How Much Do Plastic Surgeons Get Paid?

By Dr. Stephen Cosentino

PRESIDENT OF EMPIRE MEDICAL TRAINING

Maybe you’re in medical school and ready to narrow down your list of medical specialties. You want to know how much more you’ll earn over the course of your health care career if you become a plastic surgeon instead of a primary care doctor.

Or perhaps you’re a cosmetic surgery patient who’s just curious how much your own cosmetic surgeon makes. How much of that hefty surgical fee do they keep for themselves?

Either way, it’s reasonable to ask: How much do plastic surgeons get paid? Read on for the answers.

Plastic Surgeon Salary — How Much They Earn

How much do plastic surgeons make?

The easy answer is “a lot.” Plastic surgery consistently ranks among the highest-paid medical specialties in the United States. According to average compensation data for board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States, total compensation for the typical cosmetic surgeon reached $501,000 in 2018 before receding slightly in subsequent years.

Still, salary ranges for plastic surgeons are much higher than those for primary care doctors. Average compensation for pediatricians is about $198,000 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Family doctors and internal medicine doctors make a bit more, but still less than $250,000 on average. Plastic surgeons earn well over $300,000 per year on average, though as we’ll see, there’s considerable variation by state and subspecialty.

Plastic surgeon compensation is affected by a range of factors including:

• How much they earn in salary vs. bonus compensation
• Where they live and practice
• The types of procedures they perform
• Whether they’re employed or work in private practice

Let’s dive further into the numbers.

Plastic Surgeon Base Salary vs. Bonus

Many plastic surgeons (though not all) earn a combination of base salary and bonus compensation. Bonus compensation is not guaranteed, and if a surgeon doesn’t make bonus in a given year, their total compensation will be lower.

That said, for most plastic surgeons, base salary is 80% of compensation or more. The average base salary for a full-time plastic surgeon ranges from about $240,000 to about $380,000, depending on location. Some plastic surgeons earn more.

Plastic Surgeon Earnings by State

The average plastic surgeon salary is just that — an average. Compensation varies widely by state. For example, plastic surgeons in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina earn about 70% (on average) of what their counterparts make in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

Within states, plastic surgeon compensation may vary between high cost of living areas and lower cost of living areas. For example, in California, plastic surgeons based in the high-cost San Francisco Bay Area may earn more than those in lower-cost Fresno — though San Francisco surgeons’ higher salary still might not go as far.

How Much Do Plastic Surgeons Earn in Residency?

Residency compensation is another factor that can skew average data for plastic surgeon compensation. 

All plastic surgeons must complete medical residencies, which last as long as seven years. In residency, they treat patients and perform other surgical duties. But their compensation is far lower than full-time surgeons, generally under $100,000 per year.

How Much Do Plastic Surgeons Make Per Procedure?

Finally, plastic surgeon compensation depends on the types of procedures performed, at least on a per-procedure basis.

Supervising medical providers trained to perform minimally invasive cosmetic procedures like Botox and dermal filler injections earn less per procedure than those who perform traditional facelifts. However, they can perform more procedures, upping their total compensation.

The same goes for surgeons who mainly perform less invasive, in-demand procedures like cat eye thread lifts. It evens out in the end — it’s just a matter of how they choose to get there.