Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of physician assistant salary by state for the United States:
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Vermont has the highest physician assistant salary of $162,792
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Idaho has the lowest physician assistant salary of $71,728
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The national average salary for physician assistants is $118,812
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The national hourly pay for physician assistants is $57.12
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do physician assistants get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for physician assistant by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for physician assistants after this adjustment? That would be Vermont.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for physician assistant salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Physician Assistants By State
| Rank | State | Average Physician Assistant Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | $162,792 | $107,000 | $245,000 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $162,367 | $108,000 | $243,000 |
| 3 | Connecticut | $151,153 | $98,000 | $231,000 |
| 4 | New York | $149,785 | $97,000 | $229,000 |
| 5 | New Jersey | $146,963 | $95,000 | $226,000 |
| 6 | Maine | $144,516 | $92,000 | $225,000 |
| 7 | Minnesota | $141,452 | $90,000 | $221,000 |
| 8 | Alaska | $135,058 | $90,000 | $201,000 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | $131,190 | $82,000 | $208,000 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $130,301 | $82,000 | $205,000 |
| 11 | Delaware | $128,444 | $80,000 | $204,000 |
| 12 | Maryland | $127,697 | $80,000 | $203,000 |
| 13 | Hawaii | $125,535 | $77,000 | $202,000 |
| 14 | West Virginia | $124,859 | $77,000 | $200,000 |
| 15 | Ohio | $124,609 | $77,000 | $201,000 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $122,175 | $76,000 | $196,000 |
| 17 | California | $120,319 | $74,000 | $194,000 |
| 18 | Michigan | $116,654 | $71,000 | $191,000 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | $116,212 | $70,000 | $190,000 |
| 20 | Virginia | $114,196 | $70,000 | $185,000 |
| 21 | Kentucky | $112,720 | $69,000 | $183,000 |
| 22 | Nevada | $112,065 | $69,000 | $180,000 |
| 23 | Illinois | $110,651 | $67,000 | $181,000 |
| 24 | North Carolina | $110,215 | $67,000 | $180,000 |
| 25 | Arkansas | $107,046 | $66,000 | $173,000 |
| 26 | Washington | $104,874 | $67,000 | $163,000 |
| 27 | Arizona | $103,999 | $63,000 | $169,000 |
| 28 | New Mexico | $103,529 | $64,000 | $166,000 |
| 29 | Indiana | $103,339 | $62,000 | $170,000 |
| 30 | Iowa | $101,704 | $62,000 | $166,000 |
| 31 | Oregon | $101,655 | $63,000 | $162,000 |
| 32 | Mississippi | $99,618 | $60,000 | $163,000 |
| 33 | North Dakota | $98,986 | $61,000 | $158,000 |
| 34 | Florida | $98,560 | $59,000 | $162,000 |
| 35 | Texas | $98,184 | $59,000 | $162,000 |
| 36 | Tennessee | $96,303 | $58,000 | $159,000 |
| 37 | Georgia | $94,580 | $56,000 | $156,000 |
| 38 | Nebraska | $93,698 | $58,000 | $149,000 |
| 39 | Colorado | $92,605 | $60,000 | $142,000 |
| 40 | Wyoming | $92,009 | $60,000 | $139,000 |
| 41 | South Dakota | $91,644 | $57,000 | $145,000 |
| 42 | Utah | $91,069 | $59,000 | $138,000 |
| 43 | South Carolina | $90,714 | $54,000 | $150,000 |
| 44 | Kansas | $90,521 | $56,000 | $145,000 |
| 45 | Montana | $90,518 | $62,000 | $131,000 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | $88,727 | $55,000 | $142,000 |
| 47 | Missouri | $84,519 | $51,000 | $138,000 |
| 48 | Louisiana | $82,546 | $49,000 | $137,000 |
| 49 | Alabama | $77,773 | $47,000 | $128,000 |
| 50 | Idaho | $71,728 | $48,000 | $107,000 |
Methodology: Physician Assistant Salary By State
To better understand physician assistant pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for physician assistants by state.
We took the average annual salary data for physician assistants from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for physician assistants.
Physician Assistant Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for physician assistants?
The highest-paid state for physician assistants is Vermont with an average salary of $162,792 per year.
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What city pays physician assistants the most?
Boston, MA pays physician assistants the most with an average salary of $172,215 per year.
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What is the worst state for physician assistants?
The worst state for physician assistants is Idaho with an average salary of $71,728 per year.
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.
