What Does Anesthesia Actually Pay in 2026? Why Credible Sources Disagree by Six Figures, and Which Number to Use
Key takeaways
- AMGA Consulting reports median total clinical compensation for anesthesiologists of $536,320 in survey year 2025 from 3,635 anesthesiologists, up from $427,000 in 2021.
- Marit Health reports average anesthesiologist total compensation of $614,156 from 297 salary reports, about $170,000 above the $444,468 average total salary the same platform reported as of mid-2025.
- The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook median of $134,920 for May 2025 blends nurse anesthetists with nurse midwives and nurse practitioners; the nurse anesthetist median annual wage in the same data is $236,590.
- Marit Health puts the CRNA median annual salary at $280,000 from 586 shared salaries as of September 11, 2026, about $43,410 above the BLS median of $236,590.
- BagMask.com reports a national advertised average CAA base salary of $250,600 for Q2 2026, while noting that roughly 64% of otherwise eligible full-time W-2 CAA postings did not publish a usable salary.
- At 2025 AMGA median compensation of $49.05 per ASA unit, a solo anesthesiologist billing 10,000 units lands at the 35th percentile ($490,500) while one directing four CRNAs at 20,000 units lands at the 99th ($981,000).
Every anesthesia contract negotiation in 2026 runs into the same problem: both sides can cite a credible national number, and the numbers are six figures apart.
This is not a rounding problem or a bad-faith problem. It is a measurement problem. Compensation sources for anesthesia differ in who reports the data, what counts as compensation, what counts as a full-time equivalent, and whether the figure describes pay received or pay advertised. Those four choices move the answer more than geography does.
This post is a practical guide to which number to use for which purpose, for all three anesthesia roles. Earlier posts in this series covered why hospital stipends now fund coverage and who owns and employs anesthesia. Compensation benchmarking is where both of those forces show up on a spreadsheet.
Why do anesthesiologist salary figures differ by more than $150,000?
Anesthesiologist figures diverge because organization-reported surveys, clinician self-report platforms, and job-posting analyses are measuring three different things. AMGA Consulting's National Compensation Survey reports median total clinical compensation for anesthesiologists at $536,320 for survey year 2025 based on 3,635 reported anesthesiologists, with compensation standardized to a 1.0 clinical FTE and a standard one-in-four call rotation (AMGA Consulting).
Self-report platforms land higher and disagree with each other. Marit Health data from 297 anesthesiology salary reports puts average total compensation at $614,156, with a base of $513,376, 45% receiving bonuses averaging $26,907, and call pay averaging $3,224 per day among the 33% who receive it (Becker's). SalaryDr reports a median total compensation of $535,000 and an average of $560,783 from 160 verified anesthesiology submissions, with the 25th percentile at $470,000 and the 90th at $753,782 (SalaryDr).
The same platform can also contradict its own earlier figure. Marit Health's average total salary for anesthesiologists was reported at $444,468 as of mid-2025 (Becker's ASC), roughly $170,000 below the $614,156 average total compensation reported from a later and larger sample. Sample composition, not a one-year market move of that size, is the likely driver.
| Source | Figure | Measure | Sample | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMGA National Compensation Survey | $536,320 | Median total clinical compensation, 1.0 clinical FTE | 3,635 anesthesiologists | 2025 survey year |
| AMGA National Compensation Survey | $427,000 | Median total clinical compensation | 3,611 anesthesiologists | 2021 survey year |
| SalaryDr | $535,000 | Median total compensation | 160 verified submissions | 2026 |
| Marit Health | $614,156 | Average total compensation | 297 salary reports | 2026 reporting |
| Marit Health | $444,468 | Average total salary | Not stated | Mid-2025 |
| Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2024 | $472,000 | Average compensation, self-reported | Not stated | 2023 earnings |
| BagMask.com | $400,000 to $650,000+ | Advertised W-2 base pay range | Thousands of postings | Q4 2025 |
The AMGA series is the most useful single line in that table because it is the only one with a consistent methodology across years: median total clinical compensation moved from $427,000 in 2021 to $479,389 in 2023 to $508,406 in 2024 to $536,320 in 2025, with sample sizes between 2,754 and 3,635 (AMGA Consulting).
Which anesthesiologist number should a hospital actually use?
Use organization-reported survey data with a stated FTE definition for anything with a fair market value or compliance dimension, and use advertised-pay data only for recruiting strategy. AMGA's figures are reported by employers against a defined 1.0 clinical FTE with a specified call rotation, which is the structure a valuation or compliance review expects.
