Previously, we examined Physician Assistant Pay in the Top 20 Metro Areas. The largest U.S. metropolitan areas certainly provide physician assistant practitioners with many more employment opportunities than do smaller metro areas. However, the better compensation levels are actually found in smaller markets. This can be readily seen in May 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which shows that only one of the 20 largest metro areas in the nation were among the 20 best metro markets for physician assistant pay:
20 Best Metro Markets for Physician Assistant Pay
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portsmouth, NH-ME | 140 | $167,240 | ||
| 2 | Panama City, FL | 60 | $165,000 | ||
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (#) | 1,760 | $164,150 | ||
| 4 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 710 | $163,720 | ||
| 5 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 70 | $162,030 | ||
| 6 | Santa Rosa, CA | 100 | $157,720 | ||
| 7 | Albany, OR | 30 | $157,230 | ||
| 8 | Corvallis, OR | 60 | $157,000 | ||
| 9 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade | 610 | $153,400 | ||
| 10 | Modesto, CA | 220 | $152,300 | ||
| 11 | Alaska non-metro | 80 | $151,120 | ||
| 12 | Fairbanks, AK | 40 | $148,750 | ||
| 13 | Midland, TX | 70 | $147,980 | ||
| 14 | Beckley, WV | 50 | $147,970 | ||
| 15 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 460 | $147,680 | ||
| 16 | Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI | 150 | $146,250 | ||
| 17 | Merced, CA | 50 | $145,690 | ||
| 18 | Yuba City, CA | 60 | $144,990 | ||
| 19 | Anchorage, AK | 320 | $144,230 | ||
| 20 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 70 | $144,040 | ||
| National | 132,940 | $119,460 | |||
(#) a top 20 U.S metro population area
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on October 29, 2022