The Latina physician wage chasm: a secondary analysis of the American Community Survey

Abstract

Purpose: Research examining compensation patterns among Latina physicians is scarce. To address this gap, the authors analyzed patterns in wages and income in a nationally representative sample of physicians who identify as female and Latina compared with non-Hispanic White male and female and Latino male physicians in the United States.

Method: This secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study used American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2018 to 2022. The authors described wages and income for Latina physicians and differences in these between Latina physicians and non-Hispanic White males and females as well as Latino male physicians. The authors summarized median total income, income bracket, and median salary according to gender, ethnicity, employment setting, weekly hours worked, and age group. The authors used an analysis of those who work 40-60 hours a week to account for work hour outliers.

Results: The ACS population estimates identified 1,083,177 physicians in the United States, which included 758,901 physicians who self-identified as non-Hispanic White or Hispanic. Of these 1,083,177 physicians, 29,416 (2.7%) were Latina. Latina physicians earned the lowest median total income of all physician groups analyzed. Median salary for non-Hispanic White male physicians was 1.9 times more than for Latina physicians ($218,161 vs. $120,563). Latina physicians comprise 19.4% of earners in income brackets above $300,000, whereas non-Hispanic White male physicians comprise 45.7%. These salary differences amount to an estimated median $3.9 million less income for a Latina physician over 40 years.

Conclusions: Descriptive analysis revealed that Latina physicians consistently had the lowest median salary among physicians identified in population estimates from the ACS, regardless of employment setting, hours worked, and age. This compensation gap underscores the need for research, including causal inference and intervention studies, to help achieve equal pay for equal work, a fundamental element in fair workplace practice and policy.

Keywords: income; physicians; wages; women physicians; workforce.