Physician Job Market Analysis Report: Otolaryngology
(PhysEmp Market Intelligence | physemp.com)
THE HOOK
The national salary floor for Otolaryngology is $270,235. The ceiling is $1,000,000. That is not a typo, and the gap between them could fund a small ENT practice. The market currently holds 176 active listings across 41 states, with 36 disclosing compensation data. What the numbers reveal is a specialty where geography, practice setting, and negotiating leverage create a compensation chasm wide enough to swallow a Boeing 737 (or at least fund one).
THE NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Total listings: 176. Listings with salary data: 36. National salary range: $270,235 to $1,000,000. Average salary range: $503,448 to $546,570.
The spread is extraordinary, even by surgical subspecialty standards. The $729,765 gap between floor and ceiling reflects a market where full-time academic positions, rural hospital recruitment wars, and private equity-backed practice groups are all competing for the same talent pool with wildly different capital structures. Most positions cluster in the $350,000 to $700,000 band, but the outliers on both ends suggest that scope of practice, partnership track, and willingness to relocate can swing comp by half a million dollars or more.
States represented: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
STATE BY STATE
OVERPERFORMERS
Illinois: $660,796 to $700,796 average across five listings — the highest state average nationally and backed by the deepest salary data set of any high-volume state. Wyoming: $650,000 average on one listing, proving that low population density and high scarcity can command top-tier comp. Missouri: $566,667 to $583,333 across three listings, a quietly strong market with consistent pay and solid volume. Washington: $521,000 to $656,500 across two listings, including the $778,000 Prosser position that ranks among the highest individual offers in the dataset.
NEAR-AVERAGE PERFORMERS
Indiana: $512,500 average across two listings, landing squarely at the national midpoint. Nebraska: $514,000 on one listing, with eight total jobs making it a volume leader in the Plains. Kentucky: $500,000 average across two listings, a textbook average market. Colorado: $458,000 to $508,000 on one listing, centered near national norms. California: $463,360 to $583,350 across four listings, showing moderate pay despite coastal cost of living. New Jersey: $463,739 across two listings, unremarkable for the tristate area. Ohio: $455,000 to $471,667 across three listings, a stable Midwest benchmark. Arkansas: $460,000 on one listing, middle-of-the-road for a rural state.
UNDERPERFORMERS
Nevada: $437,500 to $475,000 across two listings, surprisingly low for a state with physician recruitment challenges. Maryland: $440,000 to $475,000 across two listings, below average despite proximity to high-cost metros. New York: $423,412 to $525,558 across three listings, dragged down by the $270,235 floor and underperforming relative to volume. Vermont: $400,000 on one listing, well below the national average low. Wisconsin: $400,000 on one listing, the joint-lowest state average in the dataset.
Volume leaders: Illinois (16 listings), New York (12), Pennsylvania (11), Missouri (8), Texas (8), Nebraska (8). Illinois pairs high volume with high pay. New York pairs high volume with below-average disclosed comp. Pennsylvania and Texas show strong listing counts but zero salary transparency, limiting market insight.
FOR PHYSICIANS
If your priority is maximum compensation: Target Illinois, Wyoming, Missouri, and Washington. The highest individual offer in the dataset is $1,000,000 (location unspecified), followed by $778,000 in Prosser, WA. Both represent the upper boundary of what the market will bear for Otolaryngology expertise, likely tied to rural scarcity, leadership roles, or partnership acceleration.
If your priority is maximum optionality: Illinois (16 listings), New York (12), and Pennsylvania (11) offer the deepest job pools, though New York and Pennsylvania provide minimal salary transparency. Missouri, Texas, and Nebraska each post eight listings and provide geographic diversity across the Midwest and South.
If your priority is balance: Missouri and Illinois deliver both volume and above-average pay. Indiana, Nebraska, and Kentucky offer near-national-average comp with lower cost of living than coastal markets. Be cautious with California and New York — both show compensation that lags cost-of-living realities, particularly the $270,235 New York City listing, which would require either significant non-cash benefits or a very specific practice arrangement to justify.
FOR RECRUITERS AND HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES
Salary transparency rate: 20.5% (36 of 176 listings). That is among the lowest disclosure rates in physician recruiting and presents a meaningful pipeline challenge. Candidates evaluating multiple offers will default to the listings that show comp, meaning non-transparent postings are competing with one hand tied.
The volume-pay relationship is inconsistent. Illinois proves that high demand and high pay can coexist. New York and Pennsylvania show high volume but low or zero transparency, which will force recruiters to lead with geography, academic affiliation, or lifestyle rather than dollars. Texas, with eight listings and zero salary data, is betting entirely on brand and location to pull candidates into the funnel.
Missouri is the quiet winner: eight listings, three with disclosed comp, all above $550,000. That is a recruiter’s dream — volume, transparency, and competitive pay. By contrast, Wisconsin, Vermont, and New York are going to struggle without either raising offers or adding non-cash sweeteners (loan forgiveness, partnership equity, relocation gross-ups).
MARKET FORCES
Rural scarcity commands a premium, but inconsistently. Wyoming ($650,000) and Washington ($778,000 in Prosser) show that underserved markets will pay top dollar to attract subspecialty surgical talent. But Vermont and Wisconsin — also rural, also underserved — are offering $400,000, well below the national average. The difference likely comes down to hospital margin, state Medicaid reimbursement rates, and whether the employer is a critical access hospital or a regional health system with capital to deploy.
The $270,235 floor distorts the lower bound and likely reflects part-time, locum tenens, or fellowship-adjacent roles. No full-time Otolaryngology position in a standard practice should pay below $350,000 in 2026. If a listing shows sub-$300,000 comp, it is either a data error, a part-year contract, or a heavily restricted scope (e.g., clinic-only, no OR time). Candidates should scrutinize the fine print.
Leadership and partnership equity are invisible in this dataset but almost certainly explain the $1,000,000 ceiling. Base salary alone rarely exceeds $700,000 for employed Otolaryngology physicians. Offers above that threshold typically include profit-sharing, directorship stipends, or expedited partner buy-in. The lack of scope detail in the data makes it impossible to parse, but the gap between $700,000 and $1,000,000 is not usually worked hours — it is ownership.
High-volume states with low transparency are gambling that reputation alone will close candidates. Pennsylvania, Texas, New Hampshire, and Connecticut each have four-plus listings but disclosed zero compensation. That strategy works for marquee academic centers and nationally recognized health systems. It does not work for community hospitals in secondary markets, which will lose candidates to Missouri, Illinois, and Washington employers who put numbers on the table.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Otolaryngology job market is geographically broad, compensation-wise volatile, and transparency-challenged. Physicians with flexibility on location can arbitrage a half-million-dollar difference between the top and bottom of the range. Those locked into specific metros will need to weigh cost of living against comp and decide whether a $423,000 offer in New York is worth half the purchasing power of a $650,000 offer in Wyoming. The data is clear: the best deals are not on the coasts.
There is a lot of money available for people who fix ears, noses, and throats — but only if you are willing to go where the money is.
Salary data based on 36 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.
