Physician Job Market Analysis Report: Pain Management
PhysEmp Market Intelligence | PhysEmp.com
The Hook
Someone in Eldorado, Illinois, is offering $700,000 annually to manage chronic pain.
Someone in Manhattan is offering $300,000 to do the same thing.
The Pain Management market currently features 128 active listings across 29 states, with compensation disclosed in only 13 of them.
What the data shows is straightforward: Pain Management is a specialty where geography dictates earning potential more than almost any other factor, and where most employers prefer to discuss compensation behind closed doors.
The National Snapshot
- Total listings: 128
- Listings with disclosed salary: 13
- Full national salary range: $300,000–$700,000
- National average salary range: $369,231–$484,615
- Salary transparency rate: 10.2%
The $400,000 spread between the national floor and ceiling tells the story of a market segmented by practice setting, clinical scope, and regional recruiting pressure.
The average range compresses considerably at the top end—$484,615 compared with the $700,000 national ceiling—suggesting that most disclosed positions cluster in the middle of the market while a small number of outlier employers are willing to pay substantially more.
The transparency rate is the larger concern.
Only 13 of 128 listings disclose compensation, leaving physicians to navigate the market with very limited pricing information. Employers in several high-volume states appear to be relying on that opacity.
States Represented
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
State-by-State Analysis
Overperformers
Illinois
Average salary range: $450,000–$600,000
Illinois leads the nation across two disclosed listings, demonstrating that Midwest markets will pay top dollar when access to Pain Management coverage is limited.
Ohio
Disclosed salary: $400,000
One listing anchors at $400,000 on the low end, suggesting that Ohio employers may be pricing in physician scarcity even when the ceiling is not clearly defined.
Kentucky
Disclosed salary: $400,000
Like Ohio, Kentucky begins at $400,000 on its single disclosed listing.
California
Average salary range: $366,667–$516,667
California offers above-average compensation across three disclosed listings and meaningful overall market volume, with seven active positions.
New Jersey
Disclosed salary range: $300,000–$600,000
The widest individual range in the dataset may indicate flexibility, unusually broad role scope, or uncertainty about how the position should be priced.
Near-Average Markets
Colorado
Disclosed salary range: $350,000–$500,000
Colorado offers a useful benchmark for mid-market Pain Management compensation, although the figure is based on one listing.
Massachusetts
Disclosed salary range: $350,000–$500,000
Massachusetts matches Colorado exactly and similarly represents a single disclosed position.
Underperformers
New York
Average salary range: $333,333–$383,333
Across three disclosed listings, New York is the lowest-paying state with a meaningful salary sample.
That is notable given the state’s high cost of living and suggests that physician supply, employer type, or market concentration is compressing compensation.
Volume Leaders
- Florida: 15 listings
- Georgia: 14 listings
- South Carolina: 9 listings
- Pennsylvania: 8 listings
- Texas: 8 listings
- California: 7 listings
Florida and Georgia dominate the market by volume, yet neither state discloses compensation on a single listing.
Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina also rank among the volume leaders while keeping salary information entirely private.
California stands apart as the only high-volume state that provides meaningful compensation data.
Its figures suggest that transparency and competitive pay can coexist.
What This Means for Physicians
If Your Priority Is Maximum Compensation
Eldorado, Illinois, is the market leader.
A CompHealth listing there offers $450,000–$700,000, establishing the national ceiling.
The offer is also a reminder that smaller and rural Midwest markets can outbid coastal metropolitan areas when recruiting difficulty becomes severe enough.
Illinois more broadly averages $450,000–$600,000, making it the highest-paying state with disclosed data.
If Your Priority Is Maximum Optionality
Florida and Georgia offer the largest number of openings:
- Florida: 15 listings
- Georgia: 14 listings
Neither state discloses compensation, however, meaning candidates must either negotiate without a benchmark or request salary information before investing significant time in the process.
California provides the strongest combination of:
- Listing volume
- Disclosed compensation
- Above-average earning potential
- Multiple geographic markets
With seven listings and three disclosed salary ranges averaging $366,667–$516,667, California may be the safest high-volume market for candidates seeking both choice and pricing visibility.
If Your Priority Is Balance
Colorado and Massachusetts both disclose ranges of $350,000–$500,000.
The single-listing sample in each state limits confidence, but the figures suggest a reasonable middle ground without reaching the geographic or financial extremes seen elsewhere.
