Physician who leads care for the sickest patients in the intensive care unit, managing ventilators, shock, sepsis and multiple organ failure. Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2026 puts typical pay at $427,000 a year (2025). BLS does not publish separate figures for hospitalists; it counts them within hospitalist (SOC 29-1229), whose median pay is $265,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Typical entry-level education: Doctoral or professional degree.
- SOC 29-1229
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Last updated October 9, 2026
At a glance
Critical Care Physician in four numbers
- Median pay
- $265,930a year, or $127.85/hrBLS OEWS, May 2025Lowest 10% $69KTop 10% $452K
US median, all jobs: $50,980
- Projected growth
- +3.4%About as fast as averageBLS EP, 2025–2035This career+3.4%All jobs+3.5%
Projected employment change, 2025–2035 Item Value This career +3.4% All jobs +3.5% - Openings a year
- 9,400367,400 jobs todayBLS EP, 2025–2035
- Jobs in 2025367.4K
- Projected 2035380.1K
Employment, 2025–2035 Item Value Jobs in 2025 367.4K Projected 2035 380.1K - Typical education
- Doctorateneeded to enterBLS EP, 2025–2035; mix: O*NET
- Bachelor's4%
- Professional degree8%
- Doctorate40%
- Post-doctoral training48%
Highest education held by hospitalists Segment Value Bachelor's 4% Professional degree 8% Doctorate 40% Post-doctoral training 48%
Also advertised as: Intensivist, Critical Care Medicine Physician, ICU Physician, Medical Intensivist, Critical Care Specialist.
Pay
How much do Hospitalists make?
Industry-reported pay
$427,000
Average total annual compensation (salary, bonus and profit sharing), full-time US physicians in critical care.
Source: Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2026, 2025 (published compensation survey). This is not a BLS figure: BLS counts hospitalists within hospitalist, whose pay is shown below. Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2026 · The DO: What physicians are getting paid in 2026 (Medscape 2026 specialty figures)
Every critical care physician in the US, by percentile of annual wage
Median
$265,930
Middle half earn $102,930 to $378,770
- 10th
- $69,170
- 25th
- $102,930
- 75th
- $378,770
- 90th
- $452,360
All US occupations: $50,980
| Percentile | Value |
|---|---|
| 10th | $69,170 |
| 25th | $102,930 |
| Median | $265,930 |
| 75th | $378,770 |
| 90th | $452,360 |
| All US occupations | $50,980 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Median annual wage
- $265,930
- Median hourly wage
- $127.85/hr
- Mean annual wage
- $262,040
- People employed
- 342,720
Versus all US occupations
At $265,930, Hospitalists earn 422% above the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $214,950 a year.
Versus healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
Inside the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical group, where the middle occupation pays $102,760, this is 159% above the group median.
Pay range
The top 10% earn $452,360 or more while the bottom 10% earn $69,170, a gap of 6.5×. That is an unusually wide spread, which usually tracks specialisation, employer type and years of experience.
Rank in the bank
This median pays more than 98% of the 1,741 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.
Highest-paying state
North Dakota pays the most at $454,550, and still leads at $510,966 once local prices are taken into account.
Pay by state
Which states pay Hospitalists the most?
State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1North Dakota | $454,550 | $510,966 | 740 |
| 2Montana | $438,850 | $463,680 | 580 |
| 3Maine | $419,410 | $432,159 | 1,340 |
| 4Wisconsin | $391,740 | $416,324 | 6,350 |
| 5Minnesota | $367,320 | $372,456 | 5,350 |
| 6Indiana | $366,190 | $392,365 | 6,760 |
| 7New Hampshire | $361,300 | $346,854 | 1,000 |
| 8Alaska | $355,100 | $346,916 | 270 |
| 9Louisiana | $350,920 | $397,837 | 4,740 |
| 10Oregon | $347,180 | $335,891 | 4,130 |
Job outlook
Is Critical Care Physician a growing career?
