Rural health systems are abandoning traditional physician recruitment playbooks as sustained workforce shortages force structural change. From hospital partnership agreements to community-driven retention campaigns, the strategies unfolding across underserved markets change how organizations compete for physician talent outside metropolitan corridors. This week’s developments across Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Colorado, and Montana reveal interconnected patterns that reshape the competitive picture tracked in our Physician Recruiting & Staffing Insights coverage.

The convergence of grant-funded service expansions, system consolidation partnerships, and grassroots retention efforts shows rural staffing crises moving beyond recruitment marketing into organizational redesign. For recruiting leaders, these signals require rethinking rural market tactics—and an appreciation that time-to-fill alone can misrepresent the difficulty of underserved placements.

Partnership Models Emerge as Recruitment Workarounds

Two partnership strategies stood out this week as health systems look for alternatives to direct hiring. In Iowa, Clarke County Hospital secured Rural Health Transformation grants to expand cancer care and advanced imaging—moves intended to reduce patient outmigration and create specialty practice settings that appeal to physicians who want rural impact without clinical isolation. In North Carolina, Onslow County commissioners approved a partnership between Onslow Memorial Hospital and UNC Health, explicitly linking system affiliation to physician recruitment.

The UNC Health model highlights how independent rural hospitals face structural disadvantages when recruiting. System ties can open residency channels and locum coverage while lending employer credibility that standalone facilities often lack. For recruiters, this signals that rural placement plans need to account for system affiliation dynamics as well as facility characteristics.

Rural hospital partnerships are becoming de facto recruitment infrastructure. Organizations that cannot win on pay alone are using system affiliations to access residency pipelines, shared locum networks and the credibility those relationships bring.

Coverage of these alliances usually focuses on financial stabilization and service expansion. What gets less attention is how partnerships change physician employment: recruiting, credentialing and retention duties can cross organizational lines, creating hybrid arrangements with competing incentives.

Community Retention Campaigns Signal Contract Fragility

The most striking story this week came from Montana, where union members and patients rallied behind a primary care physician after Logan Health declined to renew his contract. Reporting from KPAX, the Daily Inter Lake, and the Flathead Beacon shows community mobilization turning a routine non-renewal into a public retention issue.

That pattern matters for hospital leaders and in-house recruiters. Contract actions that might pass quietly in a metro area can trigger backlash in rural towns where a single physician holds outsized sway. The Logan Health case shows retention depends as much on local relationships as it does on pay or practice conditions.

For physicians weighing rural roles, the Montana episode offers a paradox: deep community ties can strengthen bargaining power during negotiations while also creating expectations that complicate transitions or retirement planning.

Specialty Shortages Compound Primary Care Deficits

Colorado’s geriatric medicine shortage, covered this week by the Reporter-Herald, is a reminder that specialty gaps stack on top of primary care deficits. Demographic shifts increase demand for geriatric expertise, and the small fellowship pipeline leaves rural facilities unable to compete with standard recruitment tactics.

Specialty recruiting in underserved markets calls for different approaches than primary care placement. Loan forgiveness and visa options paired with academic affiliations may work better than blunt pay increases for attracting specialists. Recruiters should build specialty-focused plans rather than applying a one-size-fits-all rural model.

Specialty physician shortages in rural markets won’t be fixed by higher pay alone. Limited fellowship pipelines and lifestyle factors mean recruiters must offer clearer career pathways and academic ties that make rural practice viable.

Systemic Shortage Framing Gains Mainstream Traction

An Inc. feature this week argued that physician shortages are worse than commonly understood and presented a surgeon’s proposal to reform training and licensing. The piece’s placement in a mainstream outlet signals wider recognition that supply issues are structural, not merely cyclical.

As shortage narratives spread, candidates will show up with more bargaining power—especially in high-demand specialties and underserved regions. Hospital leaders should expect more negotiation around compensation and practice conditions as candidates reference public coverage of shortages.

The Portland Press Herald opinion piece from Maine pushed urgency further, arguing rural healthcare problems cannot wait for election cycles. That kind of political pressure could speed state-level moves—from scope of practice changes to funding for training programs—that alter the competitive field for recruitment.

Strategic Implications for Recruiting Leadership

This week’s developments suggest rural physician recruiting is in transition. Organizations that stick to search-and-place habits face disadvantages against competitors who pursue system affiliations, grant-funded service upgrades and deeper community ties.

For hospital executives, the Logan Health episode is a warning. Contract decisions in rural markets demand stakeholder analysis that goes beyond HR: community relationships and union dynamics, often amplified by local media, can turn routine staffing moves into reputation problems.

Physicians considering rural work should dig into affiliation agreements, funding timelines and local politics as part of due diligence. Employer stability increasingly hinges on partnership structures and the durability of grant funding as much as on base pay.

The shift toward partnership models, community retention campaigns and specialty shortages points to a rural recruiting reality that requires integrated work across organizational development, community relations and specialty pipelines. Expect more deal-making, town-hall meetings and local headlines—and a family physician sitting at a diner table, staring at a contract renewal while the county fair goes on outside.

Sources

Clarke County Hospital selected for multiple Rural Health Transformation grants expanding cancer care and advanced imaging – Osceola Iowa News
Rural Maine’s healthcare crisis cannot wait until November. Opinion – Portland Press Herald
County approves OMH UNC Health partnership – The Daily News (JDNews)
Colorado Geriatrics Medicine Shortage – Reporter-Herald
Patients supporters rally behind physician after Logan Health declines to renew contract – KPAX
Union Rallies Around Primary Care Physician After Logan Health Didn’t Renew His Contract – Daily Inter Lake
Union backs family physician after Logan Health lets contract lapse – Flathead Beacon
U.S. Doctor Shortage Is Worse Than You Think — This Surgeon Has a Radical Fix – Inc.

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The ObGyn Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 1,261. Listings with salary data: 290. Full compensation range: $125,000 to $750,000. National average range: $316,624 to $362,080.

The six-fold spread from floor to ceiling reflects everything from part-time clinical roles to high-volume private practice partnerships in underserved markets. Most positions cluster between $270,000 and $400,000, a range that captures the majority of hospital-employed and group practice models. The variance suggests that practice setting, call burden, and geographic scarcity matter more than metropolitan prestige.

States represented: New York, California, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Washington, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, New Mexico, Minnesota, Connecticut, Oregon, South Dakota, Missouri, Kentucky, Colorado, Alabama, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah, Arkansas, Iowa, Delaware, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Vermont, West Virginia, Maine, Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Washington DC, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers

South Dakota ($422,000–$566,000): Twenty listings, six with salary data, and the highest average compensation in the country—scarcity pricing in its purest form. North Carolina ($450,000): A single listing skews the average, but it’s still the second-highest figure nationally. Iowa ($425,000): One listing, one data point, one very attractive number. Texas ($356,667–$454,333): High pay and high volume—a rare combination that suggests sustained demand. Kentucky ($412,500): Two listings averaging over $400,000 in a state not typically associated with top-tier physician comp. Oregon ($396,667–$413,333): Three listings with data, all above $390,000—West Coast pay without the West Coast volume. Alabama ($390,000): One listing, but it’s enough to place the state in the top tier. Delaware ($370,000–$400,000): A single data point that outperforms most of the Mid-Atlantic. Tennessee ($375,000): Two listings, both identical, both well above average. Oklahoma ($375,000): One listing that beats most of the Midwest and South.