Advertised pay measures the market's ask, not its outcome. BagMask.com's report on first-quarter 2026 postings found peak advertised anesthesiologist maximums reaching seven figures for the first time and certain markets setting minimum entry points well above $500,000, and states plainly that the report covers advertised W-2 base pay and "does not capture call pay, callback pay, extra OR blocks, signing and retention bonuses, loan repayment, or CME and retirement benefits" (Becker's ASC). A headline drawn from that dataset is a recruiting signal, not a benchmark.
Why does the most-quoted official CRNA salary understate the job by about $100,000?
Because the most-quoted federal figure is not a CRNA figure. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that "the median annual wage for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners was $134,920 in May 2025" — a single blended figure for three distinct occupations, in which nurse practitioners vastly outnumber nurse anesthetists (BLS).
The occupation-specific number is far higher. Nurse anesthetists earned a national median annual wage of $236,590 in the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data released May 15, with state medians ranging from $341,210 in Alaska and $321,030 in New York down through $292,410 in California and $286,830 in Illinois (Becker's Hospital Review). Any CRNA compensation discussion citing $134,920 is citing the wrong series.
How much do CRNAs actually earn in 2026?
CRNA estimates for 2026 cluster between roughly $236,000 and $295,000 depending on the source's method. Marit Health reports an average CRNA annual salary of $294,568 and a median of $280,000 from 586 shared salaries as of September 11, 2026, with a 25th percentile of $251,000 and a 75th percentile of $327,729 (Marit Health).
The gap between the Marit CRNA median of $280,000 and the BLS median of $236,590 is about $43,410 for broadly the same period, and it is a methodology gap: BLS surveys employers about wages paid, while Marit collects voluntary clinician submissions that skew toward higher earners and often include more than base wage.
The professional association's own figure sits between them. AANA reports that average CRNA compensation rose from approximately $181,000 in 2019 to around $270,000 in recent reporting, that roughly 80% of CRNAs are being offered signing bonuses averaging around $20,000, and that most such bonuses carry repayment obligations tied to length of employment (AANA).
Locum CRNA rates are a separate market with its own benchmark. Marit Health reports an average locum CRNA rate of $228 per hour based on 100 salaries, updated August 2026, with academic settings at $225 and non-academic at $228 (Marit Health).
Why is there still no authoritative CAA salary number?
Because the profession's own compensation survey has not published results yet. AAAA, NCCAA, AAAEP and ARC-AA jointly launched the Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant Industry Compensation and Practice Survey, which closed to responses on April 20 and whose "confidential, aggregated results will be published in a comprehensive national report" (AAAA). Until that report lands, every public CAA figure comes from job postings or self-report platforms.
The best-documented CAA source is candid about its own limits. BagMask.com's second-quarter 2026 report puts the national advertised average CAA base salary at $250,600 and the median posting salary at $245,000, with state advertised averages from $212,500 in North Carolina to $287,500 in New Mexico and advertised maximums of $425,000 in both Colorado and Texas (BagMask.com).
That same report states that approximately 64% of otherwise eligible full-time W-2 CAA postings did not publish a usable annual salary, that it "is not a salary survey or an estimate of what every CAA earns," and that it excludes 1099, PRN, part-time, hourly and daily compensation, bonuses, overtime, call pay and total compensation (BagMask.com). A CAA benchmark built on the disclosing third of the market should be labeled as such in any offer letter or budget model.
What does the medical direction ratio do to a compensation percentile?
The staffing ratio can move an anesthesiologist's measured compensation percentile from the 35th to the 99th without any change in hours worked. Using 2025 AMGA median compensation of $49.05 per ASA unit, AMGA Consulting models a solo anesthesiologist billing 10,000 annual units at $490,500 in total clinical compensation, which lands at the 35th AMGA percentile, and an anesthesiologist medically directing four CRNAs and billing 20,000 units at $981,000, which lands at the 99th percentile (AMGA Consulting).
This is the single most important caveat in anesthesia benchmarking. A percentile rank in a unit-based specialty partly reports the care team model a physician works in, so comparing a supervising anesthesiologist to a physician-only practice against the same percentile table compares two different jobs.
| Role | Best-documented 2026 figure | Source type | Sample | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiologist | $536,320 median total clinical compensation (2025) | Employer-reported survey | 3,635 | Non-clinical and administrative pay |
| CRNA | $236,590 median annual wage (May 2025) | Federal employer wage survey | Not published per state | Bonuses, locum and 1099 income |
| CRNA (self-report) | $280,000 median annual salary (Sept 2026) | Clinician self-report platform | 586 | Nonrespondents; skews high |
| CAA | $250,600 average advertised base (Q2 2026) | Job-posting analysis | Postings only; 64% withheld pay | 1099, bonuses, call, overtime |
What should you ask before citing any anesthesia benchmark?
