Riverside metro physician pay lands in the national top ten at $456,000

Citrus Belt Review: Average physician compensation in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metro hit $455,986 in 2024, putting the Inland Empire among the ten highest-paying physician markets of the 60 metros in Doximity's latest Physician Compensation Report. California claimed five of the top ten spots: Los Angeles ($470,198), San Jose ($469,878), Sacramento ($460,671), Riverside ($455,986), and San Francisco ($449,830). Rochester, Minnesota topped the list at $495,532.

The direction is up, but the pace is slowing. Average U.S. physician pay rose 3.7% in 2024, down from 5.9% the year before, and compensation rose in 54 of the 60 metros studied. The nominal gains mask a longer squeeze: Doximity ties the modest growth to consecutive years of reimbursement cuts, and per the American Medical Association, Medicare physician payment has dropped 33% since 2001 after adjusting for inflation. The AMA also reports the share of physicians in private practice fell from 60.1% to 42.2% between 2012 and 2024.

The local read: IE health systems recruit physicians against the entire Southern California coast, and the pay data shows what that costs — near-LA rates in a metro where living costs run well below LA and San Francisco. For the systems writing those offers, the gap between Riverside and coastal pay has narrowed to a rounding error.