Near-Average Performers

Arizona ($366,200–$386,200): Fifty listings and above-average pay—a volume leader that actually compensates accordingly. Minnesota ($355,876–$416,593): Five listings with wide variance, but the average holds near national norms. Connecticut ($312,921–$366,467): Nine listings that track closely with the national midpoint. Washington ($315,185–$371,343): Five listings with salary data and compensation that mirrors the national average almost exactly. Colorado ($314,167–$360,000): Six listings, stable range, no surprises. Florida ($317,850–$348,475): Fifty-three listings and near-average pay—high volume, predictable comp. Indiana ($316,667–$366,667): Three listings with data, all landing near the national mean. Nevada ($315,093–$381,760): Three listings with enough variance to suggest market segmentation. Georgia ($350,000): One listing, right in the middle. Arkansas ($350,000): One listing, national average on the dot. Louisiana ($300,533–$323,300): One listing that barely clears $300,000. Hawaii ($325,000–$350,000): One listing in paradise, paying like the mainland. Massachusetts ($340,000–$384,500): Two listings that land slightly above average despite the Boston cost of living.

Underperformers

New Jersey ($283,040–$314,720): Fifteen listings with data, all paying below the national average—high cost of living, low compensation. Vermont ($276,667–$353,333): Three listings with the second-lowest floor in the dataset. New York ($295,273–$347,892): The volume leader with 126 listings, paying $20,000 below the national average on the low end. California ($308,760–$350,431): One hundred twenty-one listings and below-average pay—the West Coast premium does not apply here. Maryland ($300,533–$323,300): Six listings, all clustering near $300,000 in one of the most expensive regions in the country. Michigan ($300,000–$350,000): Three listings, all underwhelming. Ohio ($329,286–$364,400): Seven listings with data, slightly below average despite relatively low cost of living. Illinois ($318,156–$359,031): Sixty-three listings and thirty-two with salary data—high volume, middling pay. Pennsylvania ($333,750–$352,500): Forty-five listings, four with data, all landing near but slightly below average.

Volume Leaders

New York leads with 126 listings. California follows with 121. Texas posts 78. North Carolina has 54. Florida has 53. Arizona has 50. Pennsylvania has 45. Indiana has 42. Wisconsin has 38. Washington has 37.

New York and California dominate on volume but underperform on compensation. Texas manages both high volume and high pay. Arizona does the same. Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and New Mexico post double-digit listings but zero salary transparency.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Target South Dakota, North Carolina, Iowa, Kentucky, and Texas. The single highest-paying listing in the dataset is in El Paso, TX, offering $425,000 to $648,000 annually. A close second is Sharon, CT at $550,000 to $600,000. Both reflect either scarcity premiums or partnership buy-in models that reward high-volume practitioners.

If your priority is maximum optionality: New York and California offer 247 combined listings, though compensation lags the national average by $20,000 to $30,000 on the lower bound. Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina provide strong volume with above-average or competitive pay.

If your priority is balance: Arizona ($366,200–$386,200 across fifty listings), Washington ($315,185–$371,343 across thirty-seven listings), and Connecticut ($312,921–$366,467 across twenty-two listings) offer stable compensation and meaningful job volume. Florida provides fifty-three listings at near-average pay in a no-income-tax state—a cost-of-living arbitrage worth considering.

Cost-of-living mismatches: New York, New Jersey, California, and Maryland all rank among the most expensive states in the country, yet all pay below or near the national average. Vermont pays the second-lowest salary floor in the dataset despite rural isolation and limited amenities. South Dakota and Iowa pay top-tier compensation in low-cost-of-living environments—a rare and meaningful advantage.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 23.0% (290 listings with compensation data out of 1,261 total listings).

That’s nearly four out of five listings with no published salary range—a transparency problem that will cost you pipeline velocity. Candidates are comparison-shopping in real time, and if your competitors in South Dakota, Texas, and Arizona are leading with $400,000+ figures, your undisclosed “competitive compensation” in New York is a non-starter.

Volume-pay misalignment: New York posts 126 listings at an average of $295,273–$347,892. California posts 121 listings at $308,760–$350,431. Both are paying $20,000 to $30,000 below the national average on the lower bound. You’re competing with smaller markets that are paying more and saying so upfront. If you’re recruiting in these states, you’ll need to lead with lifestyle, academic affiliation, subspecialty support, or partnership track—because the comp alone won’t close the deal.

Wisconsin, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Virginia combine for 109 listings with zero salary transparency. You’re flying blind and asking candidates to do the same.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Scarcity commands a premium, and volume does not.

South Dakota has twenty listings and pays an average of $422,000 to $566,000. New York has 126 listings and pays $295,273 to $347,892. The inverse relationship between supply and compensation is nearly perfect. Low-population states with limited ObGyn coverage are pricing in scarcity, call burden, and the cost of recruiting to rural or underserved markets. High-volume metro markets are pricing in competition among candidates, not competition among employers.

High cost of living does not translate to high compensation.

New York, New Jersey, California, and Maryland are all expensive places to live and all pay below the national average. Vermont combines rural isolation with below-average pay. The traditional “coastal premium” does not exist in the ObGyn market. If anything, the data suggests a coastal discount—employers in these states are relying on lifestyle, prestige, or network effects to offset subpar compensation.

Texas and Arizona are the only high-volume, high-pay markets.

Texas posts seventy-eight listings and pays $356,667 to $454,333. Arizona posts fifty listings and pays $366,200 to $386,200. Both states combine population growth, favorable tax structures, and sustained demand. They are the exceptions to the volume-pay tradeoff, and they’re likely pulling candidates from both coasts.

The $125,000 floor suggests part-time or locums distortion.

The bottom of the range is less than half the national average and almost certainly reflects part-time clinical roles, hourly locums contracts, or academic positions with significant non-clinical responsibilities. The floor is not representative of full-time ObGyn practice, but it does pull the average down and introduces noise into state-level comparisons.

The Bottom Line

The ObGyn job market rewards geographic flexibility and punishes brand loyalty. The highest-paying markets are not the most prestigious, the most populous, or the most desirable by traditional measures—they are the markets where demand exceeds supply and employers are willing to pay for it. South Dakota, Iowa, and Kentucky are outpaying New York and California by six figures. Texas and Arizona are proving that volume and compensation can coexist. The physicians who recognize this early will have the most leverage.

If you want to deliver babies in Manhattan, expect to be paid like you’re doing everyone a favor. If you want to be paid like you’re doing everyone a favor, go to South Dakota.
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Salary data based on 290 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post ObGyn PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Otolaryngology Job Market at a Glance

186 total listings. 37 with salary data. Full range: $270,235 to $778,000. Average range: $493,889 to $551,099.

The half-million-dollar gap between floor and ceiling reflects more than just market variation. The bottom of the range likely captures part-time arrangements, academic positions, or roles with restricted scope. The top end represents full-partnership track opportunities in underserved markets willing to pay scarcity premiums. The average range clusters comfortably above $490,000, confirming that Otolaryngology remains one of the better-compensated procedural specialties. But the 20% salary transparency rate means most employers are still playing cards close to the vest.
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States represented:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

How States Stack Up

Overperformers: Wyoming ($650,000 average) proves that low population density commands a premium when no one else wants to live there. Washington ($521,000–$656,500 average) combines Pacific Northwest appeal with genuine compensation leadership. Illinois ($606,250–$643,750 average) pays top-tier money and delivers 13 listings, making it the rare market that offers both volume and premium rates. Missouri ($556,750–$577,750 average) outperforms its Midwest peers by a meaningful margin across four salary listings. Kentucky ($533,333 average) quietly sits above the national average with three salary data points and six total openings.

Near-average performers: Indiana ($512,500 average) lands squarely at the national midpoint with two salary listings and six total positions. Nebraska ($514,000 average) mirrors Indiana almost exactly, though with just one salary listing to support the figure. Connecticut ($450,000–$600,000 average) shows a wide range from a single data point but centers near national norms. Colorado ($458,000–$508,000 average) tracks slightly below average across two salary listings. California ($463,360–$583,350 average) delivers predictable compensation across eight listings and four salary disclosures, neither leading nor lagging.

