Race and gender differences in pediatricians' annual incomes

To determine the association between race, gender, and pediatricians' annual incomes after controlling for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 1172 actively practicing black and white male and female pediatricians who responded to the American Medical Association's annual survey of physicians between 1992 and 2001. We used linear regression modeling to calculate annual incomes adjusted for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics.

White men reported annual incomes of $183,430. After adjusting incomes for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics, black male pediatricians' mean annual income was $175,640 (95 per cent confidence interval [95 per cent CI], $150,344-201,138). This was $7790 (4.2 per cent) lower, but not statistically different from that of white men (P = .5). However, compared with white male pediatricians' incomes, white female pediatricians' incomes were $150,636 (95 per cent CI, $140,975-$160,298), or $32,794 (18 per cent) lower (P < .001); and black female pediatricians' incomes were $133,018 (95 per cent CI, $108,736-$157,300), or $50,412 (27 per cent) lower (P < .001).

During the 1990s, female gender was associated with lower annual incomes among pediatricians; differences were greatest for black women. These findings warrant further exploration to determine what factors might cause the gender-based income differences that we found.