OBGYN Locum Tenens Pay in 2026: What the Job Boards Don't Show You

If you've spent any time scrolling OBGYN locum tenens job boards, you've already noticed something strange: most listings don't show a rate.

The ones that do show a range so wide it's hard to know what to make of it. A daily figure here, an hourly there, an "industry competitive" somewhere else. You're left guessing what your week would actually look like and what your check would actually be.

We wanted to know how big that information gap really is. So we ran the numbers — both the public ones and our own. Here's what we found, and what we think every physician considering locums should understand before signing anything.

This piece builds on our earlier Demystifying OBGYN Locums Pay explainer with fresh 2026 data from both public listings and Era's own assignments.

What the OBGYN locum tenens job boards actually show

We pulled every public OBGYN locum tenens listing we could find across sixteen sources in the first half of 2026 — the big agency boards, the neutral marketplaces, the hospital-direct postings. The total: 8,279 listings.

Of those, 119 disclosed a real dollar rate. That's 1.4%.

The 119 listings that did show rates clustered around a daily-equivalent of $1,820 (about $182 per hour on a standard ten-hour shift). That's the public median for OBGYN locums in 2026 — generalist, hospitalist, and maternal-fetal medicine combined. For broader context on full-time OBGYN compensation, see our OBGYN Salary Guide for 2026.

A few other public sources we cross-referenced as sanity checks:

• CompHealth, citing 2026 Locumstory data, puts OBGYN locums at $150–$200 per hour.
• Barton Associates' 2026 OB/GYN salary guide cites a locum tenens market rate of $120–$200 per hour, with subspecialty rates higher (MFM around $218/hr, gynecologic oncology $172/hr, urogynecology $152/hr).
• AMN Healthcare's posted OB/GYN locum jobs list hourly pay at $210–$227 and daily rates around $1,890/day on representative postings.
• Aggregator boards show a wider spread on individual postings — DocCafe currently has OBGYN listings from Aya Locums ranging from $1,350/day for OB hospitalist work in Texas to $2,900–$3,000/day for generalist OBGYN coverage in Missouri.

Two things to know about that number.

First, it's based on a small disclosed sample, so it should be read as directional, not definitive. Second, and more important: it's a posted rate, not a paid rate. Posted rates are a starting position for a conversation. Paid rates are what actually shows up in your direct deposit. They are not the same number, and the gap between them is bigger than most physicians realize.

Posted rates are a starting position for a conversation. Paid rates are what actually shows up in your direct deposit. They are not the same number.

What Era physicians actually earned

To check the public number against reality, we looked at every OBGYN, maternal-fetal medicine, and urogynecology timesheet Era billed in the first half of 2026.

The median Era physician earned $225 per hour, or $2,250 per day at the same ten-hour baseline the job boards use.

That's roughly 24% above the public posted median.

One important clarification about that $2,250 figure: it's a normalized 10-hour daily-equivalent calculated across our full OBGYN portfolio — generalist coverage, hospitalist shifts, clinic-plus-call, in-house call, and restricted call combined. It's the right number to compare against the public posted median because both use the same 10-hour baseline. It is not the number you'd see on any single paycheck day. A real working day depends entirely on which call structure your assignment includes — which is exactly the question we tackle next.

A few honest notes on what that means and doesn't mean. Era is a small, specialized agency, so while our sample is meaningful, it isn't the whole market. Other agencies' physicians may earn similar rates that simply aren't published. What our data does tell us is that the posted-rate world and the actual-paid-rate world are not the same — and a physician who only looks at the boards is reading a map that's drawn at the wrong scale.

We pay attention to whether physicians come back to Era after their first assignment, because that's the truest test of whether they were treated and paid fairly. The rate data above is part of why they do. The other part is harder to put in a chart:

That sentence is the standard we want every physician working with us to be able to say honestly. The pay rate matters because it's the most visible part of how that advocacy shows up — but it isn't the whole story.

Why "the rate" depends on which call you're working

The single biggest reason posted rates mislead physicians is that most OBGYN assignments include call coverage, and not all call is the same. The structure determines the rate, and a physician who doesn't know to ask which structure she's being offered can end up comparing two assignments that aren't actually comparable. (For a closer look at how OBGYN locum schedules come together week to week, see How Locum Tenens OBGYNs Structure Their Week.)

