Frequently Asked Questions

Toolkit Questions

What's in the negotiation toolkit?

A specialty-specific guide organized around six areas:

• Rate benchmarks: National, regional, and all-50-state percentiles for your specialty and setting.
• Negotiation scripts: Word-for-word language for the situations that actually come up: below-market opens, "this is our standard rate," time pressure, renewal renegotiation, and what to trade when the hourly rate won't move.
• Market intelligence: What's driving demand in your specialty right now, where the leverage is highest, and which credentials command premiums above the standard rate.
• Negotiation mechanics: Why physicians consistently accept below-market locum rates even when they have leverage (anchoring, information asymmetry, agency bargaining dynamics), backed by peer-reviewed research. And what counters each one.
• Contract review: Red flags checklist, malpractice tail terms to verify, housing and travel standards, credentialing timeline protection.
• Take-home math: What the gross rate nets after state taxes, self-employment structure, and retirement contributions.

Quick Reference Card at the back: your benchmark rate, opening script, and pre-signing checklist on one page. $99. One-time purchase.

Who is this not for?

If your current rate is already above the 75th percentile for your specialty and state, this isn't built for you. Skip it. Come back at renewal — the contract checklist is most useful when you're protecting a great rate, not chasing a better one.

What format?

PDF. Downloadable immediately after purchase.

Can I share it with colleagues?

Yes. The LocumRates URL is on every page, and if it spreads, that's fine. Just don't resell it.

Refund policy?

No refunds on digital downloads. If your file wasn't delivered or is corrupted, email contact@locumrates.org and we'll fix it immediately.

Using the Rate Evaluator

Is the evaluator free?

Yes, completely. No account, no email, no signup. Enter your numbers and get your result.

How do I use the rate evaluator?

Select your specialty, state, and practice setting. Enter the hourly rate you've been offered and click "Compare to Market Data." It looks up your specialty and region and shows you where your offer falls relative to current market data.

What does "percentile" mean here?

If your rate is at the 40th percentile, roughly 60% of locum physicians in your specialty and region are being paid more for the same setting. I think of it the same way I think about a lab value: it tells you where you stand relative to the reference range, not whether you're sick.

What's the difference between urban hospital and rural critical access?

Urban hospitals are community hospitals and academic medical centers in metro areas. Rural critical access hospitals are CMS-designated facilities, typically small communities more than 35 miles from the nearest hospital. As a general surgeon I've seen this firsthand: rural critical access settings pay significantly more because the shortage is real and facilities know it.

Why only two settings?

Those are the two settings with enough published benchmark data to be meaningful. Telehealth, VA, and outpatient clinic locum rates vary too much across sources to report confidently. I'd rather show you two reliable numbers than five unreliable ones.

Data Questions

Where does the data come from?

BLS OEWS 2024 public data and CMS geographic adjustment factors, processed through a locum-adjusted model, calibrated and validated against publicly posted rates and observations. More on the About page.

Are these locum rates or employed physician rates?

Locum rates. BLS data is for employed physicians, so we apply a structured adjustment for benefits replacement, flexibility premium, and rural shortage premium.

How current is the data?

BLS vintage is 2024. Market research ranges from 2024–2025. Updated annually.

My offer is way outside the range. Is the data wrong?

Not necessarily. The ranges reflect typical market rates; outliers exist on both ends. Very specialized assignments, long-term established relationships, or facilities under financial stress can all produce rates outside the normal range. Use the percentile as a reference point, not a ceiling or floor.

Why regions instead of states?

More data per cell means more reliable estimates. Four Census regions gives enough granularity to be useful while keeping the sample sizes large enough to trust. State-specific context (compact license status, shortage designations, cost of living) is on each state page.

About the Results

I'm below the median. What does that mean practically?

It means your offer is below what most physicians in your specialty and region are receiving for the same setting, based on current market data. The evaluator shows a range consistent with the market median for your situation. What you do with that is your call, but at least now you're negotiating from data, not guessing.

Are the "next steps" AI-generated?

No. Each specialty and setting has a fixed set of leverage points based on what actually moves the needle in that market, written based on published data and physician input. They're the same for every physician in that specialty and setting, not generated on the fly.

Should I always push back on an offer?

I can't tell you what to do; that depends on your situation, timeline, and relationship with the agency. What I can tell you is that knowing your percentile rank before that conversation is better than not knowing it.