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.
Hospitalist Salary (2026): Data, Outlook & How to Become One
Hospitalists earn a median of $265,930 per year ($127.85/hr) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Employment is projected to grow 2.5% through 2034, with about 9,600 openings a year (BLS EP, 2024–2034). Typical entry-level education: Doctoral or professional degree.
SOC 29-1229Healthcare Practitioners and TechnicalLast updated August 23, 2026
- Median pay
- $265,930
- Projected growth
- +2.5%
- Openings a year
- 9,600
- Typical education
- Doctorate
BLS OEWS, May 2025
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
Also advertised as: Academic Hospitalist, Consultant Physician, Hospitalist, Hospitalist Medical Doctor (Hospitalist MD), MD (Medical Doctor), Physician.
How much do Hospitalists make?
10th percentile$69,170
Entry / lowest-paid tenth
25th percentile$102,930
Lower quartile
Median (50th)$265,930
Half earn more, half earn less
75th percentile$378,770
Upper quartile
90th percentile$452,360
Top-paid tenth
| 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 $97,870, this is 172% 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 923 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.
Which states pay Hospitalists the most?
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | $454,550 | $510,966 | 740 |
| Montana | $438,850 | $463,680 | 580 |
| Maine | $419,410 | $432,159 | 1,340 |
| Wisconsin | $391,740 | $416,324 | 6,350 |
| Minnesota | $367,320 | $372,456 | 5,350 |
| Indiana | $366,190 | $392,365 | 6,760 |
| New Hampshire | $361,300 | $346,854 | 1,000 |
| Alaska | $355,100 | $346,916 | 270 |
| Louisiana | $350,920 | $397,837 | 4,740 |
| Oregon | $347,180 | $335,891 | 4,130 |
Is Hospitalist a growing career?
Hospitalists2.5%
All US occupations3.1%
+2.5% projected growth vs 3.1% for all occupations.
About as fast as average
BLS projects employment of Hospitalists to change 2.5% over 2024–2034, against 3.1% projected for all occupations. That is 8,600 more jobs.
Annual openings
About 9,600 openings are projected each year, 2.8% of the 340,700 jobs that existed in 2024. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Overall employment of physicians and surgeons is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Projected employment of physicians and surgeons varies by occupation (see table). An increasing number of older adults, who are more likely than younger people to experience health problems and to need complex care, is expected to drive overall employment growth for physicians and surgeons.
In addition, increasing rates of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, will result in continued reliance on physicians and surgeons by large numbers of people seeking medical care.
How to become a Hospitalist
Hospitalist is not a board certification and never has been a separate specialty. It is a practice setting: hospitalists are physicians trained and certified in general internal medicine, general pediatrics or family medicine who care for hospitalized patients. The one designation adults could hold, ABIM's Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine, was retired at the end of 2023 and holders stopped being reported as having it on 1 December 2023; ABFM's co-sponsored version ran only from 2010 to 2023 and can no longer be earned. Pediatric hospital medicine is the exception that proves the rule: ABMS recognised it as a subspecialty in October 2016, and it now requires a 24-month ACGME-accredited fellowship.
The credential path, step by step
- Complete medical school4 years
An MD from a programme accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, or a DO from a college accredited by the AOA Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.
- Pass the licensing examination sequence
USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3 for MDs, or COMLEX-USA Levels 1, 2 and 3 for DOs. USMLE Step 1 has been reported pass or fail for exams taken on or after 26 January 2022, Step 2 CK remains numerically scored with a minimum passing score of 218, and Step 2 CS was discontinued in 2021 with no plans to return.
- Complete a residency in internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics3 years
This is the step that actually defines a hospitalist's training. The Society of Hospital Medicine describes hospitalists as typically undergoing residency training in general internal medicine, general pediatrics or family practice, with a minority coming from fields such as neurology, obstetrics and gynecology and oncology. There is no hospital medicine residency to apply to.
- Get a state medical licence
All state medical boards require at least one year of postgraduate training for a full and unrestricted licence, and the licence covers the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine rather than a specialty or setting.
