Family Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: $244K vs $282K Median Pay

Family Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: what changes?

Consider Family Medicine Physicians if you want to diagnose, treat, and provide preventive care to individuals and families across the lifespan. Consider Psychiatrists if you would rather diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders. 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 Psychiatrists. 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

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

Psychiatrists

National median pay (2025): $281,870
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, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 900

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Psychiatrists brief

How the national numbers differ

Psychiatrists has the edge on projected growth

Psychiatrists is at 7.2% projected growth, compared with 3.3% projected growth for Family Medicine Physicians.

Family Medicine Physicians has the edge on annual openings

Family Medicine Physicians is at 2,900 annual openings, compared with 900 annual openings for Psychiatrists.

Psychiatrists has the edge on median pay

Psychiatrists is at $281,870, compared with $244,180 for Family Medicine Physicians.

56.3/ 100

Family Medicine Physicians

56.9/ 100

Psychiatrists

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 Psychiatrists

Dimension	Family Medicine Physicians	Psychiatrists
Median pay (2025)	$244,180	$281,870
Pay percentile	98 percentile	98.4 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	3.3%	7.2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,900	900
2025 employment	114,300	30,000
How you qualify	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Internship 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 brief Read Psychiatrists brief

Family Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Family Medicine Physicians

Psychiatrists

How the national numbers differ

Psychiatrists has the edge on projected growth

Family Medicine Physicians has the edge on annual openings

Psychiatrists has the edge on median pay

Family Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists

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