Underperformers: New York ($401,745–$525,558 average) posts 11 listings but compensates below the national average, a cost-of-living mismatch worth scrutinizing. New Jersey ($470,000 average) follows the same pattern: 9 listings, below-average pay, expensive ZIP codes. Ohio ($425,000–$450,000 average) sits at the bottom of disclosed markets despite reasonable job availability. Nevada ($432,067–$503,867 average) underperforms across three salary listings in a state with no income tax. Maryland ($440,000–$475,000 average) lags despite proximity to high-cost Mid-Atlantic metros. Florida ($400,000–$575,000 average) shows a single data point with a floor that ranks among the lowest nationally.

Volume leaders: Illinois leads with 13 listings and above-average pay. New York follows with 11 listings but below-average compensation. Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin each post 9 listings. Missouri pays well; New Jersey pays below average; Pennsylvania and Wisconsin disclosed no salary data. Tennessee (7 listings), New Hampshire (7 listings), and Massachusetts (7 listings) all withheld compensation information entirely.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Washington offers the highest disclosed salary in the dataset — $512,000 to $778,000 in Prosser, a small city in the Yakima Valley wine country (population: 6,000). Wyoming’s single listing at $650,000 and Illinois’s $606,250–$643,750 average also represent the top tier. Expect rural or underserved settings at these pay levels.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Illinois combines 13 listings with premium pay, making it the rare market where volume and compensation align. New York offers 11 listings but at below-average rates. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin deliver 9 listings each but no disclosed salary data, requiring direct negotiation.

If your priority is balance: California ($463,360–$583,350 average) offers near-average pay, eight listings, and lifestyle appeal. Kentucky ($533,333 average) sits above the national midpoint with six openings. Indiana ($512,500 average) provides six listings and cost-of-living advantages. All three deliver predictable compensation without requiring geographic sacrifice.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 19.9% (37 listings with data divided by 186 total listings). That means four out of five Otolaryngology postings withhold compensation information, forcing candidates to apply blind or walk away. In a specialty with a narrow candidate pipeline and long training timelines, this approach risks losing prospects to the one-in-five employers willing to lead with numbers.

High-volume states like Pennsylvania (9 listings, zero salary data), Wisconsin (9 listings, zero salary data), and Tennessee (7 listings, zero salary data) will need to lead with lifestyle, partnership track, or procedural volume instead of pay. New York and New Jersey post strong listing counts but compensate below the national average in expensive markets, a combination that requires selling institutional reputation or subspecialty training opportunities. Illinois proves the counter-case: transparency, volume, and premium pay create a talent magnet.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Geographic scarcity commands a measurable premium. Washington and Wyoming lead compensation nationally, and neither is a high-density market. Missouri outpays both coasts despite lower cost of living. The pattern is consistent: underserved regions price in the difficulty of recruitment. Employers in these markets understand they are competing against lifestyle preferences, not just other job offers.

High-volume markets do not reliably pay more. Illinois combines 13 listings with top-tier compensation, but New York posts 11 listings at below-average rates and New Jersey follows the same pattern. Volume signals demand, but it does not guarantee premium pricing. In fact, saturated markets may suppress wages through competition among candidates rather than employers.

The $270,235 floor suggests part-time or restricted-scope roles are distorting the lower bound. No full-time, full-scope Otolaryngology position should pay half the national average in the current market. The bottom quartile likely includes academic positions, part-time clinical arrangements, or roles with significant non-clinical responsibilities. Recruiters should clarify FTE and scope expectations when advertising below $400,000.

Cost-of-living mismatches create arbitrage opportunities for candidates. New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Nevada all pay below the national average despite high living costs and tax burdens. Meanwhile, Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana pay at or above average in low-cost regions. Physicians willing to optimize for purchasing power rather than geography will find meaningful financial advantages in the Midwest and Mountain West.

The Bottom Line

The Otolaryngology job market offers strong compensation, broad geographic distribution, and enough variation to reward strategic decision-making. Premium pay flows to underserved markets, not prestigious ZIP codes. Volume does not predict salary leadership. And the 20% transparency rate means most employers are still making candidates guess.

There is a lot of money available for people who can fix sinuses in Wyoming.
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Salary data based on 37 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Otolaryngology PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Neurosurgery Job Market at a Glance

Sixty-eight total listings. Six with salary data. Full range: $250,000 to $1,100,000. Average range: $705,000 to $808,333.

The spread is wide enough to park a small hospital system inside it. The $850,000 gap between floor and ceiling reflects everything from subspecialty focus to geographic desperation to the eternal mystery of why some markets refuse to acknowledge supply and demand. The average range sits comfortably in the mid-seven figures, which is precisely where neurosurgeons expect to live (and where their malpractice carriers expect them to afford premiums).

States represented: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Twenty-six states are hiring. Only six are saying what they pay.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers: Connecticut leads the nation with a range of $800,000 to $1,100,000, proving that proximity to hedge fund managers raises all compensation boats. Illinois averages $815,000 to $900,000 across two listings, a strong showing for the Midwest that suggests real investment in neurosurgical talent. Ohio posts a flat $900,000, no range, no negotiation, just a clean nine-figure offer that makes the case for the Rust Belt.

Near-average performers: Florida lists one position at $650,000, which falls below the national average but remains respectable for a state where the primary job requirement is occasionally treating jet ski injuries.

Underperformers: Alabama offers $250,000 to $400,000, a figure so far below the national average that it raises questions about scope, support, or whether the listing was meant for a different specialty entirely.

Volume leaders: Florida leads with 7 listings, followed by Indiana, Alabama, and Pennsylvania with 5 each, then Ohio and Illinois with 4 apiece. Florida’s volume dominance does not translate to compensation dominance, as its single disclosed salary sits $55,000 below the national average low. Alabama posts 5 listings but pays catastrophically below market, a combination that will require recruiters to lead with lifestyle, mission, or the word “opportunity” repeated until it loses meaning.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Connecticut, Illinois, and Ohio are your only rational choices. The highest-paying listing is in Hartford, Connecticut, offering $800,000 to $1,100,000 with the top end reaching $1,100,000. Ohio’s flat $900,000 removes negotiation friction. Illinois averages $815,000 to $900,000 across two roles, suggesting consistency.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Florida offers 7 listings, the most in the nation, though you will trade volume for a $55,000 pay cut relative to the national average low. Indiana, Alabama, and Pennsylvania each post 5 listings, but only Alabama discloses salary, and that disclosure is a cautionary tale.

If your priority is balance: Florida at $650,000 offers reasonable compensation in a no-state-income-tax environment with high listing volume, making it the pragmatic middle ground for neurosurgeons who want options without chasing the absolute top dollar. The cost-of-living advantage partially offsets the below-average salary, though not enough to close the gap entirely.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

The salary transparency rate is 8.8 percent (6 listings with data divided by 68 total listings). This is not a transparency problem. This is a transparency catastrophe. Eighty-eight percent of neurosurgery listings are asking candidates to express interest before learning whether the offer is $400,000 or $1,100,000, a spread that represents the difference between comfortable and generationally wealthy.

Candidate pipelines will thin in proportion to opacity. High-volume states without disclosed compensation (Indiana with 5 listings and zero salary data, Pennsylvania with 5 and zero) will struggle to convert interest into applications. Alabama’s 5 listings include one disclosed salary that sits $305,000 below the national average low, meaning recruiters will need to lead with mission, community need, or the phrase “quality of life” deployed with maximum conviction. Florida’s volume advantage buys some forgiveness for below-average pay, but not indefinitely.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Subspecialty and scope command inconsistent premiums: The $650,000 epilepsy neurosurgeon role in Florida suggests subspecialization does not automatically elevate compensation, or that Florida’s market dynamics suppress even niche roles. Ohio’s flat $900,000 and Connecticut’s $1,100,000 ceiling likely reflect general neurosurgery with full scope and call responsibility, though without granular job descriptions it is impossible to confirm whether leadership, partnership track, or surgical volume expectations are baked into those figures. The data hints that geography and institutional desperation matter more than subspecialty credentialing.

