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Family Medicine Physicians vs Pediatricians, General: what changes?

Consider Family Medicine Physicians if you want to diagnose, treat, and provide preventive care to individuals and families across the lifespan. Consider Pediatricians, General if you would rather diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases and injuries in children. Both list doctoral or professional degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Family Medicine Physicians and Pediatricians, General. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Family Medicine Physicians

National median pay (2025)
$244,180
Route into the job
Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate
Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
2,900
Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Family Medicine Physicians brief

Pediatricians, General

National median pay (2025)
$210,040
Route into the job
Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate
Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury in infants and children.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
1,000
Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Pediatricians, General brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Family Medicine Physicians has the edge on annual openings

Family Medicine Physicians is at 2,900 annual openings, compared with 1,000 annual openings for Pediatricians, General.

2

Family Medicine Physicians has the edge on projected growth

Family Medicine Physicians is at 3.3% projected growth, compared with 1.5% projected growth for Pediatricians, General.

3

Family Medicine Physicians has the edge on median pay

Family Medicine Physicians is at $244,180, compared with $210,040 for Pediatricians, General.

56.3/ 100

Family Medicine Physicians

vs
45.3/ 100

Pediatricians, General

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Family Medicine Physicians vs Pediatricians, General

DimensionFamily Medicine PhysiciansPediatricians, General
Median pay (2025)$244,180$210,040
Pay percentile98 percentile97.4 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)3.3%1.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)2,9001,000
2025 employment114,30042,200
How you qualifyDoctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirementsDoctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 5Job Zone 5
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingInternship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Family Medicine Physicians briefRead Pediatricians, General brief

Try another comparison

Family Medicine Physicians vs Neurologists

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Family Medicine Physicians
$244,180 · 3.3% growth
Neurologists
$248,560 · 6.4% growth
Compare careers →

Pediatricians, General vs Neurologists

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Pediatricians, General
$210,040 · 1.5% growth
Neurologists
$248,560 · 6.4% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.