There were just under 141,000 physician assistant (PA) jobs in the U.S. as of May 2022 according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  While some physician assistants work in outpatient care centers, academic institutions, and other healthcare service settings, most work in physician offices and hospital facilities. Because of their training and the type of services they can provide, PAs generally earn more than workers in most healthcare occupations.  As of May 2022, the BLS estimated that the mean salary for physician assistants was $125,270 per year.  On a national basis, the profession's median wage, which is the wage level that separates the lower half of earners from the upper half, was $126,010 per year.  According to BLS data, the nation's 25 largest metropolitan areas accounted for 44.8% of the physician assistant jobs in the U.S. as of May 2022.  Further review of BLS data indicated that physician assistant average pay in the top 25 U.S. metro markets looked as follows:

Physician Assistant Average Pay in the Top 25 U.S. Metro Markets

	Area Name		Median Annual Wage	Mean Annual Wage
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City		$135,000	$138,890
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim		$139,900	$138,360
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin		$127,970	$127,530
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington		$125,700	$131,890
5	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land		$137,230	$146,270
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria		$124,470	$122,230
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington		$125,800	$122,680
8	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach		$123,030	$117,150
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta		$115,450	$119,490
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton		$132,820	$132,780
11	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler		$125,240	$121,500
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley		$161,680	$162,480
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario		$131,350	$140,020
14	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn		$115,260	$115,930
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue		$147,520	$149,560
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington		$129,830	$131,140
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad		$130,980	$141,860
18	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater		$105,970	$107,530
19	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood		$122,670	$122,790
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson		$127,170	$116,620
21	St. Louis, MO-IL		$118,400	$116,320
22	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford		$111,330	$111,260
23	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia		$123,510	$121,140
24	San Antonio-New Braunfels		$128,320	$127,320
25	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro		$137,670	$145,470
	National		$126,010	$125,270

Report Period:  May 2022
Top 25 U.S. Metro Areas from the 2020 Census
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Occupational Statistics
Data extracted on June 4, 2023