New York’s average of $333,333–$383,333 presents a cost-of-living mismatch that deserves scrutiny unless the practice structure, location, partnership opportunity, or lifestyle benefits justify the lower compensation.
What This Means for Recruiters and Healthcare Executives
Salary Transparency Is Extremely Low
Only 13 of 128 Pain Management listings disclose compensation.
That produces a transparency rate of approximately 10.2%.
Fewer than one in nine postings gives physicians a usable compensation benchmark.
In a specialty where disclosed salaries span $400,000 from bottom to top, that level of opacity is a competitive disadvantage, not a sophisticated negotiating strategy.
Candidates may reasonably assume that an undisclosed salary is uncompetitive.
Volume and Compensation Visibility Are Misaligned
Several of the largest state markets disclose no salary information:
- Florida: 15 listings, 0 disclosures
- Georgia: 14 listings, 0 disclosures
- South Carolina: 9 listings, 0 disclosures
- Pennsylvania: 8 listings, 0 disclosures
- Texas: 8 listings, 0 disclosures
Illinois, by contrast, disclosed compensation in two of its five listings and leads the country in average pay.
California disclosed salaries in three of seven listings and also ranks in the upper compensation tier.
The message is clear: high-volume states are relying on geography and listing quantity to attract applicants, while more transparent markets are competing directly on compensation.
Recruiters in low-transparency states will need to emphasize factors such as:
- Practice setting
- Procedure mix
- Partnership track
- Ownership opportunities
- Ancillary revenue
- Patient volume
- Call expectations
- Clinical autonomy
- Lifestyle
- Signing incentives
- Relocation support
But none of those factors fully replaces a salary range.
Market Forces Shaping Pain Management Recruitment
Scope and Leadership Do Not Show a Documented Premium
The disclosed listings do not consistently distinguish among:
- Interventional Pain Management
- Medication management
- Procedure-heavy roles
- Medical directorships
- Administrative leadership
- Partnership-track positions
That makes it difficult to determine whether procedural scope or leadership responsibility explains the $400,000 national spread.
The lack of role-specific detail suggests that employers are either placing broad compensation ranges around very different jobs or postponing scope and salary discussions until later in the recruiting process.
Part-Time Roles Do Not Appear to Distort the Floor
The $300,000 low end in New York appears to reflect full-time employment rather than reduced hours.
Unlike some specialty datasets, there is no clear evidence that part-time or hourly positions are artificially lowering the national floor.
No annualized hourly rates were disclosed, so the available data appears to reflect predominantly salaried, full-time offers.
Underserved Markets Are Pricing in Scarcity—But Inconsistently
Eldorado, Illinois, offers up to $700,000, the highest salary in the dataset, in a market that is unlikely to attract candidates based on name recognition alone.
Ohio and Kentucky also begin at $400,000, suggesting that smaller Midwest markets are using compensation to offset recruiting difficulty.
Other rural markets in Arkansas, Iowa, and South Dakota disclose no salary information.
That means scarcity premiums are not universal—or, at minimum, they are not being advertised consistently.
Geography matters, but only when employers choose to make it matter publicly.
The Volume-Pay Relationship Breaks Cleanly
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas lead the market in total listings but disclose no compensation.
Illinois posts fewer opportunities, discloses more salary information, and leads the nation in pay.
California combines respectable volume, multiple salary disclosures, and top-tier compensation.
The inverse relationship is difficult to ignore:
- High-volume states are competing through quantity and location.
- Lower-volume states are competing through visible compensation.
- Transparent states are giving candidates stronger negotiating signals.
Physicians who prioritize compensation clarity may find better opportunities in markets with fewer listings but higher disclosure rates.
The Bottom Line
The Pain Management market offers strong national demand, wide geographic distribution, and a $400,000 compensation spread that rewards physicians who choose location strategically.
The problem is transparency.
With only about one in ten listings disclosing salary, most candidates must enter the recruiting process without reliable pricing information. The states with the highest job volume are often the least forthcoming about compensation.
Illinois and California offer the strongest combination of competitive compensation and disclosed salary data.
Florida and Georgia offer the greatest number of opportunities with the least pricing visibility.
There is a lot of money available for managing chronic pain—but in most markets, physicians will have to ask where it is.
Salary data is based on 13 job listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time, partnership-track, procedural, leadership, or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment, contract review, or financial planning.
