Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 29-1071

Physician Assistants

Projected +20% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Radiologists, Physicians, All Other, Prosthodontists, Emergency Medicine Physicians.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Physician Assistants: Radiologists ($421K) , Physicians, All Other ($266K) , Prosthodontists ($311K) , Emergency Medicine Physicians ($336K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Physician Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1071 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients
  2. 2. Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal
  3. 3. Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval
  4. 4. Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination
  5. 5. Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition
  6. 6. Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests
  7. 7. Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems o…
  8. 8. Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management
  9. 9. Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician
  10. 10. Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures
  11. 11. Supervise and coordinate activities of technicians and technical assistants
  12. 12. Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment

Physician Assistants: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1071 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Medicine and Dentistry. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.1
  2. 2. Critical Thinking 4.1
  3. 3. Active Listening 4.0
  4. 4. Writing 4.0
  5. 5. Speaking 4.0
  6. 6. Social Perceptiveness 4.0
  7. 7. Service Orientation 4.0
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 4.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 5.0
  2. 2. Biology 4.8
  3. 3. English Language 4.6
  4. 4. Psychology 4.6
  5. 5. Therapy and Counseling 4.5
  6. 6. Customer and Personal Service 4.2
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +20%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $135,880/yr
$136K
National median
12,000
Annual openings
162,150
Estimated US jobs
Radiologists
Highest-pay peer · $421K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Master's degree

Top Paying States for Physician Assistants

1. New Hampshire $150,960
2. Oregon $155,780
3. New York $160,880
4. Washington $164,360
5. Alaska $150,700
6. Vermont $150,490
7. Hawaii $164,050
8. Massachusetts $142,410
9. New Jersey $165,690
10. California $165,650

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Prosthodontists $311,180
  2. 2. Emergency Medicine Physicians $335,550
  3. 3. Radiologists $420,860
  4. 4. Psychiatrists $281,870
  5. 5. Physicians, All Other $265,930
  6. 6. Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric $300,080

BLS projects +20% employment change for Physician Assistants (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $135,880.

BLS assigns Master's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: New Hampshire at $150,960. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Radiologists at $420,860. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Physician Assistants pay-rank #28 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Physician Assistants sits at pay-rank #28 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

Projected change +20.4% puts Physician Assistants ahead of most peers. Open the state map or compare it directly against a slower-growing role.

Physician Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1071

New Hampshire · top state for Physician Assistants

$151K published median

Oregon · #2 state pay

$156K · behind New Hampshire

Radiologists

Highest-pay peer vs Physician Assistants · $421K

Physicians, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Physician Assistants · $266K

Compare Physician Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Physician Assistants with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Physician Assistants mid-table among Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #28 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Optometrists ($137K), Nurse Midwives ($134K), Nurse Practitioners ($132K), Pharmacists ($141K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do physician assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Physician Assistants. Leading ones include: Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients; Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal; Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval; Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for physician assistants? ▼
For SOC 29-1071, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.1), Critical Thinking (4.1), Active Listening (4.0), Writing (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Medicine and Dentistry, Biology, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Physician Assistants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $135,880 as the national median for Physician Assistants. The published 10th-90th range is $99,380 to $190,280. Beside Radiologists ($420,860), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Physician Assistants projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Physician Assistants at +20% change for 2024-2034, with about 12,000 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Physician Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns Master's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Physician Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Physician Assistants? ▼
New Hampshire ($150,960), Oregon ($155,780), New York ($160,880) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Physician Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1071. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Physician Assistants. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics