CCollegeMatcher

Physicians, Pathologists

US occupation · SOC 29-1222

Job titles people report: Anatomic Pathologist, Cytopathologist, Dermatopathologist, Forensic Pathologist, Hematopathologist, Neuropathologist, Oral Pathologist, Pathologist, Surgical Pathologist

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$312,400
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$186,300 – $372,780
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
11,110
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+4.8%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
300
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Doctoral or professional degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Diagnose diseases and conduct lab tests using organs, body tissues, and fluids. Includes medical examiners.

Main tasks

  • Examine microscopic samples to identify diseases or other abnormalities.
  • Diagnose diseases or study medical conditions, using techniques such as gross pathology, histology, cytology, cytopathology, clinical chemistry, immunology, flow cytometry, or molecular biology.
  • Write pathology reports summarizing analyses, results, and conclusions.
  • Communicate pathologic findings to surgeons or other physicians.
  • Identify the etiology, pathogenesis, morphological change, and clinical significance of diseases.
  • Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in pathology.
  • Consult with physicians about ordering and interpreting tests or providing treatments.
  • Analyze and interpret results from tests, such as microbial or parasite tests, urine analyses, hormonal assays, fine needle aspirations (FNAs), and polymerase chain reactions (PCRs).

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Doctoral or professional degree
Training once hired: internship/residency
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
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).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 20 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Health & Nursing

  • Medicine
  • Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.

Where many students take health & nursing

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs

  • Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program
  • Dermatopathology Fellowship Program
  • Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency Program
  • Anatomic Pathology Residency Program
  • Clinical Pathology Residency Program
  • Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program
  • Chemical Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Cytopathology Fellowship Program
10 more programmes
  • Forensic Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Hematological Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Immunopathology Fellowship Program
  • Laboratory Medicine Fellowship Program
  • Medical Microbiology Fellowship Program
  • Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Neuropathology Fellowship Program
  • Pediatric Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Radioisotopic Pathology Fellowship Program
  • Pathology Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 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. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk