The 2026 Physician Assistant Salary Report
Salary data based on over 1,148 listings with disclosed compensation out of 484 jobs. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.
Full national salary range: $45,000 to $400,000. That is not a typo. That is a range so wide it technically contains two completely different careers. Most full-time positions cluster between $110,000 and $215,000, which is where the actual humans are. (See what Physician Assistant jobs are available right now.
THE FINDINGS
1. North Dakota is doing it again.
We have now reported on North Dakota’s compensation strategy across multiple specialties and the pattern is consistent: North Dakota simply pays more than you expect, says nothing about it, and goes back to being North Dakota.
Average PA salary: $208,000 to $243,360. Six total listings, because North Dakota has a population roughly equivalent to a large airport. But those six jobs are committed. If you are a PA willing to embrace what meteorologists call “a bracing climate” and everyone else calls “good grief, it’s cold,” North Dakota will reward you financially in ways that warmer states have simply declined to match.
2. Louisiana and Kentucky are tied, which is suspicious.
Both states average $156,000 to $251,680 — identical figures, which either reflects a remarkable coincidence or suggests someone copied Kentucky’s homework. Both have very limited listing volume, which means when one of these jobs opens up, it is worth paying attention to.
Louisiana, as longtime readers of our reports will know, continues to offer compensation packages that raise more questions than they answer. The $251,680 ceiling is real. The full scope of responsibilities is, as always, something you will want to clarify before signing.
3. Wisconsin, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Florida have figured out the assignment.
These states have achieved what California and New York have conspicuously failed to manage: above-average pay and a reasonable number of actual job openings. This is not complicated. And yet.
- Wisconsin: $171,929–$235,689 across 34 listings
- New Hampshire: $178,100–$234,000 across 33 listings
- Virginia: $175,500–$229,950 across 34 listings
- Florida: $174,333–$231,200 across 30 listings
If you are a PA currently located in a state that is neither paying you well nor offering abundant opportunities, these four states would like a word.
4. Alabama has arrived at a number and that number is concerning.
At an average of $95,000 to $110,000, Alabama is the only state in this dataset that falls dramatically below the national average low of $147,339 — which is itself already the low end. Alabama has not merely undershot the national average. Alabama has undershot it by a margin that prompts genuine questions about Alabama’s understanding of what physician assistants do.
We wish Alabama’s PAs well.
5. Massachusetts is charging $14 for a sandwich and paying PA salaries from a different era.
Massachusetts averages $112,973 to $141,013 across 42 listings — placing it among the lowest-compensating states in the entire dataset, despite being one of the highest-cost-of-living states in the country. This is a bold strategy. It is not working in the PA’s favor.
To recap: Massachusetts will charge you Boston prices for rent, parking, and the aforementioned sandwich, and then pay you Wisconsin prices minus the part where Wisconsin is actually paying well. Massachusetts has excellent hospitals, world-class academic medicine, and a compensation philosophy that appears to have been developed in 1987 and not revisited since.
6. New York: many jobs, middling pay, premium parking rates.
82 listings. Average salary: $128,114 to $157,904 — below the national average, despite New York’s extraordinary ability to charge above-national-average prices for literally everything else including air, essentially.
You will have no shortage of job options in New York. You will, however, have a shortage of apartment options that fit within your salary, which is a trade-off New York has been offering professionals since approximately the Eisenhower administration.
7. California: 157 listings, which is more than any other state, and the salary is fine.
157 listings — more than any other state, more than some small countries. Average pay: $153,845 to $190,093, which is respectable without being remarkable and is, in the context of California housing costs, what economists technically classify as “a start.”
California’s recruitment pitch is “but it’s California,” and for many people, that is genuinely sufficient. For others, the math eventually becomes difficult to ignore. The listings are there either way.
8. The notable listings that deserve a moment of appreciation.
- A Cardiothoracic PA role in Silverdale, WA offering $152,000–$215,000. Washington state, quietly doing well.
- A travel PA position in Hershey, PA at $100–$135/hour, which works out to approximately $208,000–$280,000 annually. Hershey, Pennsylvania — home of the chocolate factory and, apparently, one of the best-paying travel PA gigs in the country. These two facts are unrelated but worth knowing simultaneously.
- A Pediatric PA in Staten Island, NY requiring Cantonese and Mandarin proficiency, paying $160,000–$190,000 — a useful reminder that specialized skills command premiums, and that New York’s compensation story is more complicated than its averages suggest.
THE BIG PICTURE
The PA job market is active, geographically widespread, and producing genuinely excellent opportunities — you just have to know where to look, which is partly what this report is for, and partly what the link at the end of every paragraph has been quietly suggesting.
Best combination of pay + availability: Wisconsin, Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida. Maximum earning potential, lifestyle flexibility optional: North Dakota, travel positions, that one job in Hershey. Large volume, evaluate carefully: California, North Carolina, New York. Alabama: We’re rooting for you.
THE PHYSEMP PA JOB STRATEGY
(Three Steps, Rigorously Tested)
Step 1: Identify a state paying above $147K on the low end.
Step 2: Confirm the cost of living still leaves money after rent.
Step 3: Look at what’s actually available right now. This step is optional only if you enjoy theoretical salary discussions more than actual employment.
Physemp has been connecting practitioners with opportunities since 1994. We have watched this market for over thirty years and can confirm: the jobs exist, the pay varies wildly, and North Dakota remains inexplicably generous.
