Career Insights: How Much Do Chiropractors Make?

A lifelong passion for the healing profession shouldn’t mean settling for a career with below-market income potential. Thankfully, you don’t have to. A chiropractor’s salary is competitive, and doctors of chiropractic (D.C.) improve the health and lives of those they treat using a non-invasive, hands-on approach to healthcare. So, how much do chiropractors make?

According to Salary.com, an experienced chiropractor with an established patient base has a median salary of over $125,000, which reflects a chiropractic practice that has increased due to patient referrals and outreach efforts.

A chiropractor’s salary only gives you a glimpse of how much chiropractors make.

Patient Demand, Practitioner Satisfaction

The number of chiropractors will rise 11% through 2030. This growth is fed by the desire for non-invasive, non-pharmacological treatments for chronic pain and recovery from injury. Today, people are less willing to accept conditions and disorders that interfere with normal life activities.

Finally, the aging of baby-boom and millennial generations – and longer life expectancies – almost guarantees an increasing number of potential patients.

Other advantages of the profession that increase the value of a chiropractor’s salary:

• Chiropractic physicians tend to work a daytime-focused, 40-hour work week
• Most D.C.s say they have a high level of job satisfaction
• D.C.s spend more time with their patients than M.D.s
• Chiropractic use in the U.S. has increased 300% since 1972

Being Your Own Boss

Here’s the thing. A chiropractor’s salary is high, although the benefits of becoming a chiropractor go beyond financial earnings.

• Many chiropractors choose to be their own boss and set their own hours. Unlike other health care professionals who are often on call and at the mercy of someone else’s schedule, chiropractors determine their own availability and can spend more time with patients than other medical professionals.
• A chiropractor often owns the business or is part of an ownership group, so a chiropractor’s total compensation – including the chiropractor’s salary, bonuses, and profit-sharing – tends to rise faster than most other professions.
• The earning potential for a new doctor of chiropractic also escalates as the doctor makes connections in the healthcare community – thanks to the growth and effectiveness of integrative care – and referrals from satisfied patients.
  

In an article on doctorly.org, Stephen Gubernick, D.C., indicated the cost of his chiropractic school education was worthwhile. “For me,” he said, “the largest reward has been the ability to improve health in a natural way and make changes that positively impact people’s lives.”

The College of Chiropractic at Cleveland University-Kansas City

Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a private, nonprofit, healthcare-focused university located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of nearly 190,000 people within the Kansas City metropolitan area. Our chiropractic graduates believe in next-level patient care. That’s been our focus for 100 years, having been founded by the Cleveland family in 1922.

The University’s College of Chiropractic was the first U.S. chiropractic school to have two Force Sensing Tables in the adjusting laboratory on campus, which is helping students to gain chiropractic adjustment skills and confidence.

Connect with an admissions advisor to get started on the path to your chiropractic career. Get the answers you’re looking for by requesting a free copy of the eBook, Your Complete Guide to the Chiropractic Profession today!