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.
Urologist Salary (2026): Data, Outlook & How to Become One
Urologists 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: Acute Care Physician, MD (Medical Doctor), Owner, Physician, Practicing Urologist, Surgeon.
How much do Urologists 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, Urologists 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 Urologists 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 Urologist a growing career?
Urologists2.5%
All US occupations3.1%
+2.5% projected growth vs 3.1% for all occupations.
About as fast as average
BLS projects employment of Urologists 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 an Urologist
Urology is a 60-month integrated residency entered through the AUA early match rather than the NRMP main match, and the American Board of Urology certifies in two stages separated by real practice. You sit the Qualifying (written) Examination during or after chief residency, then practise for at least 16 months and submit a six-month log of every office visit and procedure at every facility where you work, before sitting the oral Certifying Examination. Since February 2024 new ABU certificates carry no expiration date and are maintained through a repeating five-year Continuing Urologic Certification cycle.
The credential path, step by step
- Complete medical school and the licensing examinations4 years of medical school
An MD from an LCME-accredited programme or a DO from a COCA-accredited college, then USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3, or COMLEX-USA Levels 1, 2 and 3. USMLE Step 1 has been 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.
- Match through the urology early match, not the main match
Urology runs its own match, administered by the American Urological Association and governed by the Society of Academic Urologists, and it concludes before the NRMP main match. NRMP itself lists urology under early matches and notes that US MD and DO seniors in it are no longer required to register with the Main Residency Match to obtain the PGY-1 year. Applications still go through ERAS, and accepting the preference list is a formal, binding commitment, which is also why couples matching is not available.
- Complete the 60-month urology residency60 months
The ACGME sets the programme at 60 months. The first year must include six months of core surgical education outside urology, of which three months are general surgery rotations and three months are other non-urological surgery, plus three months of urology and three months at the programme director's discretion. Within the final 24 months, residents must serve at least 12 months as a chief resident. Because the first year sits inside the urology programme rather than being a separate preliminary year, there is nothing extra to match into.
- Pass the ABU Qualifying (Part 1) Examination
You may enter the certification process after completing at least six months of chief residency in an approved US or Canadian programme. The examination is 300 multiple-choice questions, of which 200 are previously tested questions used to grade candidates, delivered at Pearson VUE over two three-hour periods. The ABU also requires a minimum of 48 months dedicated to urology training within at least five clinical years of postgraduate training, with up to 3 months of PGY-1 urology counting toward the 48.
- Practise for 16 months and log six of themAt least 16 months
This is the step that surprises people. Before the oral examination you must have engaged in at least 16 months of urological practice with primary patient responsibility in a single community, an academic institution or the Armed Forces, and a fellowship earns a four-month credit toward it. You must then submit logs of all office visits and of hospital, ambulatory care and office procedures for every facility where you practise, covering the same consecutive six-month period, signed under a Practice Log Verification Statement attesting that the log is true, complete and accurate. There is no minimum case count, but a practice experience well below the norm for the peer group may delay certification. Confidential peer review questionnaires are collected from the Chief of Urology or Surgery, the Chief of Anesthesiology and the Chief of Staff at each facility where you perform at least 50 cases a year.
- Pass the Certifying (Part 2) oral Examination
Held annually in March in Raleigh, North Carolina, as two 45-minute encounters with different examiners, made up of three objective structured clinical examinations and three protocols. The OSCE component was added in 2023. Candidates have six years from the end of residency to complete the process and no more than three attempts at each examination; failing means repeating the urology portion of an ACGME-accredited residency to re-enter.
- Consider a subspecialty certificate
The ABU offers two. Pediatric Urology, offered since 2008 and administered every other year, requires at least 24 months in an approved pediatric urology training programme, a practice at least 75 percent pediatric, and a 12-month practice log demonstrating it. Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, co-sponsored with the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, requires a current unrestricted urology certificate, an ACGME-accredited fellowship of at least 24 months and a 12-month practice log. It was renamed from Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, approved by ABMS in June 2023 and effective 1 January 2024, so both names appear in older material.
