Salary

Average Salary: $375,000

Expected Lifetime Earnings: $15,655,500


Radiologists and orthopedic surgeons are the two highest-paid jobs in medicine, with salaries usually around $375,000 per year (source). At the high end, you can earn more than $450,000 per year. We don't need to tell you that that's a lot of money.

To maximize their earnings, radiologists work in hospital settings in professional groups that provide on-call rotation—and negotiate salaries for their own inclusive cohort. If you gang up with other radiologists, you have a lot more control over your earnings and profits.

It's a bit more difficult to be hired as a staff physician at hospitals, but truthfully, the advantages aren't all that advantageous. Since most of your job can be done online through "teleradiology," you're uniquely qualified to work with little supervision. Radiology is a great job for creative minds and creative people who do best without bosses.

Staff interventional radiologists (the ones who diagnose and operate) can earn as much as $500,000 a year. Diagnostic radiologists (who don't operate) make only slightly less. But in any case, we're talking about gigantic numbers here. If you work your way into radiology, you can expect to make a ton of money.