Part-time roles do not appear to distort the floor: All disclosed salaries appear to reflect full-time positions, meaning Alabama’s $250,000 low is not the result of a 0.5 FTE role being annualized incorrectly. This is simply what one employer believes a neurosurgeon is worth in that market, a belief that will be tested by the complete absence of applicants.

Underserved markets do not reliably price in scarcity: Alabama posts 5 listings, suggesting demand, yet offers compensation $305,000 below the national average low. This defies the standard underserved-market playbook, where scarcity drives premium pay. Either the market is more saturated than listing volume suggests, or employers are betting that mission-driven candidates will absorb the discount. The latter is a bet with poor historical odds.

The volume-pay relationship is inverted: Florida leads in listings but trails in compensation. Connecticut posts 2 listings and leads in pay. Illinois posts 4 listings and averages $857,500 at the midpoint. The typical volume-pay correlation (more jobs, higher competition, higher pay) does not hold. Instead, lower-volume markets are outbidding higher-volume states, suggesting that institutional resources and cost structures matter more than raw demand.

The Bottom Line

The Neurosurgery job market is robust, well-compensated, and almost entirely opaque. Six listings out of 68 disclose salary, leaving 91.2 percent of the market in a state of compensatory mystery that benefits no one except recruiters who prefer to negotiate from information asymmetry. For physicians, Connecticut, Illinois, and Ohio represent the disclosed top tier. Florida offers volume. Alabama offers a salary so low it functions as a market anomaly rather than a legitimate data point. The transparency crisis will resolve when employers realize that neurosurgeons have options and no patience for compensation hide-and-seek.

Neurosurgeons are expensive because brains are complicated and mistakes are permanent, but apparently some markets believe they are less expensive than the data suggests they should be.
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Salary data based on 6 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Neurosurgery PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Nurse Practitioner Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 1,786. Listings with salary data: 771. Full salary range: $90,000 to $400,000. Average salary range: $144,722 to $185,194.

The spread is wide enough to fit three separate careers inside it. The floor has risen (no one is working for $45,000 anymore, despite what the raw data might have suggested), but the ceiling remains aspirational for most. The majority of full-time roles cluster between $105,000 and $250,000, which is both competitive and table stakes depending on where you stand. The $400,000 outlier likely reflects a specialized or leadership role, but it skews the average high into irrelevance for most practitioners evaluating realistic offers.

States represented:

• Alaska
• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Maine
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• Montana
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• New York
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

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How States Stack Up

Overperformers: North Dakota leads at $223,600 to $268,320, though with only two listings, it’s more of a data point than a market. Alabama averages $191,500 to $255,000 across two listings — high pay, low volume, classic scarcity pricing. South Carolina and Wyoming both average $187,200 to $247,520, with South Carolina offering six listings and Wyoming just one. Indiana posts $178,050 to $238,175 across eight listings, a rare combination of decent volume and top-tier pay. North Carolina averages $177,412 to $232,593 with 17 salary-disclosed listings out of 121 total — high volume, high pay, and the closest thing this market has to a no-brainer. Delaware comes in at $182,000 to $228,800 with four listings, another low-volume, high-pay outlier.

Near-average performers: Maryland averages $140,900 to $182,076 across 10 listings, landing squarely in the national average range. Arizona posts $141,895 to $190,354 with 13 salary listings out of 66 total, offering solid mid-market compensation with reasonable volume. Texas averages $143,743 to $192,550 across 32 listings, a high-volume state that pays exactly what you’d expect. New Mexico comes in at $146,092 to $200,991 with 13 listings, slightly above average but not enough to move the needle. Ohio averages $146,589 to $185,657 across 15 listings, the definition of a benchmark market.

Underperformers: Oklahoma posts the lowest average at $115,000 to $140,000, nearly $30,000 below the national average floor — one listing, one data point, one warning sign. Rhode Island averages $122,000 to $153,000 across five listings, underperforming despite its proximity to higher-paying New England neighbors. Connecticut comes in at $123,071 to $158,593 with 28 listings, a high-volume state paying below-average wages. West Virginia averages $123,280 to $152,680 across five listings, consistent with its cost of living but lagging the national norm. Vermont posts $126,683 to $153,492 with 13 listings, another New England state that doesn’t pay like one. New Jersey averages $127,560 to $154,394 across 25 listings — high cost of living, below-average pay, a mismatch worth noting. Colorado averages $128,788 to $163,401 with 14 listings, underperforming given its desirability and cost structure. New York averages $128,068 to $163,482 across 105 listings, a volume leader that pays below the national average (though metro-area roles likely skew higher than the statewide mean suggests).

Volume leaders: California leads with 194 listings, averaging $151,500 to $187,912 — solid pay, massive volume, and the kind of market where you can afford to be selective. New York follows with 150 listings but averages just $128,068 to $163,482, a rare case where high volume coincides with below-average pay. North Carolina posts 121 listings and averages $177,412 to $232,593, the best combination of volume and compensation in the country. Washington offers 95 listings at $148,074 to $180,407, respectable on both fronts. Oregon has 93 listings averaging $148,414 to $193,323, another West Coast market with strong fundamentals. Massachusetts posts 84 listings at $127,175 to $160,849, high volume but middling pay. Florida rounds out the leaders with 82 listings averaging $146,111 to $182,011, near-average pay in a no-income-tax state.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: North Dakota, Alabama, South Carolina, Wyoming, and Indiana lead the pack, though volume is thin and you’ll need to be comfortable with limited optionality. The highest individual listing identified is a dermatology NP role in Plattsburgh, NY, offering $150,000 to $250,000 — not the $400,000 ceiling, but the most concrete top-end offer in the dataset.

If your priority is maximum optionality: California, New York, and North Carolina dominate by sheer volume, with North Carolina offering the added benefit of above-average pay. Washington and Oregon provide strong West Coast alternatives with better compensation than New York and fewer listings than California.

If your priority is balance: North Carolina offers 121 listings with an average of $177,412 to $232,593, the rare market where you don’t have to choose between opportunity and pay. Indiana, with eight salary listings averaging $178,050 to $238,175, offers a smaller but still viable middle ground. California remains the safe bet for practitioners who want options, competitive pay, and the ability to move laterally without leaving the state.

Cost-of-living mismatches worth scrutiny: New Jersey, Colorado, and New York all post below-average pay despite above-average living costs. Connecticut underperforms relative to its cost structure. Conversely, North Carolina, Texas, and Florida offer near-average or above-average pay in states with lower costs and no income tax (in the case of the latter two).
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 43.2% (771 listings with disclosed compensation out of 1,786 total). That’s low enough to create friction in candidate pipelines and high enough to set expectations that will be hard to manage when compensation isn’t competitive.

Candidate pipeline implications: High-volume states with below-average pay — New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts — will struggle to convert interest into offers unless they lead with non-financial value propositions. North Carolina’s combination of volume and pay makes it a magnet market; recruiters elsewhere will need to explain why candidates should look past it. Low-volume, high-pay states like North Dakota and Alabama will attract opportunistic candidates but lack the depth to build sustained pipelines.

Volume-pay misalignments: New York’s 150 listings at below-average pay suggest either a highly segmented market (with metro roles paying more than the statewide average indicates) or a systemic undervaluation of NP labor. California’s 194 listings at above-average pay reflect a market where demand consistently outstrips supply. North Carolina’s 121 listings at $177,412 to $232,593 represent the market’s most efficient equilibrium — high demand met with competitive pay. Recruiters in underperforming high-volume states will need to lead with schedule flexibility, loan repayment, benefits, and career development rather than base salary.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Scarcity commands a premium, but only in markets willing to pay for it.

North Dakota, Alabama, Wyoming, and South Dakota all post top-decile compensation with minimal volume. These aren’t accidents — they’re deliberate pricing decisions in underserved markets where replacing a nurse practitioner is harder than hiring one. Indiana and North Carolina, by contrast, pay well despite having more listings, suggesting structural demand that hasn’t been met by supply growth. Oklahoma’s $115,000 floor, meanwhile, shows what happens when a market either can’t or won’t compete: it prices itself out of contention.

