The highest-paying Cardiology listing in America right now is not in Manhattan, not in Beverly Hills, and not in some gleaming Boston teaching hospital. It is in Prosser, Washington — population roughly 6,300 — where CompHealth is offering up to $835,000 a year to someone willing to keep the local hearts beating. Meanwhile, 220 miles away in Albany, New York, the same recruiter is posting a Cardiology role starting at $300,000. Same specialty. Same firm. Nearly triple the ceiling. Across 271 active listings nationwide, the Cardiology market is enormous, uneven, and quietly rewarding physicians who are willing to look at a map and drive past the coasts. The data shows a specialty where geography, not prestige, sets the price.
👉 Explore Cardiology job market insights and trends

The Cardiology Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 271
Listings with salary data: 56
Full national salary range: $300,000 – $835,000
National average salary range: $486,798 – $556,023

The spread here is not a rounding error. It is a $535,000 gap between the floor and the ceiling, which is itself a full Cardiologist salary. That kind of variance usually signals a market where scope, call burden, and geography are doing very different things in very different ZIP codes.

Only about one in five listings disclosed compensation, which means the average is directional rather than definitive. Still, the midpoint sits comfortably in the high four hundreds to mid five hundreds — a reminder that even the “low end” of Cardiology pays like the ceiling of most other specialties.

States represented in the data: WA, NY, FL, NC, CA, IL, CT, OH, WI, MO, NJ, MD, MN, CO, NV, KY, DE, GA, PA, IN, TN, OR, LA, TX, WV, NH, SC, MI, ID, MA, SD, NM, ND, AZ, AR, NE, AL, KS, OK, IA, ME, VT, UT, MT.
👉 Browse Cardiology physician job opportunities

How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• Kentucky leads the nation at an average of $725,000 (on a single listing, so treat with appropriate skepticism, but treat).
• Illinois posts $618,750 – $665,000 across four listings, making it the most credible high-payer on the board.
• Missouri averages $575,000 – $641,667 across three listings, quietly outperforming most of the coasts.
• Washington averages $516,400 – $632,800 across five listings and hosts the national ceiling.
• Florida shows $615,000 on one listing — competitive, but a sample size of one.
• Wisconsin lands at $600,000 flat on a single listing.

Near-average:

• Connecticut: $480,714 – $544,286 across seven listings, the most reliable middle-of-the-road benchmark.
• Ohio: $492,500 – $585,000 across two listings.
• Maryland: $481,250 – $575,000 across four listings.
• Minnesota, Colorado, and Nevada all sit at $450,000 – $600,000 on single listings — identical ranges, likely coincidental.
• New Jersey: $487,500 flat across two listings.
• California: $470,667 – $502,667 across three listings, which is remarkable mostly for how unremarkable it is given the cost of living.

Underperformers:

• New York: $427,721 – $499,226 across 19 listings — the largest salary sample in the country, and it lands below the national average low.
• Delaware: $400,000 on one listing, the lowest state average identified.

Volume leaders: New York (29), North Carolina (20), Florida (20), Washington (15), California (13), Connecticut (12), Pennsylvania (11), Georgia (9), Indiana (9). North Carolina and Pennsylvania — a combined 31 listings — disclosed exactly zero salaries. New York disclosed the most and paid among the least.
👉 Compare Cardiology compensation and opportunities by region

What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Look at Prosser, WA, where CompHealth’s listing tops out at $835,000 — the national ceiling. Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky follow closely, with Urbana, IL offering $600,000 – $645,000 and Walla Walla, WA sitting at $607,000. These are not coastal metros. That is the entire point.

If your priority is maximum optionality: New York, North Carolina, and Florida offer the deepest inventory (69 listings between them), but only New York and Florida have disclosed any pay — and New York’s numbers underwhelm.

If your priority is balance: Illinois and Washington are the rare states offering both volume and top-tier compensation. California, by contrast, pays roughly the national average while charging California prices — a cost-of-living mismatch worth scrutinizing before signing.
👉 Search Cardiology jobs by location and compensation

What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 56 ÷ 271 = 20.7%. Roughly four out of five Cardiology listings disclose nothing about compensation, which is a candidate pipeline problem whether the industry admits it or not. Cardiologists are not scrolling for mystery boxes.

The volume-pay misalignment is stark. New York has 29 listings and pays below the national floor. North Carolina and Pennsylvania combine for 31 listings and disclose no pay at all. Recruiters in these markets cannot lead with dollars — they will need to lead with case mix, call structure, subspecialty scope, academic affiliation, or lifestyle. Anything but the number. Meanwhile, rural Washington, Illinois, and Missouri postings are quietly winning the recruiting war by simply printing the salary.
👉 Post Cardiology positions on PhysEmp

What’s Driving the Numbers

Scarcity is repricing rural America. The single largest paycheck in the dataset comes from a town of 6,300 people. Walla Walla, Urbana, and rural Missouri postings are all clearing $600,000. When a hospital cannot recruit on weather, restaurants, or airport proximity, it recruits on money. Cardiology is now a leading indicator of that trend.

High-volume coastal markets are underpaying — and getting away with it. New York’s 19 disclosed salaries average below the national floor. California’s three disclosed salaries barely reach the midpoint. These markets are trading on brand, lifestyle, and family proximity, not compensation. Whether that holds as the physician workforce ages is a separate question.

Salary opacity is a competitive weakness. North Carolina and Pennsylvania combined post 31 Cardiology roles with zero disclosed pay. In a specialty where the top listing pays $835,000, silence reads as “we cannot match that.” Candidates will assume the worst, and often correctly.

The volume-pay relationship is inverted. Ordinarily, thick markets bid up prices. In Cardiology, the opposite is happening: the states with the most listings pay the least, and the states with one or two openings are printing the ceiling. Supply and demand still works — it just works in favor of whoever is willing to move to Prosser.

The Bottom Line

Cardiology in 2026 is a specialty where the money has quietly migrated inland while the volume stayed on the coasts. The prestige markets are trading on lifestyle and brand equity; the rural markets are trading on cash. Physicians willing to read a map will find compensation that outpaces the coastal averages by six figures, while recruiters in high-volume, low-transparency states are about to discover that opacity is not a strategy — it is a vacancy.

In Cardiology, the highest bidder is almost never the biggest city.
👉 Browse all Cardiology physician jobs
👉 Upload your CV to get matched with opportunities
👉 Set alerts for new Cardiology roles

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.