Physician Assistant Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,412 US job postings by 676 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for physician assistants: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,412 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for physician assistants in US job postings is $150,000 a year (498 postings from 164 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $125,000 to $175,000.
- The skills that most set physician assistant postings apart are interpersonal skills, critical thinking, clinical skills.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Physician Assistant job postings in the US, October 2026
- $150,000
- Median advertised pay (498 postings)
- $125,000–$175,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,412
- US job postings from 676 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a physician assistant make?
The median advertised pay is $150,000 a year, from 498 US job postings by 164 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $200,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 498 US physician assistant job postings: median $150,000 a year, middle half $125,000 to $175,000.
- Median: $150,000
- 25th percentile: $125,000
- 75th percentile: $175,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $40K–$50K | 1.8% |
| $50K–$60K | 0.2% |
| $70K–$80K | 0.2% |
| $80K–$90K | 0.9% |
| $90K–$100K | 2.0% |
| $100K–$110K | 3.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 8.7% |
| $120K–$130K | 9.6% |
| $130K–$140K | 11.6% |
| $140K–$150K | 11.4% |
| $150K–$160K | 10.7% |
| $160K–$170K | 6.7% |
| $170K–$180K | 14.3% |
| $180K–$190K | 4.7% |
| $190K–$200K | 3.1% |
| $200K–$210K | 5.4% |
| $210K–$220K | 1.6% |
| $220K–$230K | 1.3% |
| $230K–$240K | 0.9% |
| $250K–$260K | 0.2% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pay postings, annualised | $150,000 | $125K–$175K | 498 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Physician Assistants (29-1071) at $136,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a physician assistant?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying physician assistant jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician Assistant (general) | $152,000 | 428 | 140 |
Physician assistant pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $168,000 | $150,000–$177,000 | 117 | 10.7% |
Skills employers ask for in physician assistant job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 28% |
| Interpersonal skills | 21% |
| Work independently | 11% |
| Problem-solving | 8% |
| Critical thinking | 7% |
| Organizational skills | 6% |
| Attention to detail | 6% |
| Compassionate | 6% |
| Customer service | 5% |
| Hipaa | 5% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set physician assistants apart
- Critical thinking4.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a physician assistant job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a physician assistant do?
Employers post these jobs as Physicians Assistant, PA-C, Urgent Care Physician Assistant, Orthopedic Physician Assistant, Physician Assistant (PA) and other titles. The largest specializations are PA (4%).
The closest official occupation is Physician Assistants (29-1071.00). Its most important tasks:
- Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.
- Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.
- Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.
- Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination.
- Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a physician assistant?
Among 625 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 40% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 625 US physician assistant job postings: median 2 years, and 40% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 1% |
| 1 yr | 40% |
| 2 yrs | 41% |
| 3-4 yrs | 15% |
| 5-7 yrs | 3% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | under 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 89%, Part-time 11% of the 452 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a physician assistant: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Physician Assistant | 359 (53.1%) |
| Physicians Assistant | 29 (4.3%) |
| PA-C | 24 (3.5%) |
| Urgent Care Physician Assistant | 19 (2.8%) |
| Orthopedic Physician Assistant | 17 (2.5%) |
| Physician Assistant (PA) | 15 (2.2%) |
| Surgical Physician Assistant | 13 (1.9%) |
| Physician Assistant/Nurse Practitioner | 13 (1.9%) |
| PHYSICIAN ASST | 12 (1.8%) |
| Dermatology Physician Assistant | 10 (1.5%) |
| Physician's Assistant | 10 (1.5%) |
| Cardiothoracic Surgery Physician Assistant | 10 (1.5%) |
| Physician Assistant (PA-C) | 10 (1.5%) |
| Primary Care Physician Assistant | 9 (1.3%) |
| Cardiology Physician Assistant | 9 (1.3%) |
| General Surgery Physician Assistant | 9 (1.3%) |
| Psychiatric Physician Assistant | 9 (1.3%) |
| Family Medicine Physician Assistant | 9 (1.3%) |
| Physician Assistant, Urgent Care | 8 (1.2%) |
| Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant | 8 (1.2%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Physician Assistant compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physician Assistant | $150K | 2 years | 2,412 | – |
| Nurse Practitioner | $142K | 2 years | 21,109 | 17 |
| Physician | $312K | 2 years | 26,725 | 19 |
| Nurse Midwife | – | 2 years | 1,206 | 18 |
| Pharmacist | $68.00/hr | 2 years | 28,524 | 14 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse Practitioner | 17 | $142K |
| Physician | 19 | $312K |
| Nurse Midwife | 18 | – |
| Pharmacist | 14 | $68.00/hr |
| Physical Therapist | 14 | $104K |
| Occupational Therapist | 13 | $52.00/hr |
Applying for physician assistant jobs?
- Physician assistant resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find physician assistant jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a physician assistant make?
What are the highest-paying physician assistant jobs?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 20 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.