High-volume states don’t automatically pay more, and when they don’t, they lose.

New York’s 150 listings at $128,068 to $163,482 average and California’s 194 listings at $151,500 to $187,912 tell two different stories. New York has volume but not urgency; California has both. The difference shows up in the averages and in the likelihood that a given listing converts to a hire. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey all suffer from the same dynamic — high cost of living, high listing volume, middling pay. Candidates will apply, but they won’t stay unless the role offers something compensation can’t capture.

The $400,000 ceiling is real, but it’s not representative.

The highest salary in the dataset is an outlier, likely tied to a specialized role (dermatology, aesthetics, or a leadership position with significant RVU upside). It skews the average high to $185,194, a figure that doesn’t reflect the experience of the median nurse practitioner. The more useful range is $105,000 to $250,000, which captures the vast majority of full-time roles and excludes the part-time, travel, and ultra-specialized positions that distort the floor and ceiling.

Geography matters more than credentials in this market.

A nurse practitioner in North Dakota earns $80,000 more on average than one in Oklahoma. A practitioner in North Carolina earns $50,000 more than one in New York. The role is the same; the market is not. Cost of living explains some of this, but not all of it — North Carolina’s pay advantage over New York persists even after adjusting for housing and tax differences. The implication: where you work matters as much as what you do, and practitioners who are geographically flexible will capture significantly more value over the course of a career.

The Bottom Line

The nurse practitioner market is large, liquid, and unevenly distributed. North Carolina offers the best combination of volume and pay. California offers the most optionality. North Dakota offers the highest average compensation (if you can find the listings). New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey offer the most listings per dollar of purchasing power, which is to say: they don’t offer much. The $90,000 floor is higher than it used to be, but the $400,000 ceiling remains aspirational for all but a few. Choose your geography carefully, because it will determine your comp more than your résumé will.

There is a lot of opportunity available for nurse practitioners, but not all of it pays the same — or even close.
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Salary data based on 771 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post nurse-practitioner PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Orthopedics Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 239. Listings with salary data: 34. Full compensation range: $350,000 to $975,000. Average range: $577,971 to $649,343.

The national average sits comfortably in the upper-six-figure tier, but the $625,000 spread between floor and ceiling is wide enough to drive a fully loaded ACL repair cart through. The low end ($350,000) appears repeatedly in Maryland, Vermont, Ohio, and even high-cost New York — suggesting either part-time arrangements, employed positions with limited call, or markets where hospitals have successfully convinced surgeons that lifestyle is its own form of currency. The high end approaches $1 million and clusters in the Midwest and select Northeast markets, where scarcity and surgical volume appear to command meaningful premiums.

States represented: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• Iowa: $850,000 flat — the highest single-state average in the dataset, and proof that scarcity pricing works when you’re the only game in three counties.
• Illinois: $668,750 to $737,500 across four listings — consistent, high, and geographically diverse enough to suggest structural demand rather than a single outlier institution.
• Oregon: $680,000 to $705,000 across two listings — West Coast compensation without West Coast cost of living (depending on how you feel about Portland).
• Kansas: $700,000 flat on one listing — another Midwest data point suggesting that flyover country is paying surgeons to stay.
• New York: $622,000 to $700,444 across 15 listings — high volume, high pay, and the only large-market state that delivers both.

Near-average:

• Colorado: $526,000 to $636,000 — right in the national average zone, with one disclosed listing and presumably strong lifestyle appeal doing some of the compensatory work.
• Missouri: $550,000 to $625,000 — near the midpoint despite leading the nation in total job volume, a disconnect worth examining.
• California: $480,000 to $550,000 — below the national average on two listings, which feels low given state tax rates and the cost of a one-bedroom in any city worth living in.

Underperformers:

• Maryland: $350,000 to $400,000 — $175,000 below the national average low, which is a polite way of saying someone is getting a bad deal.
• Vermont: $350,000 to $400,000 — same range as Maryland, but with better skiing and even fewer people.
• New Jersey: $375,000 to $475,000 across two listings — below average in a high-cost state, which suggests either very specific practice limitations or a compensation strategy that assumes proximity to New York is payment enough.
• Ohio: $400,000 to $550,000 — low end trails the national average by nearly $180,000, though the high end approaches respectability.
• Florida: $450,000 flat on one listing — a single data point in a nine-listing state, but if that’s representative, the no-income-tax advantage isn’t showing up in the gross.

Volume leaders: New York leads with 22 listings. Missouri follows with 15. Kentucky posts 14. Texas contributes 12, Indiana 10, and Oregon 11. New York is the only high-volume state with above-average pay and strong salary transparency (15 of 22 listings disclosed). Missouri, despite leading in total postings, disclosed only one salary — and that one fell near the national average. Kentucky, Texas, and Indiana offered zero salary data across 36 combined listings, rendering them high-opportunity zones in volume only.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Iowa, Illinois, Oregon, Kansas, and New York are your targets. The single highest-paying listing in the dataset is $850,000 per year in West Islip, New York — a full-time position with no disclosed scope limitations. Iowa’s $850,000 flat is equally compelling and likely comes with a lower cost of living and a faster commute (because there is no traffic when there are no people).

If your priority is maximum optionality: New York offers 22 listings with strong salary transparency and a $622,000 to $700,444 average — the best combination of volume and pay in the dataset. Missouri, Kentucky, and Texas offer high listing counts but near-zero disclosed compensation, which means you’ll be negotiating blind or filtering through recruiter noise to find the real numbers.

If your priority is balance: Colorado and Oregon offer near- or above-average pay in markets with demonstrated lifestyle appeal. Florida’s single $450,000 listing is underwhelming given the tax structure, and California’s $480,000 to $550,000 range feels low unless the job comes with equity, partnership track, or an address in La Jolla.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 14.2% (34 listings with data divided by 239 total listings). That is not a typo. Fewer than one in six Orthopedics listings disclose compensation, which means the candidate pipeline is being built on phone screens, recruiter relationships, and a lot of wasted time.

For high-volume states like Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, and Indiana — none of which disclosed a single salary across 51 combined listings — recruiters will need to lead with scope, partnership timeline, call schedule, and cultural fit. Compensation will remain a back-end conversation, which works until a candidate gets a disclosed offer from Illinois or Iowa and suddenly your “competitive package” feels like a placeholder.

The volume-pay misalignment is most visible in Missouri: 15 listings, one disclosed salary, and that one came in near the national average despite leading the country in postings. If volume reflects demand, pay should follow. If it doesn’t, the market is either saturated, the roles are underspecified, or employers are counting on geographic inertia to suppress wages.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Geographic scarcity commands a premium, and the Midwest is collecting.

Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and Oregon — none of which rank in the top ten states by population — are paying at or near the top of the national range. This is not an accident. Lower physician density, aging populations, and hospital systems with limited competition create pricing power for surgeons willing to work in markets that don’t show up in lifestyle magazines. The $850,000 Iowa listing and the $700,000 Kansas posting are not outliers. They are the market clearing price for scarcity.

High-volume states are not high-pay states unless they are New York.

Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, and Indiana combined for 51 listings and zero disclosed salaries. Even when Missouri’s single disclosed figure appeared, it sat near the national average — not above it. Volume signals demand, but it does not guarantee compensation leadership. In these states, recruiters are likely relying on other value propositions, and physicians should assume they’ll need to negotiate harder.

The floor is surprisingly low, and it shows up in surprising places.

Maryland, Vermont, Ohio, and New Jersey all posted starting salaries between $350,000 and $400,000 — as much as $225,000 below the national average low. Some of this may reflect part-time or limited-scope roles. Some of it may reflect employed models with restricted call or administrative responsibilities. But some of it is just low pay in markets where hospitals have more leverage than surgeons, and candidates should ask why.