- Get board certified in your primary specialty
For internists that is ABIM Internal Medicine certification. Since 2024 ABIM has offered inpatient-focused versions of both the traditional 10-year maintenance of certification examination and the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment, and any of these assessments may be used to maintain certification. It is important to read that correctly: choosing the inpatient blueprint maintains ordinary Internal Medicine certification and adds nothing after your name. It is a choice of examination content, not a credential.
- Treat a hospital medicine fellowship as optional, and check who accredits itAbout 1 year, where taken
Adult hospital medicine fellowships exist and are typically one year, entered after a three-year ACGME-accredited internal medicine or family medicine residency, and the Society of Hospital Medicine maintains the directory of them. They are not ACGME-accredited: no adult hospital medicine programmes appear anywhere in the ACGME's own annual census of accredited programmes.
- For pediatrics, the fellowship is now mandatory for certification24 months
Pediatric Hospital Medicine is a genuine ABMS subspecialty. ABMS approved it in October 2016, the first certifying examination was held in November 2019, and the practice pathway closed after the 2023 examination: all candidates must now complete an ACGME-accredited pediatric hospital medicine fellowship. The ACGME sets that programme at 24 months and requires prior completion of a pediatrics or combined internal medicine-pediatrics residency. There were 80 accredited programmes in academic year 2024 to 2025.
Exams you have to pass
ABIM Internal Medicine assessments, inpatient versions
Launched in 2024 as inpatient-focused versions of the traditional 10-year maintenance of certification examination and the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment, with a greater proportion of questions geared toward hospitalists. Any of these assessments may be used to maintain board certification in internal medicine. They confer no separate designation.
Administered by American Board of Internal Medicine.
Pediatric Hospital Medicine certifying examination
The subspecialty certifying examination for pediatric hospitalists. First administered in November 2019 to almost 1,500 pediatricians with a pass rate of 84.2 percent. Eligibility now requires successful completion of the full duration of training in an ACGME-accredited pediatric hospital medicine programme.
Administered by American Board of Pediatrics.
- Program accreditation
ACGME · ACGME program requirements for pediatric hospital medicine
The educational programme in pediatric hospital medicine must be 24 months in length, and entry requires satisfactory completion of a pediatrics or combined internal medicine-pediatrics residency. This is the only accredited hospital medicine training in the United States: the ACGME accredits no adult hospital medicine programmes.
- How long the training takes
7 years after a bachelor's degree
Four years of medical school plus a three-year residency in internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics. An optional adult hospital medicine fellowship adds about a year and is not ACGME-accredited. The ACGME-accredited pediatric hospital medicine fellowship, which is now required for pediatric subspecialty certification, adds 24 months.
- Continuing education
Required to stay credentialed
Maintenance runs through the primary specialty board rather than through anything hospital-medicine specific. Internists may maintain Internal Medicine certification using the inpatient version of the 10-year examination or the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment. Family physicians who earned the ABFM Designation of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine in 2023 or earlier keep it through their ten-year cycles provided Family Medicine certification is continuously maintained, but the examination was last administered in October 2023 and the designation cannot be continued for a further cycle. The Society of Hospital Medicine's Fellow designations, FHM and Senior Fellow, are society honours rather than certifications: they require existing ABMS board certification, five years of post-residency hospital medicine practice, three years of SHM membership, endorsement by two active members, and continuing annual membership to keep using them.
Licensing and state variation
Licensed state by state
Physicians are licensed by state medical boards, and the licence is for the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine: no state licenses a hospitalist as such, any more than it licenses an internist. All state boards require at least one year of postgraduate training for a full unrestricted licence, with some requiring two or three. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact provides a voluntary expedited route to additional state licences and covered 44 member states and 2 US territories across 59 licensing boards as of 31 July 2026, but it is not a single multistate licence. Board certification is not required for a licence; FSMB notes that most physicians obtain it for practical reasons such as hospital privileges, and 42 CFR 482.12(a)(7) prevents a Medicare-participating hospital from granting or denying privileges solely on the basis of certification while still allowing bylaws to require it alongside other criteria.
Who governs the credential
- American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) — Certifies internists. It retired the Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine programme at the end of 2023 and replaced it with inpatient-focused versions of its ordinary internal medicine assessments in January 2024.
