What is the 2018 Salary of a Physician Assistant

There are multiple reports that show the salary of a PA; however each report varies slightly with how the data is gathered and what salary data is included. These reports can be very valuable if you’re a new PA graduate looking for a job, or an experienced PA wanting a raise.

I’ve seen comments that these reports are lower than actual PA salaries, but I’ve also talked to PAs who are making less than the reports and some making more; so on average it makes me think that the reports are fairly accurate.

If you plan to use any of the reports for negotiation purposes it is best to use other reports to help corroborate the data. The two main reports I like to reference are the NCCPA and AAPA reports, but there are other reports that can help you determine the 2018 salary of a PA.

NCCPA Annual Report

Reported PA Salary – $107,718

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants is the certifying body for PAs, and collects data through PA profiles. The data for the report is collected at the end of the year; so the most recently released 2018 NCCPA report was collected as of December 31, 2017.

The PA salary data is collected from the NCCPA profiles of certified PAs. When PAs log into their profile on the NCCPA website they are asked a number of questions. This data is gathered to make the report. Some PAs might not answer all the questions, or have only partially completed their profiles at the time the data was collected, however this is still a large sample size as it covers 91.4% of certified PAs. The data is collected by a rolling collection and is reported based on total gross income from all PA positions.

The 2018 NCCPA Annual Report included 112,485 of 123,089 certified PAs, and showed the average salary for certified PAs at $107,718. The highest paying specialty was in pathology with a median salary of $120,000. The lowest paying specialties included adolescent medicine, gynecology and pediatrics with a median salary of $85,000.

Pros

• Large sample size – Since this report is collected from the NCCPA profiles of certified PAs it includes most PAs.
•  Breakdown of salaries for different specialties – The report looks at PA salaries by specialty, not just PAs as a whole.

Cons

• Not as comprehensive as other PA salary reports – It looks at practice setting and specialty, but as far as the breakdown of base salary, bonus and benefits it does not go in depth.
• The data is collected in a rolling cycle – It might not be based on the most recent year’s salaries.

BLS Employment Statistics

Reported PA Salary – $104,760

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics is a source for salary information for all types of careers. The data is collected from employers over 2-3 years and is averaged. The salary includes incentive pay and production bonuses.

The report was last modified March 30, 2018 and showed a mean annual wage for Physician Assistants from 2017 at $104,760. The top paying state for PAs was the state of Washington with a mean wage of $120,200.

Pros

• Large sample size – As these surveys go out nationally and is done by the employer the information covers most PA’s salary.
• Collected from employers – The BLS reports are collected from employers and are not a self-report survey, which means there is less chance of self-inflation of the numbers.

Cons

• Out dated data – The data is averaged over three years, so it includes data from past years and not just the current year.
• Salary based on gross compensation – It is nice to be able to see compensation split into base salary and bonus, but this report is based on total salary.
• No data on salary by specialties

AAPA Salary Survey

Reported PA Salary – $105,000

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) is the national professional society for PAs. The AAPA advocates for PAs and provides educational opportunities. It sends out an annual salary survey to all the members who have not opted out of communication from the AAPA.

The 2018 survey had a very low response rate with only 9,140 respondents. The data is collected from the previous calendar year, so the 2018 survey is based on data from 2017.

The median salary for the 2018 AAPA annual salary report was $105,000, an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year. The salary in the AAPA report is based on base salary alone; with separate information on bonus. The 50th percentile for full-time employed PAs earned $6,000 in bonus. This years report showed that PAs paid based on productivity earned a median salary of $150,000.

Of all the salary reports the AAPA salary survey is the most comprehensive. It breaks the data down by state, and even shows data for benefits including; time off, insurance, retirement, etc.

Pros

• Comprehensive data – Shows data by state and specialty.  Reports the breakdown of salary into base and bonus. Includes benefits, such as time off, insurance, retirement, etc.
• Data collected is from the prior year – It should be the most up to date.

Cons

• Small sample size – quite possibly the 100,000+ PAs who did not respond to the survey are the ones that are making so much money they don’t have time to respond to the survey.
• Only available to AAPA members for free, non-members can purchase a copy.

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Payscale Salary Report

Reported PA Salary – $91,965

Payscale.com is another self-reported survey. It had 10,635 individuals who have reported on Physician Assistant salary. The data is collected through creating an online personal report. When you go to the website you can get an individual salary report, and in order to do this you must answer all the questions that pertain to yourself, including your salary and bonus.  The salary amount does not include bonus.

The median salary as of July 16, 2018 was $91,965, with total compensation ranging from $75,575 – $129,728. According to the report PAs working in Emergency Medicine earned a higher income.

Pros

• Compensation broken down into base salary and bonus

Cons

• Small sample size
• Self-reported – Data is collected from individual profiles; so although the report might be updated recently, the individual profiles are probably reflecting old salaries.
• Lowest reported median salary

Glassdoor Salary Report

Reported PA Salary – $106,873

Glassdoor is a job recruiting website that provides information on company reviews, approval ratings, salary reports, interview reviews and questions, benefits reviews, office photos and more. The information is collected from employees who have profiles on Glassdoor and complete the questionnaires.

The Glassdoor PA salary estimates were based on 1,905 salaries that were anonymously submitted by employees.

The average base salary was $106,873 as of July 17, 2018. Additional compensation ranged from $1,053 – $22,942 and is based on bonus, commission, tips and profit sharing.

Pros

• Compensation split into base salary and additional compensation

Cons

• Low response rate
• Does not show salary based on specialty

Overview of Current 2018 PA Salary

When looking at salary reports for PAs it is important to use multiple reports as each one collects data differently and gives different information.

The NCCPA report might be the most accurate as it has the highest response rate, reaching over 90% of certified PAs. The downside is that it does not have in-depth data on PA compensation.

For an in-depth overview of PA compensation you should look at that AAPA salary survey. The survey does a great job of breaking compensation down into base salary and bonus. It also gives salary data based on state and specialty, as well as other information, such as the buying power of your salary based on region of employment.

When comparing the lower PA salary of $102,000 on the AAPA report it might be because it was from 2016 salaries. The AAPA report is collected at the beginning of the year and the report does not come out until the end of the year, so the most recently released report was November 2017 and was based on 2016 salaries.

The NCCPA showed the highest 2018 salary for PAs at $107,718, but the reported salary is base salary and bonus combined. The lowest reported salary was from Payscale, but it uses data from profiles that might be outdated. Taking Payscale out, the other reports was all within $5,000, which in the grand scheme is fairly close.

One thing all of the reports have in common is that compared to previous years PA salaries have been increasing. I’m not sure if there are keeping up with inflation, but with the growing demand there are plenty of opportunities for PAs. If you’re looking for a new job, or just entering the job market know what you’re worth and use multiple salary reports to help negotiate a fair salary.

What do you think of the data? Does your PA salary reflect what is seen in the reports? Please comment below the original post, sign up to receive future posts by email and share with your friends!