How Much Do ER Doctors Earn By State? (Plus Job Outlook)
Updated August 25, 2023
Image description
A woman stands next to a map of the US. The headline reads "Highest Earning ER Salaries by State"
The states listed below the map are:
• New Mexico
• Alabama
• Georgia
• Mississippi
• Idaho
• Arizona
• Texas
• Ohio
• California
• Wyoming
• Wisconsin
• Iowa
The states listed below the map are:
• New Mexico
• Alabama
• Georgia
• Mississippi
• Idaho
• Arizona
• Texas
• Ohio
• California
• Wyoming
• Wisconsin
• Iowa
What is an ER doctor?
ER doctors or emergency medicine physicians are doctors that specialize in treating injuries or diseases that require immediate medical attention. These doctors usually work in hospital emergency rooms and may treat a wide variety of serious and minor conditions, depending on the day. These are some of the most common conditions that emergency physicians treat:- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Concussions and other head trauma
- Broken bones or sprains
- Traumatic injuries
- Viral or bacterial infections
- Food poisoning and ingestion of other toxins
- Ulcers
- Appendicitis
- Cuts and contusions
- Skin infections
- Foreign objects in the body
- Urinary tract infections
- Assessing patients: One of an ER doctor's most important tasks is to assess patients when they arrive at the hospital for treatment. This involves listening to the patient's description of their condition, conducting examinations and noting symptoms.
- Requesting tests: In some cases, a doctor may not immediately determine a patient's condition and may require testing to make a diagnosis. ER doctors may request blood tests, urinalysis, toxicology screenings or a range of other diagnostic procedures.
- Administering medicines: After reviewing a patent's symptoms, ER doctors often make a diagnosis and ask nurses to administer medication. They may also provide pain medication and other drugs to patients to stabilize them on arrival.
- Referring patients to specialists: ER doctors may discover that their patients have conditions that require attention from specialists. This can include referring patients for immediate surgery or to other specialists such as radiologists, cardiologists or gynecologists.
- Stabilizing patients: Some patients may arrive in the emergency room with serious injuries, and an ER doctor's job is to ensure that they don't deteriorate before they receive the attention they need. The stabilization process can include intubation, pain management, administering fluids intravenously and other procedures.
- Providing discharge instructions: After a patient receives treatment, ER doctors are often responsible for making the decision to discharge patients. They may also give discharge instructions, including directions for medication and follow-up visits.
- Consulting and keeping records: Emergency medicine physicians often consult patients' medical histories to help them decide on a course of treatment. They're also responsible for keeping detailed records of all their patients' diagnoses and courses of treatment.
- Developing follow-up care plans: After providing emergency care to their patients, emergency medicine physicians often develop plans to aid their recovery. They may schedule follow-up visits, refer their patients to specialists, recommend a self-care routine or write a prescription for medication.
- Collaborating with other medical professionals: Hospitals employ a wide variety of professionals, including nurses, PAs, pharmacists, orderlies, EMTs and doctors. Emergency medicine doctors are responsible for coordinating with their coworkers to achieve beneficial patient outcomes.
- Maintaining compliance with legal regulations: There are a number of legal regulations that govern the treatment of patients and the disclosure of medical information. ER doctors are responsible for complying with these regulations every day in their work.
How much do ER doctors earn?
There are many factors that influence how much emergency medicine physicians earn yearly. This includes their location, years in the workforce, clinical hours worked, specialization and certifications. These physicians may also earn sign-on bonuses that can increase their income. According to the Emergency Physician Compensation Report from ACEPNow, emergency medicine physicians make an average of $221 dollars per hour or $344,760 per year for 1,560 clinical hours. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates the average salary at $140.35 per hour for an annual salary of $310,640.Related: Working in the ER: What To Expect, Benefits and ChallengesER doctor salaries by state
Here are the average annual salaries of ER or emergency medicine doctors in every state, according to Indeed data, ACEPNow and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the latest information, click on the salary links.- Alabama: $454,000 per year
- Alaska: $232,130 per year
- Arizona: $430,000 per year
- Arkansas: $343,650 per year
- California: $405,000 per year
- Colorado: $310,000 per year
- Connecticut: $337,000 per year
- Delaware: $290,000 per year
- Florida: $313,590 per year
- Georgia: $446,000 per year
- Hawaii: $349,000 per year
- Idaho: $435,000 per year
- Illinois: $382,000 per year
- Indiana: $362,000 per year
- Iowa: $400,000 per year
- Kansas: $381,000 per year
- Kentucky: $384,000 per year
- Louisiana: $395,000 per year
- Maine: $326,000 per year
- Maryland: $362,000 per year
- Massachusetts: $357,000 per year
- Michigan: $354,650 per year
- Minnesota: $350,000 per year
- Mississippi: $446,000 per year
- Missouri: $396,000 per year
- Montana: No information available
- Nebraska: $378,000 per year
- Nevada: $379,000 per year
- New Hampshire: $320,000 per year
- New Jersey: $356,000 per year
- New Mexico: $475,000 per year
- New York: $279,590 per year
- North Carolina: $370,000 per year
- North Dakota: No information available
- Ohio: $406,000 per year
- Oklahoma: $365,000 per year
- Oregon: $365,000 per year
- Pennsylvania: $378,000 per year
- Rhode Island: $287,000 per year
- South Carolina: $353,000 per year
- South Dakota: $270,000 per year
- Tennessee: $369,000 per year
- Texas: $422,000 per year
- Utah: No information available
- Vermont: $310,000 per year
- Virginia: $340,100 per year
- Washington: $371,000 per year
- West Virginia: $388,000 per year
- Wisconsin: $402,000 per year
- Wyoming: $404,000 per year
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Job outlook for ER doctors
The BLS doesn't collect job outlook information for emergency medicine doctors specifically. The BLS does predict a 3% growth in demand for physicians and surgeons by 2030. Most of these openings may be due to a need for a younger workforce with knowledge of the newest medical technologies.Please note that none of the companies mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.
Emergency room technicians
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