Find a Job You Really Want In
Physician Assistants are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as physician assistants in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since physician assistants are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where physician assistants have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for physician assistants.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s physician assistants:
So there you have it — Physician Assistants is the best of the best when it comes to being a physician assistant.
How did Physician Assistants end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for physician assistants and for more on the top ten states.
If youĂÂre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
- These Are The 10 Best Cities For Physician Assistants
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Wyoming
- These Are The 100 Largest Companies In Wyoming
How we determined the best states to be a physician assistant
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
- Higher Pay
So in order to find out the best states 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 2018:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for physician assistants in California is $117,230 and the average salary in Illinois is $108,260, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for physician assistants in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for physician assistants.
1. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 220
Average Annual Salary: $116,890
Average Entry Level Salary: $83,770
Average Experienced Salary: $158,810
Location Quotient: 1.01
2. Nebraska
Total Jobs: 1,190
Average Annual Salary: $106,700
Average Entry Level Salary: $76,120
Average Experienced Salary: $149,820
Location Quotient: 1.53
3. Michigan
Total Jobs: 4,490
Average Annual Salary: $110,240
Average Entry Level Salary: $84,950
Average Experienced Salary: $136,840
Location Quotient: 1.31
4. Oklahoma
Total Jobs: 1,390
Average Annual Salary: $104,200
Average Entry Level Salary: $69,370
Average Experienced Salary: $147,730
Location Quotient: 1.1
5. Idaho
Total Jobs: 730
Average Annual Salary: $109,090
Average Entry Level Salary: $70,300
Average Experienced Salary: $151,430
Location Quotient: 1.3
6. Iowa
Total Jobs: 1,000
Average Annual Salary: $110,550
Average Entry Level Salary: $82,720
Average Experienced Salary: $148,280
Location Quotient: 0.81
7. North Carolina
Total Jobs: 5,010
Average Annual Salary: $104,680
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,010
Average Experienced Salary: $139,760
Location Quotient: 1.44
8. Washington
Total Jobs: 2,470
Average Annual Salary: $123,980
Average Entry Level Salary: $88,150
Average Experienced Salary: $160,880
Location Quotient: 0.96
9. West Virginia
Total Jobs: 770
Average Annual Salary: $104,180
Average Entry Level Salary: $70,080
Average Experienced Salary: $148,340
Location Quotient: 1.39
10. Kansas
Total Jobs: 1,040
Average Annual Salary: $104,720
Average Entry Level Salary: $77,920
Average Experienced Salary: $132,890
Location Quotient: 0.96
There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Physician Assistant
If you’re looking to start out your career as a physician assistant these are the states 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 states to be a physician assistant in America:
For more reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best States For physician assistants
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | $116,890 |
| 2 | Nebraska | $106,700 |
| 3 | Michigan | $110,240 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | $104,200 |
| 5 | Idaho | $109,090 |
| 6 | Iowa | $110,550 |
| 7 | North Carolina | $104,680 |
| 8 | Washington | $123,980 |
| 9 | West Virginia | $104,180 |
| 10 | Kansas | $104,720 |
| 11 | Minnesota | $116,200 |
| 12 | Ohio | $105,410 |
| 13 | New Mexico | $108,610 |
| 14 | Texas | $109,590 |
| 15 | Georgia | $103,190 |
| 16 | Montana | $106,130 |
| 17 | Nevada | $116,850 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | $107,920 |
| 19 | South Dakota | $102,830 |
| 20 | Utah | $102,710 |
| 21 | Maine | $110,030 |
| 22 | Delaware | $105,300 |
| 23 | Florida | $105,930 |
| 24 | Arkansas | $99,280 |
| 25 | North Dakota | $107,340 |
| 26 | Illinois | $108,260 |
| 27 | Connecticut | $125,610 |
| 28 | Colorado | $102,770 |
| 29 | Arizona | $101,590 |
| 30 | Alaska | $122,260 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $98,510 |
| 32 | Oregon | $113,570 |
| 33 | Indiana | $96,090 |
| 34 | New York | $117,000 |
| 35 | South Carolina | $103,710 |
| 36 | New Hampshire | $111,080 |
| 37 | Missouri | $94,480 |
| 38 | Virginia | $99,340 |
| 39 | Vermont | $106,520 |
| 40 | Alabama | $92,880 |
| 41 | Maryland | $108,180 |
| 42 | Tennessee | $87,700 |
| 43 | New Jersey | $116,270 |
| 44 | Kentucky | $91,010 |
| 45 | Massachusetts | $108,700 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $85,990 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $81,130 |
| 48 | California | $117,230 |
| 49 | Rhode Island | $103,710 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $121,120 |
Author
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.
