What Is the Average Physician Assistant Salary?
According to sources such as salary.com and American Academy of Physician Assistants, a certified physician assistant in the United States earn an average salary of $89,544. Keep in mind that this is not the average beginning salary of a physician assistant, rather the average physician assistant salary, including PAs who have been on the job for years. These averages also vary depending on location. The starting physician assistant pay is substantially higher in regions where the average cost of living is also higher.
Physician Assistant Salaries According to Number of Years Experience:
In the Midwest, a physician assistant can expect to earn at least $60,000 to start, depending on where they chose to work. It isn’t going to get you rich, but it is still a decent income. In fact, physician assistants enjoy one of the highest starting incomes you can find for a career.
A physician assistant is an excellent career choice if you weigh the educational requirements against the potential income of numerous other occupations. In most cases, with the amount of education required to become a physician assistant, (avg. 26 months), most jobs would pay about one third that of a certified physician assistant. This is one of many reasons why CNN ranked Physician assistant as number 2 in their top 100 Best Jobs in America 2010.
Here are some recent figures put out by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA).
Physician Assistant salaries according to experience:
One Year or Less: $69,381
One – Four Years: $71,688
Five – Nine Years: $79,826
Ten – Nineteen Years: $82,765
Twenty or More Years: $86,276
Physician Assistant Salaries According to Location:
Location is a major factor when it comes to physician assistant wages. Physician Assistants who work in metropolitan areas typically receive a higher wage compared to PA’s working in rural areas. The average wage for a physician assistant also varies widely from state to state.
The highest average physician assistant salaries by Metropolitan Areas:
Chattanooga, TN-GA $142,220
Racine, WI $124,930
Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division $121,270
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV $113,460
Ocala, FL $112,420
The highest average annual physician assistant salaries by state:
Nevada $103,500
Washington $98,620
Wyoming $97,890
District of Columbia $97,550
Connecticut $97,420
Texas $96,940
Alaska $92,180
Physician Assistant Salaries According to Specialty:
Many physician assistants make more money by focusing on a specific branch of health care. This often requires additional training and the result will drastically affect their salary.
I hesitated to include this data below because it is somewhat skewed. There are other, more important factors that can determine physician assistant salaries., such as location, but there is in deed this variable within those variables. In fact, I know many physician assistants who made it a point early in their careers to specialize, and they are enjoying the benefits today of that decision today.
Keep in mind as you review the list below of physician assistant salaries by specialties that these are averages. A physician assistant that specializes in the bottom category could actually make more than a physician assistant in the top category depending on their location and qualifications.
The highest average annual physician assistant salaries by specialty:
Cardiovascular/Cardiothoracic Surgery $110,468
Dermatology $104,474
Emergency medicine $99,635
Neurosurgery $98,024
Critical care medicine $96,984
My strong recommendation is to get your feet wet in each of the above specialties and find the one you like the best, and then become the best you can be in that specialty. I assure you that at that point, you ca pretty much write your own ticket as a physician assistant specialist.
Physician Assistant Benefits
There does not seem to be much data collected on physician assistant benefits, but it has been my experience that the benefits that physician assistants receive is better than one will find in most careers. Like so many professions, physician assistant benefits vary greatly from company to company. Typically, the larger employers offer larger benefit packages to physician assistants. One thing for certain is this, physician assistants always get great health benefits! Additional benefits often include an additional $6,000 to $7,000 annually in retirement benefits.
Physician Assistant Outlook and Predictions
Most experts agree that physician assistant employment opportunities will grow must faster than the national average in other occupations. Certified physician assistants are expected to be even more in demand in rural areas and in the inner city areas, as these areas typically have trouble competing with larger and better funded companies for quality healthcare workers. There is also a large segment of physician assistants that will be retiring, creating an even bigger demand for experienced replacements. Couple this with the growing number of businesses and institutions that will be adding physician assistants to their staff, there has never been a better time to consider becoming a physician assistant.
Physician assistant salaries are on the rise!
Incoming search terms for the article:
- physician assistant salary by specialty (9)
- physician assistant specialty salaries (4)
- physician assistant salaries by specialty (4)
- physician assistant salary by state (2)
- physician assistant education (2)
- salaries for physician assistants (2)
- salary and benefits of a physician assistant (2)
- cal domingue pa-c (2)
- physician assistant vs physician salary (2)
- physician assistant specialties and salaries (1)
