There were just over 120,000 physician assistant jobs in the U.S. as of May 2019 according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Physician assistants mostly work in physician offices and hospital facilities, with smaller numbers of PAs working in outpatient care centers, academic institutions, and in offices of other types of healthcare practitioners. Because of their training and the range of supervised physician services they can provide, physician assistants generally earn more more than most healthcare occupations, excluding certain high-skill clinical occupations in medicine and dentistry. The BLS estimated that, as of May 2019, the national mean wage for physician assistants was $112,410 per year, well above the $53,490 annual mean wage for all occupations in the U.S. There is, however, a wide state-to-state variation in the average annual wages earned by physician assistants. According to BLS data as of May 2019, the ten states where physician assistants earn the most are:
| Connecticut | $137,060 |
| Washington | $129,520 |
| New Jersey | $129,440 |
| Alaska | $128,530 |
| California | $127,520 |
| New York | $123,080 |
| Nevada | $121,540 |
| Vermont | $120,680 |
| New Mexico | $120,400 |
| Minnesota | $119,240 |
At the back of the class for physician assistant pay were these ten states:
| West Virginia | $102,500 |
| Georgia | $101,460 |
| Mississippi | $99,810 |
| Arkansas | $97,970 |
| Indiana | $96,120 |
| Missouri | $95,090 |
| Tennessee | $90,760 |
| Alabama | $90,080 |
| Louisiana | $86,490 |
| Kentucky | $84,870 |
So where does your state rank for physician assistant pay?
Refer to Physician Assistant Average Wages by State for more information.