Healthcare is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S., and Illinois is no exception.

With a physician shortage that ranks as one of the highest in the country, Illinois is in severe need of primary care workers in its healthcare workforce. By how much? Try the 6000+ doctors that Illinois needs to employ to tackle medical aid for its residents.

With the new job opportunities come young residents who are curious about physician salaries in Illinois. It’s a brand new horizon to explore, especially when the Prairie State is working so hard to bulk up its physician workforce.

But what are the doctors earning in Illinois? How well a healthcare system holds up absolutely impacts its physicians directly, so let’s discuss Illinois physicians, their salaries, and where its healthcare sector is heading. Here’s what you can expect:

• Physician Salaries In Illinois
• Fields With The Most Active Physicians
• The Illinois Healthcare Sector And Its Performance

What are Physician Salaries in Illinois

The salary of a doctor depends on their geographical location, experience, and other factors. But on average, a physician working in Illinois can be expected to make around $206,922 when starting, according to medscape.

It’s still a six-figure salary, of course, but that’s true of most physician salaries across the U.S. And yet, some doctors are doing better than others. A doctor earning in, say, Wisconsin is going to be doing better than a doctor in New York and that is because of the cost of living and how far their salaries can stretch because of it.

For Illinois, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. While it isn’t as expensive to live there as it is in New York, Illinois does have a higher cost of living if you go into the more urban areas such as Chicago, which is 11% above the national average according to Forbes. It’s even harder to become a homeowner here because of the restrictions the Illinois government places on aspects such as zoning and use of land.

Still, Illinois isn’t doing too bad, at least when it comes to the physicians who have completed residencies and moved on to a specialty. Physicians in specialties outside of primary care tend to earn more, and here are some of the highest-paid medical fields in Illinois. The figures below are from medscape:

However, the highest specialties aren’t the ones with the largest workforce or opportunities. They tend to have limited residency spaces, which makes them highly competitive among graduates.

Instead, the fields with the most active physicians are usually associated with primary care, as seen in the table below.

How Do Physicians Feel About Working In Illinois?

With all the figures laid out, what do doctors think about practicing in The Prairie State?

The answer is not great. There is a lot of talk about many residents moving out of state because of some of the rules and regulations of the system in Illinois that make doctors there wary of practicing.

One of the main reasons suspected for this mass migration before was the amount of medical malpractice lawsuits and how there is no cap on them. This means a physician could easily go bankrupt and ruin their entire medical career over a singular case, thanks to the high costs associated with malpractice in the state.

But the reasoning is disputed. There is no wonder that medical malpractice liability plays a part in doctors’ dissatisfaction with the Illinois healthcare system, yes. But the other reasons why young graduates might be moving out are simply the oversaturation of doctors in urban areas and the severe lack of physicians in rural ones.

Illinois is also becoming much more expensive to live in. The state has been transitioning from a flat tax on its residents to a progressive income tax. This means that if a physician is earning a good amount, they will be taxed just as heavily.

The Illinois healthcare system is experiencing its own set of pains. Between workforce deficits and a serious dearth of supply chains, the few hospitals open in the state are overworked, with resources spread far too thin.

If anything, that just means more opportunities for young physicians to make a living in Illinois. For example, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have even added extra funding for new residency slots in the state, which is a great help considering Illinois only had 237 residency vacancies to begin with.

The answer has been to focus on more out-patient facilities to meet growing demands, but that could take years to complete before the facilities are enough and easily accessible.

The money is a little above average but can take you a long way if you don’t plan on living in the more expensive cities. They are trying to increase the physician workforce by offering a competitive salary, better hours, etc.

Illinois is in the middle here. It isn’t the worst state to practice in as a physician, but it certainly isn’t the best either.

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