Employment change over 2025–2035, against every US occupation
About as fast as average. +3.4% projected growth vs 3.5% for all occupations.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Hospitalists | +3.4% |
| All US occupations | +3.5% |
Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035
About as fast as average
BLS projects employment of Hospitalists to change 3.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% projected for all occupations. That is 12,600 more jobs.
Annual openings
About 9,400 openings are projected each year, 2.6% of the 367,400 jobs that existed in 2025. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Getting in
How to become a Critical Care Physician
Most intensivists complete medical school and an internal medicine residency, then either a two-year critical care medicine fellowship or a three-year combined pulmonary and critical care fellowship, accredited by the ACGME. Physicians from anesthesiology, emergency medicine, surgery and neurology can also enter critical care through their own fellowship routes.
Certification is through the physician's primary board, such as the American Board of Internal Medicine's critical care medicine exam. The Society of Critical Care Medicine is the main professional organization.
- 1
Typical entry-level education
Doctoral or professional degree
- 2
Work experience in a related occupation
None
- 3
Typical on-the-job training
Internship/residency
- 4
Preparation needed (O*NET job zone)
Considerable preparation
BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035; job zone from O*NET 31.0 Database.
What education people in the job have
O*NET incumbent survey: the highest level of education reported by people already working as hospitalists.
- Post-Doctoral Training48%
- Doctoral Degree40%
- First Professional Degree8%
- Bachelor's Degree4%
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Post-Doctoral Training | 48% |
| Doctoral Degree | 40% |
| First Professional Degree | 8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 4% |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
The work
What does a Critical Care Physician do?
Critical care physicians, or intensivists, run the intensive care unit. Their patients have life-threatening conditions such as septic shock, respiratory failure, severe pneumonia, cardiac arrest and organ failure. They manage mechanical ventilation, medications that support blood pressure, dialysis, nutrition and sedation, and they balance many organ systems at once.
They perform bedside procedures including central lines, arterial lines, intubation and bronchoscopy, and they use point-of-care ultrasound to guide decisions. A central part of the job is communicating with families, often about prognosis and end-of-life choices. Intensivists lead teams of nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and trainees.
Day-to-day tasks
- Lead daily care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit
- Manage mechanical ventilation and respiratory failure
- Treat septic shock and support blood pressure with fluids and medications
- Place central lines, arterial lines and airways
- Use point-of-care ultrasound to assess the heart, lungs and fluid status
- Lead family meetings on prognosis and goals of care
- Respond to rapid response and cardiac arrest calls
Typical tasks, researched by NueCareer from the sources below.
Working conditions and hours
Intensivists work in hospital ICUs, often in blocks of consecutive day or night shifts followed by time off. Some cover several hospitals through tele-ICU systems. The work is fast, unpredictable and emotionally heavy, with frequent life-and-death decisions.
Where the work happens
Indoors, climate-controlled
NeverEvery dayIndoors, in a climate-controlled space, every day.
Outdoors in all weather
NeverEvery dayAlmost never works outdoors.
Physical demands
Sitting
NeverAlmost all the timeStanding
NeverAlmost all the timeBending or twisting
NeverAlmost all the time
Working with people
Contact with other people
NoneConstantConstant contact with other people.
Face-to-face discussions
NeverEvery dayFace-to-face discussions every day.
Dealing with the public
Not importantExtremely importantDealing with customers or the public is very important.
Pressure and stakes
Strict deadlines
NeverEvery dayMeeting strict deadlines at least weekly.
Conflict situations
NeverEvery dayHandling conflict situations at least monthly.
Cost of a mistake
Not seriousExtremely seriousMistakes carry very serious consequences.
Autonomy
Freedom to decide
NoneA lotA lot of freedom to make decisions without checking first.
Conditions: O*NET Work Context survey. Each item has its own scale, so each dot is read against the two answers that end its own line.