Salary transparency is the exception, not the rule, and it is concentrated in six states.

Of the 34 listings with disclosed compensation, 29 came from just six states: New York, Illinois, Oregon, Ohio, New Jersey, and California. The remaining 36 states contributed five disclosed salaries across 205 listings. This is a transparency problem and a market efficiency problem. Physicians waste time on roles that don’t meet their floor. Recruiters waste time on candidates who won’t move for the ceiling. And hospitals that do disclose gain an outsize share of attention in a crowded field.

The Bottom Line

The Orthopedics job market is large, well-compensated, and geographically diffuse — but it is also opaque, inconsistent, and only selectively transparent. Physicians who want top dollar should look to the Midwest and select Northeast markets, where scarcity and volume converge. Those who want the most options should focus on New York, Missouri, and Kentucky, but should prepare to negotiate without benchmarks. And those evaluating offers in Maryland, Vermont, or New Jersey should ask hard questions about why the pay is $200,000 below the national average — and whether the answer is worth accepting.

Orthopedic surgery pays well almost everywhere. But the difference between $350,000 and $850,000 is not a rounding error. It is a career.
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Salary data based on 34 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Orthopedics PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Occupational Medicine Job Market at a Glance

26 total listings. 7 listings with salary data. Full range: $260,000 to $365,000. Average range: $300,314 to $316,943.

The $105,000 gap between floor and ceiling is wide enough to justify a cross-country move, and the average range confirms that mid-six-figure compensation is standard for physicians willing to evaluate multiple markets. The clustering around $300,000 suggests a soft consensus on baseline value, though outliers on both ends indicate that employer type and market dynamics drive meaningful variance. States represented:

• Arizona
• Alabama
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wisconsin

That is coast-to-coast distribution with minimal regional concentration, which means physicians have geographic flexibility but limited leverage in any single metro.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers: Colorado leads nationally with disclosed pay of $345,000 to $365,000, combining top-tier compensation with the highest job volume in the country (4 listings). Massachusetts commands $343,200 to $353,600 annualized from a part-time hourly role, proving that per-hour markets can outpace full-time offers when structured correctly. Kansas posts $330,000 to $355,000 in Wichita, a strong showing for a low-cost-of-living state that typically undersells its physician markets.

Near-average: Illinois sits at $282,000 to $295,000 across two salary-disclosing listings, landing just below the national average but close enough to serve as a useful benchmark for mid-market expectations.

Underperformers: New Jersey offers a flat $260,000 in Long Branch, the lowest disclosed salary nationally and a concerning data point for a high-cost state. California averages $260,000 to $295,000 on its single disclosed listing, underperforming despite three total postings and one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.

Volume leaders: Colorado leads with 4 listings, California follows with 3, and Kansas, Illinois, New Jersey, and South Carolina each post 2. Colorado is the rare market where volume and pay align at the top. California demonstrates the opposite: high activity, low disclosed compensation.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Denver, Colorado is the answer. The Occupational Medicine Medical Director role with Premise Health pays $345,000 to $365,000 annually, the highest disclosed figure in the dataset. Wichita, Kansas follows at $330,000 to $355,000 for a similar role, and the cost-of-living arbitrage makes Kansas a financially superior outcome on a take-home basis.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Colorado offers 4 listings with top-tier pay, giving you negotiating leverage and fallback options in a single state. California provides 3 listings but only one disclosed salary, which limits transparency and planning.

If your priority is balance: Massachusetts delivers high compensation ($343,200 to $353,600 annualized) in a part-time structure, allowing for flexible scheduling without sacrificing income. Kansas offers strong pay in a low-cost market, maximizing purchasing power without the lifestyle trade-offs of rural practice. Avoid New Jersey and California unless non-financial factors outweigh a $40,000 to $100,000 pay cut.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 26.9% (7 of 26 listings disclosed compensation). That is low enough to create friction in candidate pipelines and force physicians to apply blind or skip listings entirely. In a specialty with only 26 national postings, opacity is a competitive disadvantage.

Volume-pay misalignment is visible in California, which posts 3 listings but discloses compensation at the bottom of the national range. Recruiters in that market will need to lead with scope, leadership opportunities, or organizational reputation rather than salary. Colorado demonstrates the opposite dynamic: high volume, high pay, and likely a faster time-to-fill as a result. New Jersey recruiters face the dual challenge of below-average pay in an above-average cost-of-living state, which will require creative packaging around benefits, work-life balance, or practice autonomy.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Leadership roles command a premium, but the data is thin. The two highest-paying listings are both Medical Director positions (Denver at $345,000 to $365,000, Wichita at $330,000 to $355,000), suggesting that administrative scope adds $40,000 to $60,000 in annualized value. However, only two listings explicitly reference leadership, so the premium may be understated or absorbed into employer type rather than title.

Part-time roles distort the floor, but not in the expected direction. The Massachusetts listing annualizes to $343,200 to $353,600 based on hourly pay, which places it near the top of the national range despite reduced hours. This suggests that high-performing part-time markets can outprice full-time roles in lower-demand states, and that hourly structures may attract premium compensation when scarcity is acute.

Underserved markets are not pricing in scarcity consistently. Kansas pays well ($330,000 to $355,000) relative to cost of living, but Illinois and New Jersey underperform despite similar or lower physician density. The disconnect suggests that compensation is driven more by employer strategy and budget than by regional supply-demand imbalances.

The volume-pay relationship breaks in California. Three listings should signal competitive pressure and upward pricing, but the single disclosed salary sits at the national floor. This indicates either that California employers are relying on non-financial appeal (geography, prestige, lifestyle) or that the listings without disclosed pay are significantly higher and skewing perception.

The Bottom Line

Occupational Medicine is a small, geographically dispersed market where compensation varies by $105,000 depending on state and employer type, and where three-quarters of listings decline to disclose pay. Colorado and Kansas offer the best combination of transparency and value, while California and New Jersey underdeliver relative to cost of living. For physicians, this is a market where selectivity and geographic flexibility determine income more than credentials or experience.

There is good money available for keeping workers healthy and employers compliant, but you will need to ask the right questions in the right states.
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Salary data based on 7 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Occupational-Medicine PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

A fundamental mismatch is emerging between the velocity of nursing demand and the structural capacity of educational pipelines to respond. While state governments and academic institutions announce substantial investments in nursing workforce development, the underlying mathematics reveal a troubling gap: current expansion efforts address only a fraction of projected shortfalls. This tension sits at the center of the Healthcare Workforce & Labor Market, where nursing shortages increasingly constrain physician practice patterns, hospital operational capacity, and the broader system’s ability to absorb demographic demand.

Virginia’s newly released workforce brief makes the scale clear: the state faces a critical nursing shortage as healthcare demand rises with an aging population. Maryland responded this week with $6 million in state grants to bolster nursing education capacity. From Alabama to Kansas to Texas, institutions are launching programs, expanding pathways, and creating accelerated tracks. Those moves add capacity, but they are incremental additions to a pipeline that was undersized before the pandemic sped up attrition.

The Investment Surge: Coordinated Response or Fragmented Reaction?

The week’s announcements show intent across states and schools, but execution looks uneven. Maryland’s $6 million grant package to the University of Maryland School of Nursing targets faculty development and clinical placement expansion—two real bottlenecks. Troy University’s partnership with Enterprise State in Alabama and Whitworth’s new four-year program in Spokane add seats in underserved markets. MidAmerica Nazarene University’s direct-entry MSN program in Kansas creates an accelerated path for career changers.

Mainstream coverage tends to present these investments as fixes. The reality is harsher: education capacity is limited less by money and more by the supply of qualified faculty and available clinical training sites. Funding can buy classrooms and simulation labs, but it cannot quickly produce experienced nurse educators or open clinical slots in facilities that are already stretched thin.