The three common configurations for OBGYN:

• In-house call. You stay at the hospital for the full 24 hours, sleeping in a call room when you aren't actively working. For OBGYN, this typically pays $200 to $250 per hour across the full 24 hours, which works out to a $4,800 to $6,000 day. Era's recruiters generally push toward the upper end of that range when negotiating in-house call for our OBGYNs.
• Clinic plus call. Outpatient clinic by day, call coverage overnight. On a straight-rate structure for OBGYN, this runs a minimum of $250 per hour at Era. The exact daily total depends on hour count, but a busy clinic-and-call day frequently lands in the same $5,000 to $6,000 range.
• Hotel call (also called restricted call). You're off-site, usually at a hotel nearby, but must respond within a defined window if called in. The hourly is lower because most of the time you aren't actively working — this is the configuration where a daily total closer to $4,500 is typical.

If a recruiter quotes you a call rate without telling you which of these three structures applies, ask. The same posted "rate" can mean a $4,500 day or a $6,000 day depending on what's actually behind it.

What to ask before you sign anything

If you're new to locums, or comparing offers across multiple agencies, three questions to put in front of any recruiter — Era's or anyone else's — before you read anything else in the contract:

1. What's the daily rate range for this specific assignment, and where in the range do you expect the offer to land?
2. Which call structure applies — in-house, clinic plus call, or hotel call? What's the hourly during call, and how is callback paid?
3. What does the full day look like in dollars, not in posted hourly?

A good recruiter answers all three clearly, in the first or second conversation, without making you ask twice. If a recruiter dodges or defers, that's information about the agency you're working with.

For the full vetting checklist, our 20 Questions to Ask a Physician Recruiter post goes deeper, and our Advanced Guide to Locum Tenens Salary and Contract Negotiations walks through what to look for once the offer is in writing.

How we operate

At Era, we quote a daily rate range in the first conversation, not the third. We walk through call structure, callback, and the full day's math before you decide whether the assignment is worth a deeper look. We tell you what we don't know yet and when we'll have an answer.

That isn't a marketing line. It's the operating standard we hold our recruiters to, and it's why our physicians come back.

If another agency offers you a higher number on the same assignment, look at the whole package and how the recruiter behaves through the conversation. Then make the call that's right for your career. The point isn't that Era is always the highest bidder. The point is that you should know exactly what you're being offered, by us and by everyone else, before you sign.

Coming next: Part 2 looks at the rest of the comp picture — travel and lodging, points and miles, 1099 deductions, and the costs you don't pay as an Era locum that an employed physician absorbs. The base rate is the most visible piece of locums compensation. It's not the biggest piece.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average OBGYN locum tenens pay rate in 2026?

Based on our analysis of 8,279 public OBGYN locum tenens listings collected in the first half of 2026, the disclosed median was about $1,820 per day (roughly $182 per hour on a ten-hour baseline). However, only 1.4% of listings disclosed a rate, and posted rates are consistently lower than paid rates. Over the same period, Era's own OBGYN assignments paid 24% more than the public posted median on a like-for-like 10-hour daily-equivalent basis. What an individual physician earns on any specific day depends heavily on the call structure of the assignment.

How does call structure affect OBGYN locum tenens pay?

Call structure is the single biggest variable in OBGYN locum compensation. In-house call typically pays $200–$250 per hour across all 24 hours ($4,800–$6,000/day). Clinic-plus-call runs at least $250 per hour during clinic with separate call rates layered on. Hotel (restricted) call pays a lower hourly because most of the time isn't actively worked, landing around $4,500 per day. Always ask which structure applies before you compare offers.

Why do most locum tenens job listings not show a pay rate?

Posted rates are a starting position for negotiation, not a final number, so most agencies leave them off listings to keep flexibility. Rates also vary significantly by client contract, call structure, length of assignment, and credentialing complexity. Ask any recruiter for a specific daily-rate range up front — a good one will give you a real number in the first conversation.

Era Locum Tenens places independent physicians in the assignments that matter most — in OB/GYN, oncology, gastroenterology, neurology, surgery, and the rural and underserved markets where coverage gaps are most acute. If you'd like to see what we're working on right now, find your people →.

Methodology note: The public listings analysis covers 8,279 OBGYN locum tenens listings collected from 16 public sources between January and June 2026, of which 119 disclosed a verifiable dollar rate. Era's internal data covers 559 OBGYN-family timesheet entries (466 provider-days, 37 unique physicians) between January 1 and May 31, 2026, including generalist OBGYN, OB hospitalist, maternal-fetal medicine, and urogynecology assignments across a mix of call structures. Both public and Era figures are converted to a standard 10-hour daily-equivalent for like-for-like comparison; an individual physician's real working day will vary by call structure as discussed above. Detailed methodology available on request.