- American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) — Co-sponsored the Designation of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine with ABIM from 2010 through 2023. The final examination was in October 2023, existing designations are honoured through their ten-year cycles, and no new ones are issued.
- American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) — Certifies pediatric hospital medicine, the only ABMS subspecialty certificate in hospital medicine, now reachable only through an ACGME-accredited fellowship.
- Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) — The specialty society. It defines hospital medicine as a field dedicated to the care of hospitalized patients, maintains the directory of adult hospital medicine fellowships, and awards the voluntary Fellow designations.
Credential detail for hospitalists is researched by hand from the bodies that issue it, not derived from BLS or O*NET. Sources last checked August 23, 2026. Requirements change: confirm with your own state board before enrolling in anything.
- ABMS: Specialty and subspecialty certificates (no adult hospital medicine certificate) · checked August 23, 2026
- ABIM: Retirement of the Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine program · checked August 23, 2026
- ABIM: Internal medicine maintenance of certification assessments (inpatient versions) · checked August 23, 2026
- ABFM: Additional certifications (Designation of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine, 2010 to 2023) · checked August 23, 2026
- Society of Hospital Medicine: What is a hospitalist? · checked August 23, 2026
- Society of Hospital Medicine: Hospitalist fellowships directory · checked August 23, 2026
- Society of Hospital Medicine: Fellow designations · checked August 23, 2026
- American Board of Pediatrics: ABMS approves pediatric hospital medicine certification · checked August 23, 2026
- American Board of Pediatrics: Pediatric hospital medicine certification requirements · checked August 23, 2026
- American Board of Pediatrics: First pediatric hospital medicine certification exam given · checked August 23, 2026
- ACGME program requirements for pediatric hospital medicine (24 months) · checked August 23, 2026
- ACGME Data Resource Book, academic year 2024 to 2025 · checked August 23, 2026
- USMLE: Examination results and scoring · checked August 23, 2026
- USMLE: Work to relaunch Step 2 CS discontinued · checked August 23, 2026
- FSMB: About physician licensure · checked August 23, 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission · checked August 23, 2026
- eCFR: 42 CFR 482.12, Condition of participation: Governing body · checked August 23, 2026
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Physicians and Surgeons · checked August 23, 2026
What the federal data says
Physicians and surgeons typically need a bachelor’s degree as well as a degree from a medical school, which takes an additional 4 years to complete. Depending on their specialty, they also need 3 to 9 years in internship and residency programs. Subspecialization includes additional training in a fellowship of 1 to 3 years.
| Typical entry-level education | Doctoral or professional degree |
|---|---|
| Preparation needed (O*NET job zone) | Considerable preparation |
| Work experience in a related occupation | None |
| Typical on-the-job training | Internship/residency |
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 Training48.0%
- Doctoral Degree40.0%
- First Professional Degree8.0%
- Bachelor's Degree4.0%
What does a Hospitalist do?
Provide inpatient care predominantly in settings such as medical wards, acute care units, intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, or emergency rooms. Manage and coordinate patient care throughout treatment.
Physicians and surgeons diagnose and treat injuries or illnesses and address health maintenance. Physicians examine patients; take medical histories; prescribe medications; and order, perform, and interpret diagnostic tests. They often counsel patients on diet, hygiene, and preventive healthcare. Surgeons operate on patients to treat injuries, such as broken bones; diseases, such as cancerous tumors; and deformities, such as cleft palates.
There are two types of physicians, with similar degrees: M.D. (Medical Doctor) and D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). Both use the same methods of treatment, including drugs and surgery, but D.O.s place additional emphasis on the body's musculoskeletal system, preventive medicine, and holistic (whole-person) patient care. D.O.s are most likely to be primary care physicians, although they work in all specialties.
Day-to-day tasks
- Diagnose, treat, or provide continuous care to hospital inpatients.
- Prescribe medications or treatment regimens to hospital inpatients.
- Order or interpret the results of tests such as laboratory tests and radiographs (x-rays).
- Admit patients for hospital stays.
- Conduct discharge planning and discharge patients.
