PA Payday: Exploring Physician Assistant Wages Across States

Many individuals entering healthcare today are choosing to become physician assistants. They find this role fulfills their need to help others, and they won’t spend as many years in school. However, this means they make less than the physicians they serve under. 

The pay is still adequate for these men and women. A physician assistant’s salary depends on several key factors, including experience, specialty, geographic location, type of facility, and additional credentials. The following is a breakdown of how these factors influence PA compensation, including an overview of PA wages by state:

Experience Level

A PA’s years of experience is a major determinant of salary. The lowest ten percent earn under $83,820. On the other hand, the highest ten percent bring in over $168,120 each year. The median annual wage for all physician assistants, as of May 2022, was $126,010. The longer a person works in the field, the higher their earnings tend to be. Nevertheless, this is only one factor that goes into determining their annual income.

Specialty Field

A PA’s specialty impacts earnings potential. Surgical PAs typically bring in the highest income, while PAs in primary care fields get paid less. When pursuing a career in this field, men and women should look into orthopedics and emergency medicine if they aren’t interested in surgical subspecialties. Those who work in these areas tend to have the highest PA wages. On the opposite end of the spectrum are primary care, pediatrics, and mental health specialties. PAs working in these areas often have the lowest paychecks, although they do typically provide a living wage.

Geographic Region

Salaries fluctuate widely based on geographic region. The highest salaries are concentrated on the east and west coasts in states like California, Washington, Connecticut, Nevada, and Alaska. Rural and southern states tend to pay less. For example, the average salary in Arkansas for a PA is over 50 percent less than the average salary for a PA in Washington. Working in an urban area also boosts pay.

Facility Type

The work environment impacts a PA’s earnings. Those employed by hospitals and health systems tend to earn higher salaries plus better benefits than PAs working in clinics or private practices. PAs working in an academic medical center usually get paid slightly less but may receive extra compensation through teaching. Outpatient care centers typically pay the best, with a PA working in one of these facilities earning a mean annual wage of $134,180 in May 2022.

Additional Credentials

Furthering education and credentials can give PAs a salary boost. Completing a doctorate-level PA program leads to higher starting salaries. Some experienced PAs obtain a separate medical or surgical subspecialty fellowship which also translates to increased compensation.

A physician assistant’s annual pay is dictated by a mixture of professional experience, specialty area, job location, facility type, and extra credentials. While salaries can widely range, most PAs earn excellent wages with the potential to earn well over six figures in their careers. Understanding how these key factors influence compensation can help PAs make informed decisions about their career trajectory.

What many people don’t consider when talking about this salary, however, is the personal satisfaction a person gets from working in the field. PAs go home every day knowing that they have helped better the lives of one or more individuals. This feeling increases the value of the job, even if it does so in a non-monetary one, as one cannot put a price on job satisfaction.