Measuring Income Inequality Within 8 Health Care Professions in the United States

This study investigated intraoccupational income and wage-rate distributions across 8 health care professions: physicians and surgeons, dentists, physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners and nurse midwives, physical therapists, and registered nurses.

The research was based on a sample of 142,527 U.S. practitioners from the 2019 to 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) and focused on 4 inequality indicators: the coefficient of variation, lower median share, 90-10 decile ratio, and Gini coefficient.

Findings revealed substantial income dispersion, with dentists and physicians/surgeons displaying the highest levels of inequality, while pharmacists, registered nurses, physical therapists, and nurse practitioners and nurse midwives exhibited more even distributions. The occupations' degree of inequality was correlated with average annual income and wage-rate levels. Gender disparities were significant across all professions, with male practitioners consistently earning more than their female counterparts. The degree of inequality was greater for professions in which there were more male than female practitioners. Annual income and wage-rate inequality also was identified within genders.

This research contributes to understanding income disparities within health care professions and suggests that further exploration is needed to identify the determinants of these inequalities and their long-term evolution.