There were just over 120,000 physician assistant jobs in the U.S. as of May 2019 according to data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While small numbers of physician assistants work in outpatient care centers, academic institutions, and in the offices of non-physician healthcare practitioners, most PAs work in physician offices and hospital facilities. Because of their training and the scope of supervised physician services they can provide, PAs generally earn more more than workers in most healthcare occupations. 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, wide variation in the average annual wages earned by PAs. This variation can be readily seen in BLS data, as of May 2019, for physician assistants working in the twenty largest U.S. metro areas:
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City | 11,470 | $128,420 | ||
| 2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | 3,460 | $126,130 | ||
| 3 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | 2,000 | $105,300 | ||
| 4 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 2,660 | $102,400 | ||
| 5 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | 1,860 | $127,330 | ||
| 6 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 2,240 | $113,830 | ||
| 7 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach | 1,970 | $108,490 | ||
| 8 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 3,070 | $113,710 | ||
| 9 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta | 2,310 | $102,090 | ||
| 10 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | 1,550 | $108,990 | ||
| 11 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | 3,050 | $110,630 | ||
| 12 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley | 1,360 | $126,810 | ||
| 13 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | 1,200 | $134,630 | ||
| 14 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn | 1,740 | $111,970 | ||
| 15 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | 1,690 | $132,610 | ||
| 16 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | 1,420 | $119,510 | ||
| 17 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | 1,090 | $124,070 | ||
| 18 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | 920 | $106,950 | ||
| 19 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood | 1,730 | $108,440 | ||
| 20 | St. Louis | 610 | $94,720 | ||
| National | 120,090 | $112,410 | |||
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on October 28, 2020
