These Are The 10 Best Cities For Physician Assistants

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Physician Assistants, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer physician assistants the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where physician assistants get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for physician assistants.The result is this list of the best cities physician assistants:

So there you have it — Rochester is the best city when it comes to being a physician assistant.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a physician assistant? That would be Jackson.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for physician assistants and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a physician assistants?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for physician assistants in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well physician assistants get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 297 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 297 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for physician assistants in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for physician assistants.

1. Rochester, MN

Total Jobs: 290
Average Annual Salary: $115,120
Average Entry Level Salary: $93,060
Location Quotient: 3.63

2. Santa Fe, NM

Total Jobs: 70
Average Annual Salary: $163,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $87,270
Location Quotient: 1.57

3. Manhattan, KS

Total Jobs: 50
Average Annual Salary: $129,090
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,840
Location Quotient: 1.74

4. Brownsville, TX

Total Jobs: 140
Average Annual Salary: $133,580
Average Entry Level Salary: $94,690
Location Quotient: 1.42

5. Corvallis, OR

Total Jobs: 60
Average Annual Salary: $111,370
Average Entry Level Salary: $84,700
Location Quotient: 2.58

6. Grand Rapids, MI

Total Jobs: 590
Average Annual Salary: $113,150
Average Entry Level Salary: $82,930
Location Quotient: 1.59

7. Yuba City, CA

Total Jobs: 60
Average Annual Salary: $157,780
Average Entry Level Salary: $87,150
Location Quotient: 2.15

8. Asheville, NC

Total Jobs: 370
Average Annual Salary: $103,470
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,200
Location Quotient: 2.88

9. Dover, DE

Total Jobs: 70
Average Annual Salary: $121,160
Average Entry Level Salary: $87,250
Location Quotient: 1.67

10. Sioux Falls, SD

Total Jobs: 170
Average Annual Salary: $98,650
Average Entry Level Salary: $79,550
Location Quotient: 1.6

And that’s our list of the best cities for physician assistants

If you’re looking to start out your career as a physician assistant these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a physician assistant in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Physician Assistants

