Ophthalmology
High-volume microsurgery and clinic in roughly equal measure, matched a year early through SF Match rather than the NRMP.
- Training
- 4 years
- Entry
- Starts at PGY-2
- Apply through
- SF Match
- Match through
- SF Match
- Accredited programs
- 129
Training begins at PGY-2. The first year is a preliminary or transitional position you apply for, rank, and match separately — a second application in the same season.
Among the 31 specialties
What sets Ophthalmology apart most is first-year resident pay: $68K, higher than 16 of 28.
Every rail is one dot per specialty, ordered lowest to highest, so all six read as one profile. Dots stack where specialties share a value. Ophthalmology’s is the coloured dot — point anywhere along a rail to name the others.
one specialtymiddle halfmedian
- Programs
- Programs: 129. More than 15 of the 31 specialties reporting; fewer than 15. Reported range across specialties: 5 to 820.
- Training length
- Training length: 4 years. Longer than 13 of the 31 specialties reporting; shorter than 9. Reported range across specialties: 2 years to 7 years.
- Interviews per position
- Interviews per position: 3.3×. More than 14 of the 28 specialties reporting; fewer than 9. Reported range across specialties: 1.0× to 5.0×.
- Residents in training
- Residents in training: 1,928. More than 13 of the 30 specialties reporting; fewer than 16. Reported range across specialties: 99 to 40,131.
- States and territories
- States and territories: 41. More than 13 of the 31 specialties reporting; fewer than 16. Reported range across specialties: 4 to 52.
- First-year resident pay
- First-year resident pay: $68K. Higher than 16 of the 28 specialties reporting; lower than 11. Reported range across specialties: $60K to $73K.
Programs ranges from 5 to 820 across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 82 and 210.
Training length ranges from 2 years to 7 years across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 3 years and 5 years.
Interviews per position ranges from 1.0× to 5.0× across 28 specialties. The middle half sit between 2.7× and 3.5×.
Residents in training ranges from 99 to 40,131 across 30 specialties. The middle half sit between 718 and 6,616.
States and territories ranges from 4 to 52 across 31 specialties. The middle half sit between 35 and 46.
First-year resident pay ranges from $60K to $73K across 28 specialties. The middle half sit between $67K and $69K.
Every accredited program
Grouped by state, alphabetical within each. We don’t rank programs. Open any row for its deadlines, salary, visas, and reported outcomes.
129 across 41 states
Alabama1
Arizona2
Arkansas1
California10
Colorado1
Connecticut1
District of Columbia3
Florida8
Georgia2
Illinois6
Indiana1
Iowa1
Kansas1
Kentucky2
Louisiana3
Maryland4
Massachusetts4
Michigan6
Minnesota2
Mississippi1
Missouri4
Nebraska1
New Hampshire1
New Jersey1
New Mexico1
New York16
North Carolina4
Ohio5
Oklahoma1
Oregon1
Pennsylvania9
Puerto Rico1
Rhode Island1
South Carolina2
Tennessee2
Texas10
Utah1
Virginia3
Washington2
West Virginia1
Wisconsin2
What the sources report
Published by the bodies that collect them. Each figure carries the year it describes, which is not always the year it was published.
Most recent reported
- ACGME accredited program countAll programs on the official ACGME Ophthalmology roster
- 129programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Current ACGME Cloud Integrated format countThe 129 programs on the 2026-2027 ACGME roster
- 50programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Current ACGME Cloud Joint preliminary year format countThe 129 programs on the 2026-2027 ACGME roster
- 73programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Current ACGME Cloud Standard format countThe 129 programs on the 2026-2027 ACGME roster
- 6programsACGME, 2026-2027
- Maximum interviews per applicant2026-2027 Ophthalmology Residency Match applicants
- 15interviewsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026-2027
- Preference signals available per applicant2026-2027 Ophthalmology Residency Match applicants
- 15signalsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026-2027
- Recommendation letters assigned per program2026-2027 SF Match CAS applications
- 3lettersaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026-2027
- Required Ophthalmology residency durationACGME-accredited Ophthalmology residency programs
- 48monthsACGME, 2026-2027
- Applicants matched2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 524applicantsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Applicants submitting rank lists2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 824applicantsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Applicants who applied to programs2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 929applicantsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Interviews completed by matched applicantsMatched applicants in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 10interviewsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Interviews completed by unmatched applicantsUnmatched applicants in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 3interviewsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Match rate among applicants who applied to programs929 applicants who applied to programs; 524 matched
- 56%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Match rate among rank-list submitters824 applicants submitting rank lists; 524 matched
- 64%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Matched applicants matching at a signaled program524 matched applicants in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 401applicantsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Matched applicants receiving a top-three choiceApplicants matched in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 75%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Matched applicants receiving first choiceApplicants matched in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 46%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Participating Integrated programs2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 57programsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Participating Joint programs2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 67programsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Participating programs2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 124programsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Position fill rate528 positions offered in the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 99%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Positions filled2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 524positionsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Positions offered2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 528positionsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Positions unfilled2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 4positionsaupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
- Registration-based match rateApplicants registered for the 2026 Ophthalmology Residency Match
- 54%aupo-24-prod-backend.parallelpublicworks.com, 2026 Match
Specialties that measure like this one
Nearest on the six measures above — length, competitiveness, scale, geography, pay. Not a claim that the work is similar, and not a recommendation.
- Internal Medicine-PediatricsFour years to full board eligibility in both adult and pediatric medicine, built for care that does not stop at the transition to adulthood.
- OtolaryngologyHead and neck surgery spanning oncology, airway, otology, and endocrine work — broad operative range in a small, tightly-knit field.
- PathologyThe diagnosis behind the diagnosis, split between surgical specimens and the clinical laboratory, with almost no direct patient contact.
- Physical Medicine & RehabilitationRestoring function after stroke, injury, and amputation — a mix of inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient musculoskeletal care, and procedures.
How each measure is made
- Training length
- How many years the accredited residency itself runs. Specialties you enter at PGY-2 need a separately matched preliminary or transitional year before this clock starts, and any fellowship comes after it.Accredited length across programs in this specialty. A few specialties run both lengths — Emergency Medicine has three-year and four-year programs — and are shown as a range.
- Residents in training
- How many residents the specialty holds at once, counting every training year at every program. It is a measure of the field’s size rather than of its annual intake — divide by the training length for a rough sense of how many start each year.Total approved positions across all training years, summed across programs.
- Programs
- How many separately accredited residency programs the specialty has. Each one is its own application, its own interview, and its own line on your rank list.Accredited programs currently published in our directory.
- States and territories
- How many states and territories have at least one program. This is the geography question: a specialty with 400 programs across 20 states is far more concentrated than one with 100 spread across 45.Distinct states with at least one published program.
- First-year resident pay
- What you are paid during your first year of training, before any of it becomes an attending salary. The spread across specialties is narrow — this is not the number that separates them.Median PGY-1 stipend across programs — what you are paid during residency, not what the specialty earns afterwards.
- Interviews per position
- How many applicants a program interviews for each position it offers — at 4×, a program with ten spots interviews about forty people. It is a read on how far the field narrows at the interview stage, not on how many applied.Median interviews a program conducts for each position it offers.