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JakartaWhy Los Angeles pays Surgeons 18% above the United States median
A typical surgeon in Los Angeles, CA earns about $542,000 a year — 18% above the United States median for the same occupation. That premium is real cash, but Los Angeles’s cost-of-living index is 100 (100 = US baseline), so the extra pay has to be judged against rent and prices, not collected as a pure raise.
Surgeons perform operations to treat injuries, diseases, and deformities. Healthcare pay in Los Angeles, CA is sensitive to setting, shifts, and public vs private employers. The $542,000 median is a useful average, not what a night-shift specialist or a clinic role will actually land. Long-term employment for this occupation is modeled at about +3% over a decade — a national sketch, not a Los Angeles, CA hiring guarantee.
The percentiles on this page are observed metro figures for Surgeon in Los Angeles, CA, not a national median multiplied by a pay index. That matters: you are looking at how this labour market actually priced the role, including local industry mix. They are still estimates of the market — not a promise of what one employer will offer.
Among the 9 United States metros we can compare for this role, Los Angeles ranks 2 by median. Washington DC leads this comparison at $590,000 (+9% vs Los Angeles), while San Antonio sits at $366,000. Use those gaps to test a relocation thesis: a 15% cash raise that lands in a much more expensive metro can disappear in rent.
Los Angeles’s COL index (100) sits nearer the global baseline, so headline and adjusted pay are not far apart ($542,000 vs $542,000). Rent still matters: the 1-bedroom model is $1,650 / month, about 5% of take-home, with leftover near $28,930.
If you are comparing a Los Angeles office offer with a location-flexible one, the United States national median for this role is about $460,000. Local pay is 18% higher — a $82,000 gap. Remote employers often anchor to the national figure; on-site employers in Los Angeles are anchoring to this page.
World Bank consumer-price inflation for United States was about 2.9% in 2024; an illustrative model tied to inflation and the occupation’s outlook suggests pay has risen about 13% over the last few years. H-1B / employment-based green card is the usual skilled-hire route (selective for typical hires): Most skilled foreign hires enter via employer-sponsored H-1B (lottery-capped) or specialty routes; permanent residence usually follows an employment-based petition. At 6× United States GDP per capita, this median is well above a typical national living standard. Unemployment was about 4.2% in 2025. None of that is tax, immigration, or career advice — run the calculators and confirm rules officially.
How to read a surgeon offer in Los Angeles
Start with gross cash, not the recruiting headline. If an offer lands near $542,000, you are in the lower half of this metro’s observed distribution; near $542,000 you are already paid like a stronger local hire. Then subtract a realistic tax path (simplified national effective rate here is about 28%, leaving $389,166 a year) and a housing number you would actually accept — not only the $1,650 model.
Because the 90th percentile is about 2.0× the 10th, two surgeon jobs in Los Angeles can be different careers that share a title. Ask what sits in the package (bonus, overtime, equity, on-call) before you treat $542,000 as a fair target.
Demand and the surgeon pipeline
Occupation-level employment for surgeons is projected at about +3% over ten years. That is a national sketch of demand, not a forecast that Los Angeles will hire at that rate. Local openings still follow Los Angeles’s industry mix — hospitals, studios, public employers, or product companies — which is already baked into the observed percentiles more than into the outlook percentage.
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