Four questions resolve most benchmark disputes. Ask who reported the figure, because employer-reported and clinician-reported surveys differ systematically. Ask what the figure includes, since base pay, total cash compensation, and advertised base are three different quantities. Ask what FTE and call rotation the figure assumes, because unit-based specialties are unusually sensitive to that definition. Ask what care team model the sample reflects, since supervision ratio alone can shift a percentile by more than 60 points.
A note on the data
None of the figures above are wrong within their own method, and none of them are interchangeable. The AMGA series is employer-reported and standardized but reflects the medical groups that participate in AMGA's survey rather than the whole market. Marit Health and SalaryDr figures are voluntary clinician submissions with samples of 160 to 586, which is small enough that composition drives year-over-year movement. BagMask figures describe advertised base pay and exclude every variable component. The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics series is the broadest but lags, reflecting May 2025 wages released in May 2026, and its Occupational Outlook Handbook page blends nurse anesthetists with nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. AANA's compensation figures were described in association reporting without a stated sample size or survey year for the "recent reporting" comparison. No neutral, published, current CAA compensation survey exists yet. Anyone quoting a single anesthesia salary number without naming the source and the measure is quoting a coincidence.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median anesthesiologist salary in 2026?
There is no single answer, because sources measure different things. AMGA Consulting's National Compensation Survey reports median total clinical compensation of $536,320 for survey year 2025 from 3,635 anesthesiologists, standardized to a 1.0 clinical FTE with a one-in-four call rotation. SalaryDr reports a $535,000 median total compensation from 160 verified submissions, while Marit Health reports a $614,156 average total compensation from 297 salary reports.
Why do anesthesiologist compensation surveys disagree by six figures?
The disagreement comes from four methodology choices: who reports the data, what counts as compensation, what FTE and call rotation the figure assumes, and whether it describes pay received or pay advertised. Employer-reported surveys like AMGA standardize to a defined clinical FTE, while self-report platforms collect voluntary clinician submissions that skew toward higher earners. Job-posting analyses measure advertised base pay only and exclude call pay, bonuses, and benefits.
What is the average CRNA salary in 2026?
CRNA estimates for 2026 range from roughly $236,000 to $295,000 depending on method. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a national median annual wage of $236,590 for nurse anesthetists in its May 2025 data released May 15, 2026, while Marit Health reports an average of $294,568 and a median of $280,000 from 586 shared salaries as of September 11, 2026. AANA reports average CRNA compensation rising from about $181,000 in 2019 to around $270,000 in recent reporting.
Is the BLS figure of $134,920 the CRNA median salary?
No. The $134,920 median for May 2025 in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook is a blended figure covering nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners together, and nurse practitioners far outnumber nurse anesthetists in that group. The occupation-specific median annual wage for nurse anesthetists in the same May 2025 data is $236,590. Citing $134,920 as a CRNA salary understates the role by roughly $100,000.
How much do certified anesthesiologist assistants earn in 2026?
The best-documented CAA figure is an advertised national average base salary of $250,600 with a median posting salary of $245,000 for the second quarter of 2026, per BagMask.com's job-posting analysis. State advertised averages run from $212,500 in North Carolina to $287,500 in New Mexico, with advertised maximums of $425,000 in Colorado and Texas. That analysis excludes 1099, part-time, bonus, overtime and call pay, and roughly 64% of otherwise eligible postings did not disclose a usable salary.
Is there an official CAA compensation survey?
A joint survey exists but has not published results. AAAA, NCCAA, AAAEP and ARC-AA launched the Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant Industry Compensation and Practice Survey, which closed to responses on April 20, and the organizations have said the confidential aggregated results will be published in a national report. Until that report is released, every public CAA compensation figure comes from job postings or self-report platforms rather than a profession-wide survey.
How does the medical direction ratio affect an anesthesiologist's compensation percentile?
Supervision ratio can move a measured percentile by more than 60 points without any change in hours worked. Using 2025 AMGA median compensation of $49.05 per ASA unit, a solo anesthesiologist billing 10,000 annual units earns $490,500, which sits at the 35th AMGA percentile, while an anesthesiologist medically directing four CRNAs and billing 20,000 units earns $981,000, which sits at the 99th percentile. Comparing a supervising physician to a physician-only practice against the same percentile table compares two different jobs.
Published by SleepyStaff, a salary-transparent anesthesia employment platform for Anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and Anesthesiologist Assistants. Compensation figures are market estimates for orientation only and are not offers of employment.