The nursing shortage is increasingly a faculty shortage in disguise. Schools report turning away qualified applicants not for lack of funding or facilities, but because they lack clinical instructors and preceptors. That upstream constraint slows how fast any investment converts into practicing nurses.

The Paradox of Turning Away Qualified Applicants

One of the week’s most striking patterns: institutions cry out for nurses while turning away thousands of qualified applicants. This is not primarily a funding problem; it is a capacity problem writ across several layers.

Faculty pay trails clinical salaries, making it hard for schools to hire and keep instructors. Clinical placement sites are finite—hospitals and health systems can absorb only so many students without risking patient care or burning out preceptors. And accreditation standards cap faculty-to-student ratios, so growing programs requires proportional faculty growth.

For hospital and physician leaders, the consequence is immediate. The pipeline will not yield dramatically more graduates in the next three to five years, regardless of today’s announcements. That reality makes retention economics far more important than many plans acknowledge.

Post-Acute Care Recovery Signals Broader Competition

The nursing home sector added 3,300 jobs in June, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. That recovery is real and welcome, but it also tightens competition for a constrained labor pool.

Acute hospitals, post-acute facilities, ambulatory centers, and home health programs draw from the same supply. As nursing homes rebuild, they compete with hospitals for new graduates and experienced staff. The American Health Care Association’s announcement, while positive for long-term care, describes a near-term zero-sum dynamic: nurses hired into nursing homes are not available for hospital jobs.

Becker’s Hospital Review linked that recovery to deportation-related shortage concerns, underscoring the role of foreign-trained nurses and the effect of immigration policy uncertainty on supply.

The nursing labor market functions as multiple competing submarkets—acute care, post-acute, ambulatory, home health—all pulling from a tight pool. Gains in one sector often mean losses in another.

Geographic Fragmentation and Rural Vulnerability

Program announcements tend to cluster in metro areas and established academic centers, leaving rural communities at a disadvantage. Lake Houston-area hospitals report struggling to keep up. The Troy–Enterprise State partnership in Alabama attempts to target rural gaps, but those efforts are exceptions so far.

Physicians weighing practice locations should factor nursing availability into the decision. Severe local shortages change day-to-day work: fewer support staff, broader personal responsibility, and limited growth potential. Those realities rarely appear in headline compensation offers, but they matter for sustainability and satisfaction.

Pipeline Investments Versus Retention Economics

The media focus on pipeline expansion often buries an equal or larger problem: retention. Every nurse who leaves represents not just a vacancy but a loss of years of training and experience. Burnout, pay dissatisfaction, and safety concerns drive attrition that can overwhelm modest pipeline gains.

Programs like high school nursing camps at St. John Fisher University and career academies such as Taylor Nursing Academy in Grandview are important, but they’re long-horizon bets—students enrolled today won’t practice independently for four to six years. In the meantime, experienced nurses who leave create gaps new graduates cannot immediately fill.

Health systems face a choice: invest in retention through pay, scheduling flexibility, and workplace improvements, or chase a limited pool of nurses. The short-term pressures often push systems toward the latter, which can accelerate attrition.

Strategic Implications for Workforce Positioning

This shortage is not a brief disruption. New educational investments will begin producing graduates in three to five years, and probably not at levels that close projected gaps. That has real effects across the workforce.

Physicians will increasingly work where nurse support is thin, which may expand individual responsibility or force different team mixes. Hospital leaders must fold nursing availability into decisions about service lines and facility expansions. Recruiters should recognize that stable nursing staff is a clear advantage when pitching practice opportunities.

Policy direction this week is sensible, but timelines matter. Expect a lag between program announcements and workforce impact. The nursing shortage will shape labor market dynamics, compensation pressure, and models of care for the rest of the decade.

One image sticks: a call board at 2 a.m. with more blank slots than names, and a note taped to the corner that reads “preceptor needed.” It is small, messy, and hard to fix with a press release.

Sources

New brief reveals Virginia faces critical nursing shortage as demand for healthcare workers surges – PR Newswire
Lake Houston-area hospitals educators attempt to keep up with rising nursing shortage – Community Impact
$6 Million State Grants to Bolster Maryland’s Nursing Workforce – University of Maryland Baltimore
University of Maryland nursing school wins $6 million in grants to strengthen Maryland’s nursing workforce – WMAR2 News
Whitworth announces four-year nursing program – Spokane Journal of Business
Desperate Nurses Yet Turning Away Thousands – AllNurses.com
Nursing Homes Add 3k Jobs in June Surpass Prepandemic Levels – American Health Care Association
Nursing homes add 3000 jobs in June reaching pre-pandemic workforce levels – McKnight’s Senior Living
Nursing home workforce adds 3300 jobs in June amid deportation shortage concerns – Becker’s Hospital Review
St. John Fisher University hosts nursing camp for high schoolers to address local nursing shortage – WHEC
Bethel Expands Access to Nursing With Two New Paths – Radio NWTN
Enterprise State Troy University partner to address Alabama nursing shortage – WTVY
Applications Open for Critical Care Nursing Scholarships – American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
MNU to launch first direct-entry MSN program in Kansas – MidAmerica Nazarene University
Taylor Nursing Academy in Grandview helps students launch careers in healthcare – KSHB 41

The post Nursing Pipeline Investments Cannot Match Demand Velocity appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Med-Ped Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 89
Listings with disclosed salary: 17
Full national range: $200,000 – $400,000
National average range: $254,324 – $290,629

That $200,000 spread is not a rounding error. It is the difference between a starter home in Wichita and a down payment on something with a view in Los Angeles. The average range clusters in the mid-$250s to high-$280s, meaning the true center of gravity for Med-Ped compensation lives well below the headline maximum. The $400,000 top-end figure is real, but it is also singular — one California listing, doing a lot of heavy lifting for the entire west coast average.

States represented: California, Massachusetts, New York, Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, Kansas, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Wisconsin, Tennessee, New Jersey, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, West Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire, Alabama.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• California — $400,000 on a single disclosed listing, which is either a genuine outlier or the entire state’s compensation strategy hiding behind one job post.
• Iowa — $300,000 to $400,000 range on one listing, quietly the most interesting number in the dataset.
• Arkansas — a flat $350,000, no negotiation implied.
• Kentucky — $300,000 on a single disclosure, punching well above regional expectations.
• Illinois — $300,000 to $325,000, anchored by the Rockford listing.

Near-average:

• Ohio — $250,000 flat, textbook benchmark.
• New York — $230,583 to $270,950 across six disclosures, the most statistically credible number in the report and, unfortunately for New York, not a flattering one.

Underperformers:

• Kansas — $200,000 to $260,000 across four listings, the disclosed floor of the national market.
• Missouri — $240,000 to $250,000 on one listing, below the national average despite seven total postings.

Volume leaders: California (10), Massachusetts (10), New York (9), Missouri (7), North Carolina (6), Illinois (5), Virginia (5), Kansas (5). Massachusetts leads on volume and discloses nothing. Missouri offers seven jobs at below-average pay. The volume-pay relationship, put charitably, does not exist here.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: The highest-paying disclosed listing is a Med-Ped role in Rockford, Illinois, posted by Curare Group, Inc., at $300,000 to $325,000 per year. California’s $400,000 figure is higher on paper, but it is one listing, and $400,000 in California is not $400,000 in Rockford. Iowa’s $300,000 to $400,000 range deserves a serious look for anyone willing to relocate somewhere with actual parking.

If your priority is maximum optionality: California, Massachusetts, and New York collectively account for 29 of 89 listings. You will have choices. You will also have to ask what the job pays, because Massachusetts disclosed exactly zero salaries.

If your priority is balance: New York offers the most transparent, statistically meaningful data at a mid-market number — which sounds reasonable until you remember it is New York.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 17 of 89 listings, or 19.1 percent. Roughly four out of five Med-Ped postings do not tell candidates what the job pays. In a specialty defined by breadth and relative scarcity, this is a pipeline problem, not a negotiation strategy. Candidates who can practice both IM and pediatrics have options; they will filter past listings without numbers.

