> incentive to chase HCOL areas where they can get paid or higher margin patients/procedures. I can't speak to dentistry, but physician income tends to be lowe

> incentive to chase HCOL areas where they can get paid or higher margin patients/procedures. I can't speak to dentistry, but physician income tends to be lower in HCOL areas because they tend to be oversaturated with physicians and thus fewer patients per physician. It's paradoxical. It's the reverse trend of almost every other profession. As for why for physicians to live and work in HCOL areas, it tends to be more about personal life. For example, if your spouse has a tech job, you may find yourself to the Bay Area even though your income potential as a physician there is much lower than it would be in the Central Valley. Or you might prefer the public schools in the HCOL areas. Or maybe you prefer to live in an HCOL area to be close to family. Or maybe you like to travel and prefer not to be a 5-hour drive from the nearest international airport.