- Write patient discharge summaries and send them to primary care physicians.
- Refer patients to medical specialists, social services, or other professionals as appropriate.
- Communicate with patients' primary care physicians upon admission, when treatment plans change, or at discharge to maintain continuity and quality of care.
O*NET core tasks, ordered by reported importance.
Working conditions and hours
Most physicians and surgeons work full time. Some work more than 40 hours per week. Many physicians and surgeons work long shifts, which may include irregular and overnight hours or being on call. Physicians and surgeons may travel between their offices and the hospital to care for patients. While on call, a physician may need to address a patient’s concerns over the phone or make an emergency visit to another location, such as a nursing home.
Where the work happens
- Indoors, in a climate-controlled space, every day
Working with people
- Constant contact with other people
- Face-to-face discussions every day
- Dealing with customers or the public is very important
Pressure and stakes
- Meeting strict deadlines at least weekly
- Handling conflict situations at least monthly
- Mistakes carry very serious consequences
Autonomy
- A lot of freedom to make decisions without checking first
Schedules: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. Conditions: O*NET Work Context survey, showing only the signals people in the job report decisively one way or the other.
Core skills
- Reading Comprehension4.1/5
- Active Listening4.1/5
- Speaking4.1/5
- Critical Thinking4.1/5
- Active Learning4.1/5
- Monitoring4.0/5
- Writing3.9/5
- Science3.4/5
Transferable skills
- Social Perceptiveness4.1/5
- Complex Problem Solving4.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Making4.1/5
- Service Orientation4.0/5
- Coordination3.9/5
- Persuasion3.3/5
- Instructing3.3/5
- Time Management3.3/5
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.
What personality type suits a Hospitalist?
Interest profile: O*NET Occupational Interests, scored 1–7
Realistic3.5
Investigativeprimary4.6
Artistic1.6
Socialprimary6.3
Enterprising3.1
Conventionalprimary3.9
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.
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.
Hospitalist: frequently asked questions
How much do Hospitalists make?
Hospitalists earn a median of $265,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 422% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $127.85/hr. The middle half earn between $102,930 and $378,770. The top 10% earn $452,360 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Hospitalist?
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 Hospitalist a growing career?
It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 2.5% over 2024–2034, about the same as the 3.1% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2024–2034). BLS still projects about 9,600 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Hospitalist do?
Physicians and surgeons diagnose and treat injuries or illnesses and address health maintenance. A core O*NET task: diagnose, treat, or provide continuous care to hospital inpatients. 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 Hospitalist?
O*NET scores Hospitalists highest on the Social, Investigative and Conventional 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 ESFJ, ISFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 923 occupations in the bank.
How long does it take to become a Hospitalist?
7 years after a bachelor's degree. Four years of medical school plus a three-year residency in internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics. An optional adult hospital medicine fellowship adds about a year and is not ACGME-accredited. The ACGME-accredited pediatric hospital medicine fellowship, which is now required for pediatric subspecialty certification, adds 24 months.
Do you need a license to work as a Hospitalist?
Yes, and it is issued by the state you work in, not nationally. Physicians are licensed by state medical boards, and the licence is for the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine: no state licenses a hospitalist as such, any more than it licenses an internist. All state boards require at least one year of postgraduate training for a full unrestricted licence, with some requiring two or three. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact provides a voluntary expedited route to additional state licences and covered 44 member states and 2 US territories across 59 licensing boards as of 31 July 2026, but it is not a single multistate licence. Board certification is not required for a licence; FSMB notes that most physicians obtain it for practical reasons such as hospital privileges, and 42 CFR 482.12(a)(7) prevents a Medicare-participating hospital from granting or denying privileges solely on the basis of certification while still allowing bylaws to require it alongside other criteria.
What exams do you have to pass to become a Hospitalist?
The ABIM Internal Medicine assessments, inpatient versions and the Pediatric Hospital Medicine certifying examination. Launched in 2024 as inpatient-focused versions of the traditional 10-year maintenance of certification examination and the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment, with a greater proportion of questions geared toward hospitalists. Any of these assessments may be used to maintain board certification in internal medicine. They confer no separate designation.