NCCPA Statistical Profile and 2019 PA Salaries
The 2018 Statistical Profile of Certified Physician Assistants showed an average income for certified PAs of $110,567 and a median salary of $115,000. This is an increase from the previous year and a 15.7% increase over the last six years.
The NCCPA annual report on certified PAs is based off online profiles of certified PAs. The data includes PAs who were certified as of December 31, 2018 and had updated their profile within the previous three years. At the time the data was collected there were 131,152 certified PAs, and 117,280 of those PAs qualified to be included in the data.
The NCCPA is the only certifying organization for PAs in the United States. Some states allow PAs to practice without maintaining certification, however most PAs must be national certified in order to practice. Each state has specific requirements to become licensed as a PA, but NCCPA certification is one requirement in every state to obtain an initial license.
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PAs working in dermatology and critical care had the highest salaries; PAs in dermatology had a mean salary of $126,000 and critical care PAs had a mean salary of $122,957. PAs working in adolescent medicine and pediatrics reported the lowest salaries. The income that is reported is based on total income in the last calendar year, and does not show the breakdown of base salary versus bonus or production compensation.
Salary is just one aspect that the NCCPA report looks at; it also gives information on other demographics of certified PAs. As this report is not a dedicated salary report, it does not break down the salary information as well as the AAPA report. However, this report does a much better job of surveying a higher percentage of PAs by collecting the data through online profiles.
As this report shows does not split compensation up into bonus and production pay it is not as useful compared to the AAPA report in looking at the details of PA salary. However, it is helpful in comparing the AAPA report as the AAPA report has a very low response rate. If you’re looking at using a PA salary report in negotiation of your salary it is helpful to use multiple reports to help corroborate each. Overall, it appears that PA salaries continue to slowly increase, but increases have been tapering off the last couple of years.
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