The highest disclosed salary for a Pulmonary Critical Care physician in the country right now is not in Manhattan, not in Los Angeles, and not in any city where “brunch” is a verb. It is in Kentucky. One listing, $450,000, flat. Meanwhile, the Bronx is offering $300,000 to do arguably the same job (keeping the sickest humans in America breathing) at roughly two-thirds the price and triple the rent. Across 39 active listings in 22 states, a clear pattern emerges. Pulm/Crit compensation has quietly relocated to the interior of the country, and the coasts have not been informed.
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The Pulmonary Critical Care Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 39
Listings with salary data: 7
Full national salary range: $300,000 – $450,000
National average salary range: $364,286 – $385,714
States represented: 22

The spread is $150,000 from floor to ceiling, which is a wide runway for a specialty where the clinical work is fairly consistent (ventilators do not care what state they are in). With only 7 of 39 listings disclosing pay, roughly 82% of this market is operating on vibes. That is a lot of “competitive salary based on experience” for a job that requires two fellowships.

States represented: Indiana, New York, Missouri, Texas, Pennsylvania, Utah, Iowa, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee, Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama, Virginia, and Mississippi.
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How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• Kentucky — One listing, $450,000, the national ceiling (a single data point, but a very loud one).
• Indiana — $400,000 to $412,500 average across two disclosed listings, punching well above the national mean.
• Illinois — $350,000 to $425,000 on one disclosed listing, generous on the upper bound.

Near-average:

• Illinois again straddles the middle, serving as the closest thing to a national benchmark this dataset offers.

Underperformers:

• New York — $316,667 to $333,333 average across three disclosed listings, roughly $47,000 below the national average floor (and priced as if Manhattan rent were a rumor).

Volume leaders: New York (5), Texas (4), Indiana (3), Pennsylvania (3). Texas and Pennsylvania disclosed zero salary information across seven combined listings. New York leads on volume and trails on pay — a rare and unflattering double.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: The highest-paying listing is in Terre Haute, Indiana, posted by Curare Group, Inc., at $400,000 to $425,000. Kentucky’s lone $450,000 listing is the true national ceiling. Both are in states where your dollar goes considerably further than it does in the boroughs.

If your priority is maximum optionality: New York (5) and Texas (4) offer the most postings, though Texas discloses nothing and New York discloses disappointment.

If your priority is balance: Indiana. Three listings, two with disclosed pay, both near the top of the national range. Volume, transparency, and compensation in one package (a rare trifecta).

Cost-of-living flag: New York’s $300,000 Bronx listing pays less than Indianapolis while costing meaningfully more to inhabit. Scrutinize accordingly.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 7 of 39, or 17.9%. That is not a rate. That is a rounding error.

Candidate pipeline implications are direct. Pulm/Crit physicians finished two fellowships to get here and are not inclined to click through a listing that hides the number. Every undisclosed posting is a candidate who moved on to the next tab.

Volume-pay misalignment is stark. Texas and Pennsylvania together account for seven listings and zero disclosed salaries. New York leads on volume and finishes last on pay. Recruiters in these markets will need to lead with something other than compensation — call schedule, ICU model, closed vs. open unit, academic affiliation, signing bonus, loan repayment. Something. Anything.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Transparency is the story, and the story is that there isn’t one. With 82% of postings withholding compensation, the disclosed dataset is small enough that a single Kentucky listing sets the national ceiling. Employers who post numbers will win the top of the funnel by default.

The Midwest is quietly the premium market. Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky hold every disclosed salary above $400,000. Coastal prestige is not showing up in the pay data. Whether that is a scarcity premium for physicians willing to relocate to smaller markets or simply a coastal willingness to underpay is an open question (the answer is probably both).

Volume does not equal pay, and in Pulm/Crit it may actively inverse. New York posts the most jobs and pays the least. Indiana posts fewer and pays the most. High volume in this specialty appears to signal retention problems, not opportunity.

Scope and setting likely explain part of the spread. Pulm/Crit compensation varies with ICU intensity, night coverage, and whether the role is pure critical care or split with outpatient pulmonology — none of which the undisclosed 32 listings are telling anyone.

The Bottom Line

Pulmonary Critical Care in 2026 is a specialty where the money has moved inland, the transparency has largely vanished, and the highest-volume market is also the lowest-paying one. Physicians willing to work in Indiana, Kentucky, or Illinois are looking at $400,000-plus offers. Physicians insisting on New York are looking at $300,000 and a commute. The market is not hiding its preferences — it is simply hiding its salaries.

If you trained for a decade to manage the sickest patients in the hospital, the data says: go where the ventilators are, not where the skyline is.
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Salary data based on 7 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.