Family Medicine Physician Pay in New England

According to recently published data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of May 2024, there were just over 104,000 family medicine physicians employed across the United States. Of these, 6,120 were practicing in the six-state New England region.

BLS data highlights a significant pay disparity among family medicine physicians in New England. Massachusetts stands out, accounting for more than half of the region’s family medicine employment and ranking in the top 10 nationally for annual mean wages. In contrast, the other five New England states report average salaries below the national average.

The May 2024 BLS data provides the following insights into family medicine physician compensation across New England:

Family Medicine Physician Pay in New England

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
CT	900	$213,400	45th
MA	3,550	$301,270	4th
ME	630	$221,190	42nd
NH	410	$248,550	28th
RI	280	$244,270	30th
VT	350	$238,710	32nd
U.S.	104,780	$253,047	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on June 5, 2025

Whenever residents of geographic areas, facilities, or population groups have subpar access to basic medical care because too few primary care physicians serve the area relative to its population, the setting can be designated a primary care HPSA (health professional shortage area) by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  As of March 31, 2025, the HRSA reported that more than 77.2 million Americans lived in primary care HPSAs.  That included just over 5.4 million residents of the seven-state Great Plains region.  This number represented almost 7% of the U.S. population that was living in a primary care shortfall area at that time.  The HRSA estimates that to eliminate the shortfall Great Plains region HPSAs would need 1,080 additional primary care physicians.  An examination of HRSA data details the following about the primary care shortfall in the Great Plains region:

The Primary Care Shortfall in the Great Plains Region

State	(1) HPSAs	(2) Population	(3) Shortfall
IA	161	745,778	162
KS	160	676,611	113
MN	212	1,415,841	201
MO	336	1,878,341	476
NE	131	235,596	33
ND	87	182,247	39
SD	99	267,936	56
Region	1,186	5,402,350	1,080
U.S.	7,749	77,253,848	13,364

(1) HRSA-designated Geographic Units, Population Groups, and Facilities with a primary care shortfall

(2) Population of designated HPSAs

(3) Primary Care practitioners needed to remove the HPSA Designation

Source:  Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary, 3/31/25 (HRSA)

Speech Language Pathologist Pay in the Great Plains Region

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) most current occupational employment data indicated that nearly 174,000 speech language pathologists (SLPs) were working in the United States as of May 2024.  More than 12,000 of those employed in the U.S. as SLPs resided in the seven-state Great Plains region.  BLS data indicated that the region is one of the weakest in the country for speech language pathologist pay, as no state in the region registered a SLP annual mean wage level above the national average.  Moreover, three Great Plains states ranked among the ten worst states in the country for SLP annual mean wages.  More examination of BLS data from May 2024 reveals the following details about speech language pathologist pay in the Great Plains region:

Speech Language Pathologist Pay in the Great Plains Region

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
IA	1,390	$85,230	32nd
KS	1,790	$84,230	36th
MN	3,730	$82,020	42nd
MO	2,700	$84,930	33rd
NE	1,230	$83,880	38th
ND	670	$73,950	48th
SD	510	$69,230	50th
U.S.	173,910	$91,089	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on June 3, 2025