Exams you have to pass
ABU Qualifying (Part 1) Examination
300 multiple-choice questions of which 200 are previously tested questions used to grade candidates, taken over two three-hour periods on one of three consecutive mid-July dates. Open to residents who will have completed at least six months of chief residency by 30 June of the examination year.
Administered by American Board of Urology, delivered at Pearson VUE.
ABU Certifying (Part 2) Examination
An oral examination held each March in Raleigh, North Carolina: two 45-minute encounters with different examiners composed of three objective structured clinical examinations and three protocols, the OSCE element having been added in 2023. It can only be taken after 16 months of practice, an acceptable six-month practice log and peer review.
Administered by American Board of Urology.
- Program accreditation
ACGME · ACGME program requirements for urology
The educational programme in urology must be 60 months in length, with a prescribed first-year composition and at least 12 months as chief resident within the final 24. An alternative format allows one year of surgery education before the 60-month programme, but such programmes must still comply with all the curricular requirements of the 60-month programme. Completing an accredited residency is what makes a candidate admissible to the ABU process.
- How long the training takes
5 years of residency after medical school
Four years of medical school, then a 60-month urology residency. Certification adds at least a further 16 months of practice before the oral examination, and candidates have six years from the end of residency to complete both parts. Subspecialty certificates in pediatric urology or urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery add a fellowship of at least 24 months.
- Continuing education
Required to stay credentialed
The ABU moved from time-limited certificates to continuous certification after the ABMS Committee on Continuing Certification approved the change in February 2024, so new certificates carry no expiration date and diplomates who remain active in all aspects of Continuing Urologic Certification are continuously certified. The CUC cycle repeats every five years: knowledge exposure years built around journal articles, knowledge reinforcement years of open-resource questions, and a year-five knowledge assessment of 90 online open-resource questions within a 24-hour period that is not pass or fail, and which is waived for diplomates averaging 65 percent correct in the reinforcement years. The legacy 10-year Lifelong Learning programme still runs in parallel for existing diplomates, and certificates issued before 1985 are time-unlimited.
Licensing and state variation
Licensed state by state
The state medical board issues a licence for the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine: no state licenses urologists as such, and board certification is not a licensure requirement. All state medical boards require at least one year of postgraduate training for a full unrestricted licence, with some requiring two or three, so a resident can be licensed years before being board certified. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact provides a voluntary expedited pathway rather than a single multistate licence, covering 44 member states and 2 US territories across 59 licensing boards as of 31 July 2026.
Who governs the credential
- American Board of Urology (ABU) — Certifies urologists through the two-part Qualifying and Certifying examinations with a practice and practice-log requirement between them, issues the pediatric urology and URPS subspecialty certificates, and runs Continuing Urologic Certification.
- Society of Academic Urologists (SAU) — Governs the urology residency match, which runs ahead of the NRMP main match and produces a formal, binding commitment.
- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) — Accredits urology residencies and the pediatric urology and URPS fellowships, and sets the 60-month programme length.
Credential detail for urologists 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.
- ABU: Initial certification · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: Qualifying (Part 1) Examination · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: Certifying (Part 2) Examination · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: 2026 Information for Applicants and Candidates (practice log and peer review requirements) · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: Continuing Urologic Certification · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: Pediatric urology subspecialty certification · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU and ABOG: FPMRS to URPS name change announcement · checked August 23, 2026
- ABU: Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery · checked August 23, 2026
- ACGME program requirements for graduate medical education in urology (2026) · checked August 23, 2026
- Society of Academic Urologists: Resident match policy · checked August 23, 2026
- NRMP: Early matches · checked August 23, 2026
- USMLE: Examination results and scoring · checked August 23, 2026
- FSMB: About physician licensure · checked August 23, 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission · 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 urologists.
