Hair transplant doctors help men and women regain their youthful appearance through the use of surgical transplant techniques. These cosmetic surgeons are among some of the highest-paid surgeons in any field and often have salaries that exceed the national average salaries for other physicians and surgeons. Surgeons in this field typically spend considerable time in residency training beyond the completion of medical school.

Median Salary

The median salary earned by all physicians nationwide was $166,400 a year, according to 2010 statistics provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, this salary reflects the salaries earned by all physicians across all fields of specialization and those earned by general surgeons. The bureau indicates that surgeons who specialize in one area of surgical practice typically make salaries nearly double that of general physicians and surgeons. The median salary or those practicing cosmetic surgery, including hair transplantation, was approximately $389,000 a year in 2009, according to a physician compensation survey conducted by the American Medical Group Association.

Starting Salaries

Those just starting out in the field of plastic surgery can generally expect to make more than most of their contemporaries starting out on in the surgical field. Transplant and other cosmetic surgeons made a median starting salary of $300,000 a year in 2009, according to the AMGA survey. They joined those in the fields of radiology, cardiac and thoracic surgery, anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery and a few other specialized surgical fields as the highest-paid surgeons in terms of starting pay.

Regional Pay

The salary earned by hair transplant surgeons can be affected by the going rates for surgeons in each region of the country. The AMGA survey indicates that median salaries for these surgeons varies by geographic location. For instance, those cosmetic surgeons who worked in the northern United States made median salaries of approximately $414,000 and were the highest-paid transplant surgeons in the country. By comparison, those in the southern U.S. earned about $389,000 a year, while those in the eastern portion of the country made $337,000 and those in the west $398,000.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for physicians and surgeons across all medical specialties remains favorable and should do so through 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau indicates that jobs in the medical field will continue to grow at a rate of 22 percent as population growth results in the need for additional physicians. The increased age of the population as a whole will also affect job growth for physicians. Hair transplant surgeons and other cosmetic surgeons will benefit from this trend as people turn to medical solutions to fight the effects of aging.