicians are the 27th highest-paid physician specialty surveyed in the Medscape 2023 compensation report. According to that report, emergency medicine doctors make more on average than pediatricians ($251,000/year) and public health and preventative medicine physicians ($249,000/year).

Emergency medicine physician salaries have remained steady over the last several years, with no change in salary from 2021 to 2022, according to Medscape’s 2023 report.

Check out and apply to our open locum tenens emergency medicine physician jobs today!