Physician may be one of the most popular and highly paid professions in the United States, however the conditions doctors face are significantly different for physicians in South Carolina — the best state to be a doctor in 2015 — and in Rhode Island — the worst. There are huge disparities among states in terms of professional opportunity and work environment, at least according to 2015’s Best and Worst States for Doctors ranking, released by Wallethub.

The list was compiled taking into account 12 variables divided into two categories: Opportunity & Competition, which includes number of hospitals per capita, number of physicians per capita, insured population rate, monthly average starting salary, medically underserved areas or populations, physicians’ wage disparity; and Work Environment, which tallied malpractice award payouts per capita, malpractice liability insurance rate and the rate of state medical boards’ serious disciplinary actions per 1,000 physicians.

Pennsylvania is neither the best nor the worst state for doctors, it is number 31 in the overall rank. In terms of opportunity and competition Pennsylvania is number 20, but its work environment rank  is 40. Pennsylvania also has the third highest malpractice payouts per capita.

The situation is no better for New Jersey. Our neighbor across the river is the second-worst state in the nation for doctors, behind only Rhode Island.