Core skills
O*NET importance, 1 to 5
- Reading Comprehension4.1
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking4.1
- Critical Thinking4.1
- Active Learning4.1
- Monitoring4.0
- Writing3.9
- Science3.4
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 4.1 |
| Active Listening | 4.1 |
| Speaking | 4.1 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.1 |
| Active Learning | 4.1 |
| Monitoring | 4.0 |
| Writing | 3.9 |
| Science | 3.4 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
Transferable skills
O*NET importance, 1 to 5
- Social Perceptiveness4.1
- Complex Problem Solving4.1
- Judgment and Decision Making4.1
- Service Orientation4.0
- Coordination3.9
- Persuasion3.3
- Instructing3.3
- Time Management3.3
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.1 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.1 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.1 |
| Service Orientation | 4.0 |
| Coordination | 3.9 |
| Persuasion | 3.3 |
| Instructing | 3.3 |
| Time Management | 3.3 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
Tools and software
- Medical software · in demand
- Office suite software · in demand
- Presentation software · in demand
- Spreadsheet software · in demand
- Word processing software · in demand
- Billing and invoicing software
- Electronic mail software
- Information retrieval or search software
- Internet browser software
- Mobile location based services software
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
Personality fit
What personality type suits a Critical Care Physician?
NueCareer estimate (Holland code ISR) built on O*NET's Hospitalist profile, scored 1 to 7
| Axis | Critical Care Physician |
|---|---|
| Realistic | 4 |
| Investigative | 5 |
| Artistic | 2 |
| Social | 6 |
| Enterprising | 3 |
| Conventional | 4 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
What the work is built around
Day to day this is work built around teaching, helping and working directly with other people, combined with investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data.
- Social6.3
- Investigative5.1
- Realistic4.0
- Conventional3.9
- Enterprising3.1
- Artistic1.6
Closest MBTI types
NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.
Explore further
Careers related to Critical Care Physician
O*NET related occupations
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
More healthcare practitioners and technical careers
Median annual pay, with hospitalists highlighted
- Anesthesiologist$391,490
- Critical Care Physician$265,930
- Physician Assistant$135,880
- Nurse Practitioner$132,300
- Physical Therapist$102,760
- Dental Hygienist$98,100
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographer$96,590
- Radiologic Technologist and Technician$80,110
- Surgical Technologist$64,650
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Anesthesiologist | $391,490 |
| Critical Care Physician | $265,930 |
| Physician Assistant | $135,880 |
| Nurse Practitioner | $132,300 |
| Physical Therapist | $102,760 |
| Dental Hygienist | $98,100 |
| Diagnostic Medical Sonographer | $96,590 |
| Radiologic Technologist and Technician | $80,110 |
| Surgical Technologist | $64,650 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lists Critical Care Physician appears on
Questions
Critical Care Physician: frequently asked questions
How much do Hospitalists make?
Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2026 reports $427,000 (average total annual compensation (salary, bonus and profit sharing), full-time US physicians in critical care, 2025). BLS does not publish a separate wage for hospitalists. It counts them within hospitalist, whose median pay is $265,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of that occupation earn between $102,930 and $378,770, and the top 10% earn $452,360 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Critical Care Physician?
Yes, and beyond a bachelor's: BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry requirement for Hospitalists. BLS also lists internship/residency as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 48.0% hold post-doctoral training.
Is Critical Care Physician a growing career?
It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 3.4% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 9,400 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Critical Care Physician do?
Critical care physicians, or intensivists, run the intensive care unit. A typical task: lead daily care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit. Employers most often ask for Medical software, Office suite software, Presentation software.
Which states pay Hospitalists the most?
The highest state medians for Hospitalists are North Dakota ($454,550), Montana ($438,850), Maine ($419,410) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What personality type suits a Critical Care Physician?
O*NET scores Hospitalists highest on the Social, Investigative and Realistic interest areas, so the work mixes teaching, helping and working directly with other people with investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISFJ, ESFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.