Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric

Median salary

$300,080

Average salary

$304,650

Employment

8,950

Projected growth

4.3% growth

Annual openings

300

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

What Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Do

Diagnose and perform surgery to treat and help prevent disorders and diseases of the eye. May also provide vision services for treatment including glasses and contacts.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Internship/residency
Self-employed: 0.7%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.4/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.1/5
Biologyimportance 3.8/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.6/5
Education and Trainingimportance 3.5/5
Mathematicsimportance 3.3/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.1/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Freedom to Make Decisions5.0/5
Contact With Others5.0/5
Frequency of Decision Making5.0/5
E-Mail5.0/5
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results4.9/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Fire Inspectors and Investigators97% skill match
Animal Trainers97% skill match
Detectives and Criminal Investigators97% skill match
Medical Dosimetrists97% skill match
Emergency Medicine Physicians97% skill match
Chiropractors97% skill match
Tellers97% skill match
Nurse Midwives97% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.0/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 4.0/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.0/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.9/5
Time Managementimportance 3.9/5
Coordinationimportance 3.8/5
Instructingimportance 3.8/5
Persuasionimportance 3.6/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cautiousness
Integrity
Self-Control
Intellectual Curiosity
Achievement Orientation

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

InvestigativeHigh
SocialHigh
RealisticMedium
ConventionalMedium
EnterprisingLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where ophthalmologists, except pediatric make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).