Volume-pay misalignments are stark. Massachusetts and California tie for listing volume, but Massachusetts discloses nothing and California’s ceiling rests on a sample of one. Missouri posts seven jobs at Missouri money. Recruiters in high-volume, low-transparency states will need to lead with scope, schedule, patient mix, and lifestyle — because compensation is not doing the recruiting work for them.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Scope commands a premium — sometimes. Med-Ped physicians can staff both adult and pediatric panels, which theoretically doubles their utility. The Rockford, Iowa, and Arkansas numbers suggest that some employers are pricing that dual capability accordingly. Most are not.

Part-time and specialized roles likely distort the floor. The $200,000 Kansas listings from The Inline Group appear repeatedly and may reflect clinic-based, defined-scope positions rather than full-spectrum inpatient-outpatient roles. Treat the low end of this data with appropriate skepticism.

Underserved markets are pricing in scarcity. Arkansas at $350,000, Kentucky at $300,000, and Iowa reaching $400,000 all reflect a familiar rural-recruitment premium. The states that need Med-Peds most are the ones willing to name a number and mean it.

The volume-pay relationship has broken. Traditionally, high-listing states signal high demand and rising compensation. Here, the two largest markets (California, Massachusetts) offer either one data point or none. Volume is a proxy for churn, not premium.

The Bottom Line

The Med-Ped market rewards physicians who can read between the lines — or, more precisely, physicians willing to email a recruiter and ask the question 72 employers refused to answer in writing. The best-paying opportunities are concentrated in smaller, less obvious markets: Rockford, rural Iowa, Arkansas, Kentucky. The largest markets offer volume, ambiguity, and the coastal cost of living to go with them.

Med-Ped physicians are trained to handle two populations at once; the job market has decided to compensate them like it can only remember one.
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Salary data based on 17 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Med-Ped PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.

The Neurology Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 433
Listings with salary data: 56
Full national range: $225,000 to $500,000
Average range: $336,900 to $371,587
Most full-time roles cluster: $270,000 to $450,000
Midpoint concentration: $300,000 to $375,000

The spread is unusually wide for a specialty this established. A $275,000 delta between floor and ceiling is not a rounding error — it reflects genuine variance in scope, subspecialty, call burden, and how badly a given health system needs to fill the seat.

States represented: TX, NY, FL, NC, GA, IL, WA, PA, VA, KY, CT, NH, MO, OH, TN, NV, NJ, AZ, MN, MD, MA, WI, SC, IN, MI, CO, LA, KS, VT, NM, OK, OR, ME, ND, SD, WV, NE, AK, MS, ID, RI, WY, AL, CA, AR.

Only 56 of 433 listings disclose pay. Which means most of what neurologists see when they browse the market is a job description, a location, and a phone number.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• Illinois: $395,000–$410,625 across eight listings — the deepest high-paying data pool in the country.
• Georgia: A flat $400,000 average that punches well above regional expectations.
• North Carolina: Also $400,000, and paired with the second-highest listing volume nationally.
• Nevada: $381,850–$383,333, buoyed by the CompHealth ceiling listing.
• Kansas: A single listing at $385,000 (a lonely, well-compensated data point).
• Maryland: $347,000–$417,000, the widest upside band among leaders.

Near-average:

• Washington: $313,975–$383,491 — a near-perfect mirror of the national mean.
• New York: $318,923–$358,648 across 13 listings, the most statistically reliable read in the country.
• Connecticut: $306,667–$341,667, solidly mid-market.
• New Hampshire: $320,000–$360,000, respectable for its size.
• Missouri: $360,000–$371,250, quietly outperforming its Midwest peers.
• Vermont: $330,000–$375,000.
• Minnesota: $340,000–$370,000.
• Colorado: A flat $370,000.

Underperformers:

• Louisiana: $225,000–$385,000 — the widest single-state spread and the lowest floor in the country.
• Arizona: $260,000–$350,000, meaningfully below the national midpoint.
• Tennessee: $290,000–$310,000, the tightest and lowest band with more than one data point.
• Florida: $300,000–$325,000 on 24 listings — a lot of demand, not a lot of money.
• Ohio: $300,000–$335,000.
• Massachusetts: $300,000–$350,000 (Boston prestige, not Boston pay).
• New Jersey: $300,000–$350,000.

Volume leaders: Texas (40), North Carolina (26), Florida (24), New York (22), Missouri (18), Georgia (18), Illinois (17), Pennsylvania (16), New Hampshire (15), Washington (14). Texas leads the country in listings and reports just two salaries, averaging $350,000–$362,500 — below average despite dominant volume. Florida has 24 listings and one of the lowest disclosed pay bands in the dataset.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: The ceiling listing is a Las Vegas, Nevada role posted by CompHealth at $495,550 to $500,000. Illinois offers the deepest concentration of high-pay data, and Maryland offers the most upside within a single listing ($417,000 high). Georgia and North Carolina both average $400,000 — a strong number in states with reasonable cost of living.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Texas (40), North Carolina (26), Florida (24), and New York (22) are where the volume lives. New York is the only one of the four with a robust salary pool to match.

If your priority is balance: Illinois and North Carolina are the rare states offering both depth of listings and above-average pay. Massachusetts pays $300,000–$350,000 in one of the highest cost-of-living markets in the country — scrutinize accordingly. Florida’s 24 listings at $300,000–$325,000 deserve the same suspicion.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 56 of 433, or 12.9%.

Which means 87.1% of Neurology listings are asking candidates to inquire, apply, or otherwise operate on faith. In a specialty with a $275,000 range between floor and ceiling, faith is a hard sell.

The pipeline implication is direct: candidates cross-shopping five listings will anchor to the two that disclose numbers and ignore the three that don’t. Texas and Florida — the volume leaders — are the clearest volume-pay misalignments in the dataset. Texas posts 40 roles and averages $350,000–$362,500. Florida posts 24 and averages $300,000–$325,000. Recruiters in those markets will need to lead with something other than compensation: lifestyle, patient mix, subspecialty scope, loan forgiveness, or the absence of a state income tax. Something.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Scarcity pricing is real, and it is loudest in the mountain west. Nevada and Kansas — two of the lowest-volume states with salary data — post some of the highest averages. When a hospital system has one neurologist opening and a two-hour drive to the nearest colleague, the number goes up. Illinois is the exception: high pay and high volume, likely reflecting Chicago’s academic-medical concentration and its stroke-network buildout.

The volume-pay relationship does not hold. Texas leads the nation in listings and pays below average. Florida is worse. North Carolina is the only high-volume state that also pays at the top of the market. Volume is a proxy for demand, not for compensation — a distinction that recruiters understand and candidates often learn the hard way.

The floor is being distorted by wide-range listings. The Louisiana posting at $225,000–$385,000 is almost certainly a single job description covering multiple experience levels or FTE configurations. Strip that outlier, and the effective national floor moves closer to $270,000 — still low, but no longer alarming.

Transparency is a competitive weapon that most employers are declining to pick up. At 12.9% disclosure, the market is dark by default. The employers who post numbers are the ones getting first look at candidate attention. The other 87% are competing for what’s left.

The Bottom Line

The Neurology market in mid-2026 is active, geographically distributed, and priced with the kind of inconsistency that rewards candidates who do their homework and punishes those who don’t. The ceiling is generous. The floor is soft. The middle is wide enough to drive a stroke unit through. Volume lives in the Sun Belt; money lives in the Midwest and the Mountain West; transparency lives almost nowhere.

Neurology pays well to think carefully — which is exactly the skill you’ll need to read this market.
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Salary data based on 56 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.

The post Neurology PhysEmp Salary Report: July 2026 appeared first on The Physician, Nursing and Allied Health AI Jobs Search| Physician Employment.