Best Cities For Doctors

Family doctors and general practitioners are the backbone of our healthcare system. These doctors diagnose, treat, and medicate common ailments in their patients, and are often the first line of defense against medical problems. They serve as gatekeepers of our health, and refer us to specialists when more attention is needed. With healthcare becoming more and more complex, the need for primary care physicians has grown.

ValuePenguin has gathered and analyzed data on the best cities for doctors to practice in. Using a combination of factors from salaries, the employment concentration of the profession, and cost of living, we've developed from approximately 300 cities a list of the Top Best Cities for Doctors. Our methodology and sources for determining the best cities are after the table.

Before we begin diving into the top cities, here are some salary and employment facts for family and general physicians. The average salary for doctors, which ValuePenguin uses as the basis for the rankings, is $179,651 in the United States as of May 2012. The average salary ranges widely from city to city, starting at $60,160 in Mayaguez in Puerto Rico to $244,180 in the Waterloo / Cedar Falls area of Iowa. There are about 86,000 family and general practitioners operating in the United States as of May 2012. The job outlook for doctors is bright; jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2010 - 2020, which is ten percentage points above the national job growth of 14% for all occupations.

- See more at: http://www.valuepenguin.com/2013/07/best-cities-doctors#sthash.Edalc3Ba.dpuf

Top Best Cities for Doctors Rank City Average Salary Jobs Location Quotient Cost of Living Score
1 North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL $228,190 670 3.32 92 93%
2 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 224,930 690 2.51 91 93
3 St. Joseph, MO 230,920 80 1.97 86 92
4 La Crosse, WI 210,130 270 4.58 94 89
5 Portsmouth, NH 243,400 110 2.24 137 89
6 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR 228,450 530 1.88 89 88
7 Salisbury, MD 220,850 100 2.24 100 88
8 Tulsa, OK 216,000 680 1.94 88 88
9 Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI 198,670 180 3.69 84 86
10 Spartanburg, SC 206,990 210 2.16 89 86 -

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