While average physician compensation increased by 3.8 percent in 2021, a Consumer Price Index inflation rate of 6.2 percent meant physicians saw a decline in real income last year, according to medical networking service Doximity's 2021 Physician Compensation Report.
Average physician pay grew 1.5 percent last year over 2020, attributable to a catch-up from last year's flat physician pay rate, a tight labor market or a reflection of last year's rising inflation rates, Doximity theorized.
Doximity's survey results included responses from over 160,000 U.S. physicians.