- Post-Doctoral Training64.4%
- Doctoral Degree33.4%
- First Professional Degree2.2%
What does an Urologist do?
Diagnose, treat, and help prevent benign and malignant medical and surgical disorders of the genitourinary system and the renal glands.
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 or treat diseases or disorders of genitourinary organs and tracts including erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, incontinence, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, urethral stones, or premature ejaculation.
- Order and interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening, to detect prostate cancer.
- Document or review patients' histories.
- Prescribe or administer antibiotics, antiseptics, or compresses to treat infection or injury.
- Treat lower urinary tract dysfunctions using equipment such as diathermy machines, catheters, cystoscopes, or radium emanation tubes.
- Direct the work of nurses, residents, or other staff to provide patient care.
- Prescribe medications to treat patients with erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, or ejaculation problems.
- Refer patients to specialists when condition exceeds experience, expertise, or scope of practice.
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
- Almost never works outdoors
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
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 Comprehension4.4/5
- Critical Thinking4.3/5
- Active Listening4.1/5
- Writing4.1/5
- Speaking4.0/5
- Active Learning3.9/5
- Monitoring3.9/5
- Science3.6/5
Transferable skills
- Judgment and Decision Making4.3/5
- Complex Problem Solving4.0/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.9/5
- Time Management3.6/5
- Systems Analysis3.5/5
- Coordination3.4/5
- Service Orientation3.4/5
- Systems Evaluation3.3/5
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
- Electronic mail software
- Graphics or photo imaging software
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
What personality type suits an Urologist?
Interest profile: O*NET Occupational Interests, scored 1–7
Realisticprimary4.8
Investigativeprimary6.8
Artistic1.3
Socialprimary5.5
Enterprising2.2
Conventional3.4
Day to day this is work built around investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data, combined with teaching, helping and working directly with other people.
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.
Urologist: frequently asked questions
How much do Urologists make?
Urologists 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 an Urologist?
Yes, and beyond a bachelor's: BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry requirement for Urologists. BLS also lists internship/residency as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 64.4% hold post-doctoral training.
Is Urologist 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 an Urologist do?
Physicians and surgeons diagnose and treat injuries or illnesses and address health maintenance. A core O*NET task: diagnose or treat diseases or disorders of genitourinary organs and tracts including erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, incontinence, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, urethral stones, or premature ejaculation. Employers most often ask for Medical software, Office suite software, Presentation software.
Which states pay Urologists the most?
The highest state medians for Urologists are North Dakota ($454,550), Montana ($438,850), Maine ($419,410) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What personality type suits an Urologist?
O*NET scores Urologists highest on the Investigative, Social and Realistic interest areas, so the work mixes investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data with teaching, helping and working directly with other people. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISTJ, INTJ, ISTP. 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 an Urologist?
5 years of residency after medical school. Four years of medical school, then a 60-month urology residency. Certification adds at least a further 16 months of practice before the oral examination, and candidates have six years from the end of residency to complete both parts. Subspecialty certificates in pediatric urology or urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery add a fellowship of at least 24 months.
Do you need a license to work as an Urologist?
Yes, and it is issued by the state you work in, not nationally. The state medical board issues a licence for the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine: no state licenses urologists as such, and board certification is not a licensure requirement. All state medical boards require at least one year of postgraduate training for a full unrestricted licence, with some requiring two or three, so a resident can be licensed years before being board certified. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact provides a voluntary expedited pathway rather than a single multistate licence, covering 44 member states and 2 US territories across 59 licensing boards as of 31 July 2026.
What exams do you have to pass to become an Urologist?
The ABU Qualifying (Part 1) Examination and the ABU Certifying (Part 2) Examination. 300 multiple-choice questions of which 200 are previously tested questions used to grade candidates, taken over two three-hour periods on one of three consecutive mid-July dates. Open to residents who will have completed at least six months of chief residency by 30 June of the examination year.