physician · SOC 29-1071
Physician Assistants
National median $135,880 / yr · 162,150 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$135,880
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WA
Score 72 · Washington
Top-paying metro
San Jose
$223,640 median
Top WageBench Score
75
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $223,640 | $210,222 | 6.0% | — | — | 75 |
| #2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $167,290 | $167,290 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #3 | Washington | $164,360 | $164,360 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 72 |
| #4 | South Dakota | $133,200 | $133,200 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #5 | Wyoming | $136,080 | $136,080 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 71 |
| #6 | North Dakota | $133,450 | $130,781 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #7 | Missouri | $135,130 | $129,049 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $134,550 | $134,550 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 70 |
| #9 | Iowa | $134,770 | $129,649 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 70 |
| #10 | Ohio | $132,090 | $128,127 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$99,380
P25
$120,670
MEDIAN
$135,880
P75
$163,980
P90
$190,280
Hourly mean
$68
Hourly median
$65
Annual mean
$141,280
Total US jobs
162,150
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 516 scored areas total.
516 areas · page 1 of 21
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $223,640 | $210,222 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 75 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $167,290 | $167,290 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Washington | WA | $164,360 | $164,360 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| South Dakota | SD | $133,200 | $133,200 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| Wyoming | WY | $136,080 | $136,080 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| North Dakota | ND | $133,450 | $130,781 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Missouri | MO | $135,130 | $129,049 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $134,550 | $134,550 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Iowa | IA | $134,770 | $129,649 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $132,090 | $128,127 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $184,380 | $173,317 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 70 |
| New Mexico | NM | $139,920 | $133,064 | 4.9% | 92 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $138,790 | $131,851 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $140,160 | $140,160 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Louisiana | LA | $128,870 | $125,004 | 3.0% | 88 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| North Carolina | NC | $129,360 | $123,862 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Nebraska | NE | $133,040 | $126,654 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 69 |
| Oklahoma | OK | $136,550 | $130,405 | 4.5% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $137,550 | $133,424 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Montana | MT | $141,470 | $134,114 | 5.2% | 95 | ✓ | 22 | 69 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $133,950 | $126,851 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Indiana | IN | $132,050 | $128,022 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $133,350 | $127,349 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $133,140 | $127,482 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Jacksonville, FL | FL | $132,350 | $132,350 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
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Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →