Indian-American physicians by state and specialty: our $1M+ data

Medicine is one of the best-documented routes to wealth in the Indian-American community. Our research on Indian-American doctors estimates, from Federation of State Medical Boards figures, that graduates of Indian medical schools are roughly 4.8% of all licensed US physicians, before counting the many US-trained doctors of Indian heritage [3].

This post looks at a specific slice: the 7,181 senior Indian-American physicians in the HeyAlbert database whose estimated net worth of $1M+ rests on their medical career [1]. Where do they practice, in which specialties, and how long have they been in practice?

How we identify them

These estimates start from public federal records: the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry, which lists each provider's specialty and practice location, and Medicare enrollment [1]. We include physicians in higher-earning specialties with 20 or more years since medical school, and we estimate $1M+ from that seniority and specialty. That estimate is a rule of thumb, not a verified balance sheet, and every one of these physicians is placed in our $1M–5M band [1]. Because the starting records are national, this slice is more evenly covered across states than our property-based counts.

By state

California (767), Texas (691), New York (584) and Florida (519) have the most physicians in this set [1]. Relative to each state's Asian Indian population, the picture changes: smaller states with fewer Indian-American residents overall show many more senior physicians per resident [1][2] (our calculation). West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Alabama all show more than 35 physicians in our set per 10,000 Asian Indian residents, while California shows about 8 and Washington about 7 [1][2].

State	Physicians in our $1M+ set	Asian Indian residents, 2020–2024	Physicians per 10,000 Asian Indian residents
California	767	967,504	7.9
Texas	691	588,500	11.7
New York	584	417,890	14.0
Florida	519	231,340	22.4
New Jersey	397	448,645	8.8
Illinois	389	280,737	13.9
Pennsylvania	381	173,014	22.0
Ohio	337	111,815	30.1
Georgia	267	191,013	14.0
Michigan	247	138,644	17.8
Arizona	212	75,273	28.2
Virginia	197	174,842	11.3
Maryland	176	116,946	15.0
Massachusetts	170	144,091	11.8
North Carolina	167	142,203	11.7
Indiana	146	60,358	24.2
Washington	117	172,827	6.8
Wisconsin	112	39,669	28.2
Missouri	107	41,272	25.9
Tennessee	98	43,949	22.3
Minnesota	98	52,192	18.8
Connecticut	94	67,991	13.8
Kentucky	92	19,937	46.1
Louisiana	66	15,191	43.4
Alabama	64	18,026	35.5
Colorado	56	43,100	13.0
South Carolina	55	33,760	16.3
Oklahoma	54	18,935	28.5
Oregon	48	36,193	13.3
West Virginia	47	4,440	105.9
Kansas	47	21,969	21.4
Iowa	46	18,282	25.2
District of Columbia	40	10,473	38.2
Nevada	40	22,037	18.2
Arkansas	34	15,000	22.7
Delaware	33	18,531	17.8
Mississippi	26	7,887	33.0
Nebraska	25	10,753	23.2

Sources: HeyAlbert database [1]; ACS 2020–2024 5-year Table B02018 [2]. States with 25+ physicians in our set. The ratio is our calculation and compares a subset of our database with a population total, so read it as a pattern, not a rate.

Part of the explanation is the denominator. California's and Washington's Indian-American communities are large and dominated by engineers and tech workers, so physicians are a smaller share of them. In smaller states, a senior physician and their family can be a meaningful share of the whole local community, which is worth remembering for anyone doing outreach there.

By specialty

Cardiology is the largest specialty in this set, with 966 physicians, followed by diagnostic radiology (751), anesthesiology (735), gastroenterology (652) and nephrology (616) [1]. Internal-medicine subspecialties dominate the list, which reflects both our selection of higher-earning specialties and the training paths many Indian-trained doctors took into US residency programs.

Specialty (NPI listing)	Physicians
Cardiovascular Disease (Cardiology)	966
Diagnostic Radiology	751
Anesthesiology	735
Gastroenterology	652
Nephrology	616
Pulmonary Disease	425
Hematology/Oncology	402
Ophthalmology	305
Endocrinology	250
Interventional Cardiology	245
Orthopedic Surgery	213
Rheumatology	177
Urology	168
Medical Oncology	132
Cardiac Electrophysiology	127
Radiation Oncology	124
Allergy/Immunology	123
Otolaryngology	118
Neurosurgery	92
Dermatology	88

Source: HeyAlbert database [1]. The 20 largest specialties in the set.

By year of medical school graduation

Most physicians in this set graduated in the 1990s (2,599) or between 2000 and 2005 (2,598), with 1,314 from the 1980s [1]. That makes it a group largely in its late forties to sixties: at peak earnings, often owning or buying into practices, and starting to think about succession, retirement income and estate planning.

Medical school class	Physicians
1960s or earlier	95
1970s	567
1980s	1,314
1990s	2,599
2000–2005	2,598

Source: HeyAlbert database [1]. Graduation year as listed in public records; the 1950s and 1960s are combined because the 1950s cell is under 25.

What it means

Senior physicians are among the most reachable high-net-worth Indian Americans: their specialty and practice location are public, and their planning needs are well understood. For advisors, the opportunity is broadest outside the big coastal metros, in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and across the South and Midwest, where these doctors are a large share of the community's established wealth. Our state posts for Ohio and Michigan show how central physicians are in those states.

Methodology

Physician records come from the NPI registry published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [4], with Medicare enrollment status [1]. Origin is inferred from names and other public evidence, which can be wrong for individuals; we publish aggregates only. State is the practice location listed in the registry, which may differ from where the physician lives. Population figures are ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, “Asian Indian, alone or in any combination” [2]. Cells under 25 are suppressed. These are counts of people in our database, not totals of Indian-American physicians.

Related research

• How many US doctors are of Indian origin?
• Why do Indian Americans gravitate to STEM and medicine?

HeyAlbert finds Indian-American families worth $1M+ and tells you who to call, with every fact cited. Explore the people behind these totals at heyalbert.site.

Sources

1. HeyAlbert database, aggregate counts (October 2026 snapshot), physician estimates built from the NPI registry. HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/methodology/
2. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
3. HeyAlbert Research: How many US doctors are of Indian origin? (citing the Federation of State Medical Boards). HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/indian-american-doctors-physicians/
4. NPPES NPI Registry. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/