Physician compensation, 2026

Cardiology (Non-invasive) Salary

Non-invasive cardiology sits among the highest paid medical subspecialties, and imaging is the engine. Echo, nuclear, and stress volume plus the read book determine where a given cardiologist lands in a wide band.

National median
$565,000
Typical range (p10 to p90)
$430k to $720k
Median annual wRVUs
9,500
Call burden
High

Median total cash compensation for a mid-career attending. Source: Doximity 2024 (publicly cited). Treat figures as medians, not targets. Real compensation varies widely by geography, employment model, and experience.

Live anonymous cohort, Cardiology (Non-invasive)

This cohort is still being built.

We display a live Cardiology (Non-invasive) cohort once at least 10 attendings have submitted in the last 24 months. Until then, the published benchmark and regional table below are your reference. Be one of the first to seed it.

Submit your comp anonymously

Cardiology (Non-invasive) pay by region

Directional regional medians, anchored to the Doximity 2024 national figure and US Census region adjustments. The South and Midwest pay more in absolute dollars because physician supply is lower and demand is higher; the Northeast runs lower with a higher cost of living.

RegionMedian total compNotes
National median$565,000Doximity 2024 / Medscape 2024 nationwide median.
South$621,500Highest absolute compensation. Houston, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Atlanta lead.
Midwest$610,200Indianapolis and St. Louis often top Doximity median tables.
West$576,300Wide spread. California pays well but is offset by cost of living.
Northeast$548,050Lower in absolute terms (high supply of physicians) and higher cost of living.

Regional figures are modeled adjustments to the national median, not separately surveyed values. Use them for direction, not as an offer benchmark.

What drives Cardiology (Non-invasive) compensation

  • Imaging interpretation volume. The echo and nuclear read book is the dominant wRVU source.
  • Call burden, which trades lifestyle for income and is steepest early career.
  • Private practice partnership and ancillary or facility ownership, which raise the ceiling well above employed medians.
  • Device clinic and chronic care management revenue attached to a heart failure panel.

Model your own number, not the median

Cardiology (Non-invasive) reports a median of about 9,500 wRVUs a year. Your take-home is that volume times your contract rate, above your threshold. Plug your real visit mix into the calculator and see the bonus your specific offer produces, then negotiate against it.

Negotiation levers at offer time

  • Quantify the expected read volume and confirm whether interpretations credit fully to your wRVUs.
  • Price call. A lighter call schedule has real dollar value that should be reflected in the base.
  • If a partnership track exists, get the buy-in terms and the timeline in writing before signing.

Cardiology (Non-invasive) at a glance

Median total comp
$565,000
Clinical hours / week
56
Fellowship years
3
Median annual wRVUs
9,500
Private practice share
28%
Call burden
High

One of the highest-paying medical subs. Tough call early career. Typical setting: mixed inpatient/outpatient, busy procedural day.

Frequently asked questions

What drives non-invasive cardiology compensation the most?

Imaging volume. Echo, nuclear, and stress interpretations are the largest wRVU source, so the size and crediting of the read book matters more than the base.

Does private cardiology still pay more than employed?

Where partnership and ancillary or facility ownership remain, the private ceiling is higher, but consolidation has narrowed the gap in many markets. Model both at realistic volume.

How much is cardiology call worth?

Enough to negotiate explicitly. Call frequency is one of the clearest lifestyle-for-income trades in the specialty and should be priced into the offer, not treated as a given.

Keep going

Educational reference, not financial, billing, or legal advice. Published medians are publicly cited from Doximity 2024. The live cohort is self-reported and anonymized; individual rows are never exposed and a cohort is shown only at a minimum size. Verify any number against your own contract and market before acting on it.