South Dakota Great Place for Doctors

National Doctor's Day is Saturday, March 30. A recent study revealed that "physician" was the highest paid job type in 2018. In light of these two facts, WalletHub has done the research to determine which states are the best and the worst for doctors to work and why.

Yes, many doctors make the big bucks, (median base salary in 2018 was $195,000) but to get there they spend a great deal on education, (average medical school grads left school behind in 2018 with over $196,000 in debt) and are tasked with lifesaving and/or life-changing decisions on a nearly daily basis.

As the daughter of a physician who made a big difference in many of his patient's lives, (for a whole lot less than $195,000 a year!) I can attest that it is not an easy profession in any sense of the word. Due to healthcare reform, hospital networks and other issues, being a doctor has probably never been so complicated.

WalletHub's purpose in putting this study together was to give doctors some idea of what kind of working conditions exist in different parts of the country.

They examined numerous categories:

Highest average wage for physicians (adjusted for cost of living) - South Dakota comes in first.
Least expensive annual malpractice liability insurance - South Dakota comes in second.
Average starting salaries for physicians (adjusted for cost of living) -South Dakota only came in 26th in this category, which I guess would indicate it is a good place to come after you're established in your career, but not necessarily a great place to begin one.
Hospitals per Capita - South Dakota is fourth in the nation.

They also considered the quality of public hospital systems, hospitals safety, malpractice award payouts and much more.

Overall, South Dakota was number 6 in the nation for best states for doctors and I believe it is pretty clear we have some of the best right here in Sioux Falls.

The top 10 states for doctors are: