Cognitive specialty
Neurology: Salary, Residency & Career Guide
Diagnosis and management of disorders affecting the brain, spinal cord and nerves.
Typical Training
3+1 years
Clinical base year + 3 years of neurology
Attending Compensation
$371,087
Average Total Compensation
Employment outlook
+6%
Projected Job Growth
Relative Competitiveness Index
44 / 100
Moderate
Start in Medical School
M1 to M4 Preparation
Practical experience, projects and rotation planning.
See the Medical School RoadmapAttending Compensation and State Wages
U.S. Attending Compensation
$371,087
Average Total Compensation
BLS State Median Wages (Separate Data Series)
Highest published state medians. Select another state above for its figure.
Resident Pay by Institution
Clinical base year + 3 years of neurology.
2026–27 salaries, five published training-institution examples.
Selected institution
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
$77,049/ year
Pay varies by institution and postgraduate year.
Schedules and Work Setting
Schedule and Call
Outpatient headache or movement-disorders clinics can look very different from vascular neurology with acute stroke call. Some practices are EEG/EMG-heavy while others involve long diagnostic consultations and chronic disease follow-up.
Practice Settings
Outpatient neurology clinics, stroke services and inpatient consultations.
Procedures and Clinical Work
- Neurologic examination
- EEG/EMG interpretation in appropriate settings
- Lumbar puncture
- Stroke evaluation
Fellowship Training
Fellowship Expectation Index
3 / 5
Fellowship Options
Common Fellowship Duration: 1–2 year(s) beyond residency. Vascular neurology and neurophysiology commonly take one to two years, depending on pathway.
General neurology practice is viable directly after residency, but many academic or focused jobs prefer training in stroke, epilepsy, neurophysiology, movement disorders or neurocritical care.
Direct Practice
General inpatient or outpatient neurology, depending on local credentialing and training.
Specialized Practice
Subspecialty certifications and some specialized procedural or diagnostic roles involve fellowship training.
Choosing a Path
Compare a general neurology clinic with a stroke team and epilepsy monitoring unit. A fellowship should address a real job preference, not a fear that general neurology is inadequate.
Potential Fellowship Pathways
- Vascular neurology
- Clinical neurophysiology
- Epilepsy
- Neuromuscular medicine
Fellowship Careers From This Residency
Choose a subspecialty to see its training requirements, clinical work and preparation pathway.
Preparing in M1 Through M4
Observe an acute stroke assessment and a follow-up visit for Parkinson disease. Neurologists often balance localization, uncertain diagnoses and years of functional care.
Research or QI
A stroke registry, epilepsy care access study, headache outcome project or neurodiagnostic case conference can demonstrate clinical interest.
Common Mistake
Choosing neurology because neuroscience lectures were interesting without testing whether you enjoy the neurologic exam, uncertain diagnoses and long-term disability care.
Preparation by Year
- 1Observe a stroke-code response and an outpatient movement disorders or headache visit; compare acute decision-making with years-long care.
- 2Learn to tell a lesion localization story from exam findings before reaching for imaging. Ask a mentor to challenge your reasoning.
2027 ERAS Signals: 8.
Ask a resident this: Do residents develop independent localization skills or mostly coordinate stroke imaging and consult throughput?
MD vs DO Match Outcomes
600 of 640 matched to their preferred specialty
166 of 196 matched to their preferred specialty
MD vs DO difference: 9.1 percentage points
Applicant Considerations
The historical DO preferred-specialty rate is lower than the MD rate but far higher than in some procedurally competitive fields. A DO applicant can stand out with strong clinical localization and well-matched program geography.
DO Application Strategy
Review the full four-year structure, preliminary-year requirements and policies on COMLEX/USMLE. Seek a neurologist who can evaluate your neuro exam and consult presentations.
Job Outlook
+6%
Projected Employment Growth
2025 to 2035, BLS occupational projection
Regional hiring depends on employers, workforce supply and patient demand.
AI and the Specialty
Potential Workflow Changes
Imaging, electrophysiology interpretation and documentation may gain decision support; examination and longitudinal care retain importance.
Sources & Data Notes
Reviewed . National attending compensation uses Doximity's 2026 specialty survey (2025 pay) where available, then verified specialty-specific Medscape, Marit or Salary.com estimates. Doximity, Medscape and Marit report total compensation; Salary.com models base salary. Survey averages, modeled salaries and BLS wage medians measure different populations and must not be interpreted as identical metrics. BLS May 2025 state wages are shown separately and exclude self-employed physicians. The ophthalmology BLS category excludes pediatric ophthalmologists. State figures may be missing, top-coded, or suppressed. Job outlook uses BLS 2025–2035 occupational projections; it is not a local vacancy forecast. Resident stipend examples reflect published institutional scales for 2026 to 2027, by postgraduate year, not specialty. Stanford includes housing in its reported base salary; other institutions handle allowances differently.
The Relative Competitiveness Index uses a fixed score of 25 plus 1.75 times the 2024 U.S. MD preferred-specialty unmatched percentage, rounded, then applies the same 1.225 multiplier to every specialty. Neurological Surgery is 98/100; the score is not the applicant's chance of matching. It is not a 2026 estimate or DO-specific score. The MD and DO percentages compare different unadjusted applicant cohorts who ranked that specialty first. They do not account for application strategy, program selection, scores, or geography. Ophthalmology and urology have separate specialty match processes; other pathways may lack suitable NRMP cohorts.
The 1–5 Fellowship Expectation Index is an editorial assessment of customary career paths, not a measured participation rate or requirement. For residency profiles, compact training labels put specialty years before the clinical base or preliminary year; e.g. 3+1 means three specialty years and one clinical base year, even though the clinical year comes first. Fellowship-defined careers are presented in the separate fellowship explorer. Schedules, procedural scope, preparation suggestions, and potential AI effects depend on the program and practice setting; they are qualitative descriptions, not guaranteed outcomes or forecasts of physician replacement.
For Neurology: Doximity 2026, Average Total Compensation, reported under “Neurology.” The national estimate must not be treated as a state-specific compensation figure.
Neurology: Editorial classification; local hiring practices vary and are not represented by one measured fellowship rate. Specialty-specific roadmaps describe illustrative activities, not mandatory publication, shadowing-hour, rotation, or skill requirements. Common fellowship routes: Vascular neurology and neurophysiology commonly take one to two years, depending on pathway.