Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric vs Cardiologists: Salary, Job Outlook & Education | Career Matchup
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Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric vs Cardiologists

Compare the evidence side by side. Career Matchup shows the source data without declaring an overall winner.

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01 · Compensation

Pay and employment

Median annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$358,550
72% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$496,010
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

Mean annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$373,570
82% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$454,940
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

Hourly median wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$172.38
72% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$238.47
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

Hourly mean wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$179.60
82% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$218.72
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

10th percentile annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$84,170
79% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$107,190
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

25th percentile annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$180,610
66% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$274,280
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

75th percentile annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$530,700
87% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$610,060
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

90th percentile annual wage

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric$659,290
93% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists$712,130
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

National employment

2025

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric14,100
82% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists17,290
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
Release: May 2025 · Reference/year: 2025 · Occupation code: 29-1212

02 · Outlook

Employment outlook

Bars compare the same metric across the two careers. They are not an overall score.

Projected employment change

2025-2035

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric4%
83% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists4.8%
100% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1212

Average annual openings

2025-2035

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric0.4k
40% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1242

Cardiologists0.5k
50% relative comparison

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1212

03 · Preparation

Education and training

Typical entry-level education

2025-2035

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except PediatricDoctoral or professional degree

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1242

CardiologistsDoctoral or professional degree

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1212

Related work experience

2025-2035

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except PediatricNot available

Value missing or suppressed in source.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1242

CardiologistsNot available

Value missing or suppressed in source.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1212

On-the-job training

2025-2035

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except PediatricInternship/residency

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1242

CardiologistsInternship/residency

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Employment Projections
Release: 2025-2035 · Reference/year: 2025-2035 · Occupation code: 29-1212

04 · Context and fit

Work context

Only compatible O*NET scales are compared together. Relative bars preserve the source scale interpretation.

04 · Context and fit

Skills

Only compatible O*NET scales are compared together. Relative bars preserve the source scale interpretation.

04 · Context and fit

Work styles

Only compatible O*NET scales are compared together. Relative bars preserve the source scale interpretation.

Dependability

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric2.9 raw · WI scale
99% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1242.00

Cardiologists2.9 raw · WI scale
99% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1212.00

Attention to detail

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric3 raw · WI scale
100% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1242.00

Cardiologists3 raw · WI scale
100% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1212.00

Stress tolerance

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric2.6 raw · WI scale
93% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1242.00

Cardiologists2.7 raw · WI scale
95% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1212.00

Cooperation

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric1.9 raw · WI scale
82% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1242.00

Cardiologists2.2 raw · WI scale
87% relative

Source: O*NET Resource Center · O*NET Database
Release: 31.0 · Reference/year: August 2026 · Occupation code: 29-1212.00

Explore your next step

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric

Read the full profile, preparation, skills and source details.

Cardiologists

Read the full profile, preparation, skills and source details.

  • Use the career comparison checklist

Sources

Each side retains the source release, reference period, occupation code, and file hash used for the comparison.

Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Source-backed

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Release May 2025 · Reference 2025

Occupation code 29-1242 · SHA-256 b5855a37f3e03e779f6fbf173d3bbc94aeeff33426aef32fa95ce6d025bab1af

Employment Projections

Source-backed

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Release 2025-2035 · Reference 2025-2035

Occupation code 29-1242 · SHA-256 a7d060f0576f7d4f5b829b9a0bb4a6c11a12766d159ebb0e07aab5bd2e7583c5

O*NET Database

Source-backed

O*NET Resource Center

Release 31.0 · Reference August 2026

Occupation code 29-1242.00 · SHA-256 c63ad00a8e45f3d3ef8e1529fcf8864d2279f2dfcb98737436818f5664781b04

Cardiologists

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Source-backed

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Release May 2025 · Reference 2025

Occupation code 29-1212 · SHA-256 b5855a37f3e03e779f6fbf173d3bbc94aeeff33426aef32fa95ce6d025bab1af

Employment Projections

Source-backed

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Release 2025-2035 · Reference 2025-2035

Occupation code 29-1212 · SHA-256 a7d060f0576f7d4f5b829b9a0bb4a6c11a12766d159ebb0e07aab5bd2e7583c5

O*NET Database

Source-backed

O*NET Resource Center

Release 31.0 · Reference August 2026

Occupation code 29-1212.00 · SHA-256 c63ad00a8e45f3d3ef8e1529fcf8864d2279f2dfcb98737436818f5664781b04

Read the data in context

Career Matchup does not declare an overall winner. National estimates can hide local variation, and O*NET relative values describe the named construct rather than whether a career is better.

Career Matchup is an independent comparison tool.

Data sourcesData availabilityAboutFree guideContactPrivacyTermsData: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET® Database.