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Rochester, MN	$115,120	$93,060	290
2	Santa Fe, NM	$163,070	$87,270	70
3	Manhattan, KS	$129,090	$81,840	50
4	Brownsville, TX	$133,580	$94,690	140
5	Corvallis, OR	$111,370	$84,700	60
6	Grand Rapids, MI	$113,150	$82,930	590
7	Yuba City, CA	$157,780	$87,150	60
8	Asheville, NC	$103,470	$81,200	370
9	Dover, DE	$121,160	$87,250	70
10	Sioux Falls, SD	$98,650	$79,550	170
11	Iowa City, IA	$101,320	$83,110	140
12	Saginaw, MI	$119,840	$84,770	70
13	Wilmington, NC	$103,850	$81,410	170
14	Dayton, OH	$113,160	$85,780	310
15	Great Falls, MT	$102,170	$82,540	40
16	East Stroudsburg, PA	$105,330	$79,570	90
17	Oakland, CA	$118,810	$95,360	1,420
18	Kalamazoo, MI	$104,940	$82,200	150
19	Carbondale, IL	$115,370	$76,960	80
20	Rapid City, SD	$94,700	$75,120	80
21	Casper, WY	$105,690	$72,130	60
22	Huntington, WV	$94,930	$66,040	270
23	Medford, OR	$111,210	$87,480	80
24	Cleveland, OH	$108,840	$84,120	810
25	Redding, CA	$127,710	$89,010	60
26	Idaho Falls, ID	$134,230	$74,190	50
27	Owensboro, KY	$98,890	$80,380	40
28	Bend, OR	$104,660	$85,710	90
29	Olympia, WA	$129,300	$102,020	70
30	The Villages, FL	$103,760	$83,360	40
31	Coeur d’Alene, ID	$106,550	$76,030	50
32	Fayetteville, NC	$103,990	$72,520	220
33	St. Cloud, MN	$106,750	$86,240	110
34	Boise City, ID	$98,310	$78,330	250
35	Billings, MT	$95,430	$73,920	120
36	Pocatello, ID	$96,910	$65,970	50
37	Winston, NC	$96,840	$80,360	420
38	Ogden, UT	$132,450	$86,500	150
39	New Bern, NC	$95,660	$81,910	70
40	Jackson, MI	$112,240	$85,530	40
41	Lima, OH	$97,000	$75,560	40
42	Portland, ME	$102,890	$79,690	290
43	Cheyenne, WY	$104,830	$78,000	40
44	Tyler, TX	$116,690	$78,850	70
45	Burlington, VT	$107,530	$81,990	130
46	Tulsa, OK	$102,990	$70,580	400
47	Niles, MI	$97,120	$82,330	60
48	Greenville, NC	$98,970	$72,450	150
49	Anchorage, AK	$112,500	$83,240	210
50	Columbus, OH	$110,310	$82,770	580
51	Farmington, NM	$106,520	$77,880	40
52	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY	$97,700	$79,930	360
53	Santa Cruz, CA	$118,480	$105,920	70
54	Yakima, WA	$102,200	$79,360	100
55	Bangor, ME	$99,140	$76,830	130
56	Canton, OH	$115,730	$86,020	80
57	Leominster, MA	$140,860	$92,880	40
58	Flint, MI	$117,520	$53,780	230
59	Dover, NH	$118,800	$86,270	40
60	Longview, TX	$150,520	$80,100	50
61	Watertown, NY	$117,130	$85,540	70
62	Cedar Rapids, IA	$133,470	$79,040	80
63	Vallejo, CA	$130,660	$87,900	100
64	Manchester, NH	$109,700	$83,260	130
65	Lewiston, ME	$99,110	$78,310	80
66	Nashua, NH	$125,740	$86,890	80
67	Peoria, IL	$121,520	$78,220	140
68	Fort Wayne, IN	$121,480	$76,710	110
69	Hickory, NC	$98,170	$74,950	170
70	New Haven, CT	$114,390	$88,580	430
71	Lansing, MI	$101,840	$78,660	160
72	Rome, GA	$95,590	$63,760	80
73	Boulder, CO	$104,480	$84,620	180
74	Barnstable Town, MA	$130,330	$87,360	80
75	Portsmouth, NH	$120,730	$88,530	50
76	Seattle, WA	$113,730	$83,190	860
77	South Bend, IN	$138,880	$80,430	40
78	Cape Coral, FL	$108,360	$79,090	200
79	Wilmington, DE	$105,730	$83,440	310
80	Bismarck, ND	$91,100	$78,950	60
81	Lowell, MA	$135,490	$113,870	40
82	Oklahoma City, OK	$99,670	$61,540	690
83	Ocala, FL	$111,810	$71,460	90
84	Ann Arbor, MI	$101,180	$59,610	350
85	Lincoln, NE	$108,310	$66,940	150
86	Chambersburg, PA	$107,140	$70,300	50
87	Spokane, WA	$107,800	$73,830	190
88	Clarksville, TN	$97,910	$83,710	40
89	Albuquerque, NM	$98,490	$70,020	350
90	Danbury, CT	$115,470	$84,690	110
91	Durham, NC	$93,830	$72,620	410
92	Knoxville, TN	$96,490	$65,980	370
93	North Port, FL	$107,860	$72,930	280
94	Tallahassee, FL	$111,630	$83,360	90
95	Las Vegas, NV	$137,950	$82,400	370
96	Atlanta, GA	$99,450	$71,100	1,960
97	Santa Rosa, CA	$140,810	$88,190	90
98	Madera, CA	$105,060	$84,260	60
99	Palm Bay, FL	$106,090	$74,980	180
100	Evansville, IN	$134,250	$72,730	50

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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