National Salary Info » Physician Assistants

Highest Paying Industries for Physician Assistants

The top 60 highest paying industries for physician assistants (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment in those industries are also shown. As shown in the table, with an average annual salary of $138,620, management, scientific, and technical consulting services is the highest paying industry for physician assistants. It is followed by temporary help services industry (average annual salary $109,100). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2015 [1]. For more information about salaries of physician assistants in a specific industry, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 60 Highest Paying Industries for Physician Assistants

Rank	Industry	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	$138,620	$99,080	40
2	Temporary Help Services	$109,100	$78,600	n/a
3	Employment Services	$107,800	$79,090	n/a
4	Administrative and Support Services	$106,730	$76,770	n/a
5	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	$106,730	$76,860	n/a
6	Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)	$105,830	$64,730	30
7	Offices of All Other Health Practitioners	$105,320	$49,700	860
8	Specialty hospitals - State government owned	$103,520	$82,250	250
9	Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	$103,070	$77,650	790
10	Specialty hospitals - Privately owned	$102,760	$68,590	540
11	Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	$102,520	$47,500	40
12	Offices of Other Health Practitioners	$101,140	$34,400	1,200
13	Outpatient Care Centers	$100,750	$69,120	6,520
14	Home Health Care Services	$100,350	$61,600	90
15	Hospitals - Privately owned	$99,660	$68,680	17,910
16	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - Privately owned	$99,650	$68,710	17,240
17	Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals)	$99,360	$68,800	20,800
18	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	$99,300	$68,580	19,810
19	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	$97,590	$79,160	410
20	Hospitals - Local government owned	$97,420	$72,620	1,980
21	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - Local government owned	$97,400	$72,700	1,970
22	Hospitals - State government owned	$97,330	$55,850	900
23	Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers	$96,310	$61,640	220
24	Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists	$96,190	$81,700	130
25	Health Care and Social Assistance	$96,110	$64,030	83,150
26	Scientific Research and Development Services	$96,030	$79,990	340
27	Management of Companies and Enterprises	$96,020	$75,240	80
28	Local government, including schools and hospitals	$95,760	$69,650	2,400
29	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - State government owned	$95,270	$38,520	590
30	Ambulatory Health Care Services	$95,070	$63,110	62,200
31	Offices of Physicians	$94,670	$64,170	53,280
32	State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	$94,610	$73,650	360
33	Educational Services - Privately owned	$93,930	$65,830	970
34	Colleges, universities, and professional schools - Privately owned	$93,880	$65,790	970
35	Nursing and Residential Care Facilities	$93,520	$46,170	100
36	Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences	$93,220	$77,970	250
37	State government, including schools and hospitals	$92,870	$63,180	2,620
38	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals - Privately owned	$92,660	$67,370	130
39	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals	$92,360	$67,040	200
40	All Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	$92,270	$65,490	240
41	Other Ambulatory Health Care Services	$92,270	$65,490	240
42	Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories	$91,810	$59,870	310
43	Educational Services	$91,740	$63,540	2,340
44	Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	$91,690	$63,450	2,330
45	Social Assistance	$91,390	$48,990	50
46	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals - State government owned	$91,370	$65,550	60
47	Public sector -- Federal, state, and local government, including government owned schools and hospit	$91,360	$63,860	7,310
48	Federal government, including USPS	$90,340	$61,870	2,290
49	Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	$90,340	$61,870	2,290
50	Federal, State, and Local Government (OES Designation)	$90,340	$63,040	3,040
51	Federal, State, and Local Government	$90,340	$63,040	3,040
52	Colleges, universities, and professional schools - State government owned	$90,120	$62,110	1,360
53	Educational Services - State government owned	$90,120	$62,110	1,360
54	Individual and Family Services	$89,990	$50,010	40
55	Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	$89,030	$63,550	400
56	Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities	$85,870	$44,980	40
57	Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities	$85,870	$44,980	40
58	Offices of Chiropractors	$80,160	$26,690	140
59	Offices of Optometrists	$37,070	$27,270	40
60	Offices of Dentists	$31,500	$25,750	n/a