Physician wRVU Compensation Calculator

Most employed physician contracts pay based on work Relative Value Units (wRVUs) — the Medicare productivity measure. Enter your specialty, offered rate, and expected production to see your estimated annual compensation and how it compares to MGMA 2025 benchmarks.¹

Use this when evaluating a first contract, a new offer, or when your contract comes up for renewal. Both numbers matter: a high rate with low production targets is different from a low rate with aggressive production expectations.

What is a wRVU?

A work Relative Value Unit measures the physician work involved in a service — time, intensity, skill, and judgment. CMS sets the values for every CPT code via the Physician Fee Schedule. Your wRVU production is the sum of all wRVUs for every patient encounter you bill in a year.

The Medicare conversion factor (currently $33.29 for 2026²) converts wRVUs to Medicare payment. Your contract conversion factor is separate — it's the rate your employer pays you per wRVU, which is typically higher than Medicare's because employers also collect from commercial payers and need to cover overhead.

Specialty wRVU benchmarks — full reference table

The table below summarizes MGMA 2025 median and interquartile production and rate benchmarks by specialty, from secondary sources citing MGMA 2025 Physician Compensation and Production data.¹

Median total comp estimate = median wRVUs × median $/wRVU. Actual total compensation may include bonuses, benefits, call pay, and other components not reflected in wRVU earnings alone.

What affects your actual wRVU production?

Two physicians with identical contracts can generate very different production based on factors that are often not disclosed upfront:

• Panel size and scheduling. Academic centers may limit your daily schedule for teaching, research, or supervision duties — cutting your production below private practice peers at the same specialty.
• Patient mix and complexity. Higher-complexity patients (more E&M level 4–5 encounters, longer procedures) generate more wRVUs per visit. A hospitalist managing ICU patients generates more wRVUs per shift than one on a med-surg floor.
• Coding and documentation. Physicians who under-document their encounters leave wRVUs on the table. Medical coders audit claims; your actual production depends on what you document, not just what you do.
• Call obligations. Heavy call schedules (common in smaller practices or rural areas) consume clinical hours without always generating billable wRVUs.
• Procedure volume. Procedural specialties generate more wRVUs per patient encounter than cognitive specialties. An EM doc doing a lumbar puncture and laceration repair on the same patient generates 2–3x the wRVUs of a straight history and exam.

Before accepting a production-based contract, ask for the actual median and 75th percentile wRVU production for physicians in your role at that site for the last 2 years. This is the number that will drive your income — and employers should have it.

Hybrid base + wRVU models

Most early-career and academic contracts offer a guaranteed base salary plus wRVU earnings above a threshold. Common structures:

• Base + wRVU above a production floor. You receive the base salary regardless, plus a per-wRVU rate on every wRVU above a set threshold (e.g., 4,000/yr). Below the floor, you get base only. This reduces income risk in your first 1–2 years while your panel builds.
• Base guarantee transitioning to pure production. A protected base for 12–24 months, then conversion to a pure production model. Common for subspecialty recruits. The base period matters: if you can't hit the threshold production by end of the guarantee period, income can drop significantly.
• Pure wRVU with no base. More common in high-volume settings (EM, radiology, locum). Maximum upside, no floor. Negotiate for a higher per-wRVU rate to compensate for the risk.

wRVU compensation is not the same as total wealth

A $750K/yr orthopedic surgery compensation looks very different depending on what happens to it. Two orthopedic surgeons at the same hospital — same wRVU rate, same production — can end up with radically different net worths 10 years out based on:

• Whether they maximized tax-advantaged accounts (solo 401k $70,000 limit, cash balance plan, backdoor Roth)
• Whether they elected S-corp status for any practice income
• Whether they had disability insurance in place before a malpractice injury
• How they handled student loan repayment (PSLF vs refinance decision)
• Whether they invested in assets instead of consuming lifestyle inflation

The wRVU calculator tells you if your contract is competitive. A fee-only financial advisor who works with physicians helps you convert that income into lasting wealth.