Physician Job Market Analysis Report: Occupational Medicine

(PhysEmp Market Intelligence | physemp.com)

Somewhere in Denver, Premise Health is prepared to pay a physician up to $365,000 a year to keep workplaces medically boring. That is the ceiling of the current Occupational Medicine market — a specialty most people associate with drug screens, ergonomic assessments, and the quiet dignity of preventing back injuries. It is also, per this month’s data, one of the more quietly lucrative corners of medicine. Across 28 national listings in 15 states, the top of the range now brushes $365,000 while the floor sits at $225,000. The thesis: Occupational Medicine pays better than its reputation, but only if you know where to stand.
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The Occupational Medicine Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 28
Listings with disclosed salary: 9
Full national salary range: $225,000 – $365,000
National average salary range: $281,498 – $296,187

That is a $140,000 spread between the lowest and highest posted salary, which is a lot of dispersion for a specialty often filed under “predictable.” The average range is narrow — roughly $15,000 wide — which suggests most disclosed offers cluster in the high $280s to mid $290s, with a handful of Premise Health outliers dragging the ceiling upward.

States represented: Kansas, Illinois, New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, South Carolina, California, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and Maine. Fifteen states, one specialty, and a market that looks broader than it pays.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers

• Colorado: Averages $345,000 to $365,000, the top of the national market, anchored by a single Premise Health listing in Denver.
• Massachusetts: A Premise Health locum in Lexington runs $165 – $170 per hour ($343,200 – $353,600 annualized at 2,080 hours), which is a striking figure for a role that is technically part-time.
• Kansas: $330,000 to $355,000 average, driven by a Premise Health posting in Wichita (a city that rarely leads national salary tables in anything).

Near-average

• Illinois: $282,000 to $295,000 across three listings — almost exactly the national floor and ceiling of the average range. The textbook benchmark.
• New Jersey: $260,000 average, slightly below the national midpoint but a reasonable Northeast alternative.

Underperformers

• New York: $230,427 to $247,360 average across three disclosed listings — the only state pulling meaningfully below the national floor. CompHealth roles in Staten Island and Suffern anchor the bottom at $225,000 to $240,000.

Volume leaders: Colorado leads with four listings; Illinois and New York tie at three; Kansas, New Jersey, Washington, Wisconsin, and South Carolina each carry two. Colorado is that rare state where volume and pay move in the same direction. New York matches Illinois on volume and undercuts it on pay — a market inefficiency, or a reflection that New York employers know candidates will still apply.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: The highest-paying listing in the country is the Occupational Medicine role at Premise Health in Denver, CO, at $345,000 – $365,000 per year. Kansas and Massachusetts are the honorable mentions, though the Massachusetts figure is a locum hourly rate annualized — read the fine print before you buy a house in Lexington.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Colorado offers both the top pay and the most listings, which almost never happens in these reports. Illinois is your steadier second choice.

If your priority is balance: Illinois pays near the national average with meaningful volume and a reasonable cost-of-living profile. New York is the cost-of-living mismatch worth scrutinizing — the highest expenses in the dataset paired with the lowest disclosed pay.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 9 of 28 listings, or 32.1%. Roughly two out of every three Occupational Medicine postings ask a physician to inquire for compensation. That is a candidate pipeline problem. Physicians in 2026 filter by salary before they filter by geography, and non-disclosing employers — including the Curare Group and the Defense Health Agency — are effectively invisible to a meaningful share of the market.

The volume-pay misalignment sits in New York: three listings, lowest average pay in the country. Recruiters working New York inventory cannot lead with money. They will need to lead with case mix, hours, autonomy, or the honest observation that a shorter commute in Staten Island is worth something.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Premise Health is the market. Three of the top compensation data points in this report — Denver, Lexington, Wichita — are Premise Health listings. When a single employer sets the ceiling in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Kansas simultaneously, the national “average high” is really a Premise Health average with a rounding error.

Locum hourly rates are quietly distorting the ceiling. The Massachusetts figure of $343,200 – $353,600 is an annualization of $165 – $170 per hour at 2,080 hours. Very few locum physicians actually work 2,080 hours. The headline number is real per hour, aspirational per year.

Scarcity is priced into Wichita, not New York. Kansas has two listings and pays near the top. New York has three listings and pays at the bottom. Underserved markets in this dataset command a premium; oversupplied metros do not. The relationship holds where you would expect and breaks where employers know candidates will show up anyway.

The volume-pay relationship is inconsistent. Colorado shows that volume and pay can rise together. New York shows they can move in opposite directions. There is no single national rule for Occupational Medicine — only regional employer behavior.

The Bottom Line

Occupational Medicine is a specialty priced by employer, not by geography. Premise Health sets the ceiling wherever it hires. New York sets the floor because it can. The middle is Illinois, quietly doing what the national average tells it to do. For a specialty built on preventing injury and boredom, the compensation picture is more interesting than it has any right to be.

The market pays best where the workplaces are safest and the metros are smallest.
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Salary data based on 9 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.