Primary Care Physician Assistant salary: $37.10/hr$1,484/wk$77,168/yr median.
Pay range $34.48$1,379$71,718–$85.95/hr$3,438/wk$178,776/yr across the middle 50% of active Physician Assistant Advanced Practice Provider postings nationwide.
12 unique employers · 16 cities · 8 states.
How Primary Care Physician Assistant pay is distributed.
10% of postings pay under $32.84/hr$1,314/wk$68,307/yr. The top 10% pay above $91.08/hr$3,643/wk$189,446/yr.
How Primary Care Physician Assistant pay has moved month over month.
Median pay moved from $34.48 in Nov 2025 to $86.40 in Apr 2026 (+150.6%). Bars show monthly posting volume; the line tracks the posting-weighted median.
| Month | Median /hr/wk/yr | P25–P75 | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | $34.48$1,379$71,718 | $32.84$1,314$68,307–$37.10$1,484$77,168 | 26 |
| Jan 2026 | $34.48$1,379$71,718 | $34.48$1,379$71,718–$34.48$1,379$71,718 | 7 |
| Apr 2026 | $86.40$3,456$179,712 | $85.95$3,438$178,776–$91.93$3,677$191,214 | 17 |
Primary Care Physician Assistant pay across every state with live data.
Showing all 2 states with live data. Bars scale to the highest-paying state.
The metros writing the biggest Primary Care Physician Assistant paychecks.
| City | State | Median /hr/wk/yr | P25–P75 | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| juneau | AK · ALASKA | $87.94$3,518$182,915 | $86.18$3,447$179,254–$92.05$3,682$191,464 | 16 |
| seattle | WA · WASHINGTON | $34.48$1,379$71,718 | $32.84$1,314$68,307–$34.48$1,379$71,718 | 10 |
Where the top of the market is paying for Primary Care Physician Assistant.
| Employer | Median /hr/wk/yr | Range | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| kaiser permanente | $34.48$1,379$71,718 | $29.97$1,199$62,338–$39.65$1,586$82,472 | 32 |
Showing all 1 employer with live pay data.
How Primary Care Physician Assistant pay shifts by schedule and contract type.
Travel Contract pays the most at $86.40/hr$3,456/wk$179,712/yr median — 151% above Staff Position at $34.48/hr$1,379/wk$71,718/yr. Staff Position drives the volume with 29 active postings.
How to become a Primary Care Physician Assistant.
Advanced Practice Providers — Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Certified Nurse Midwives — diagnose, treat, prescribe, and coordinate care under their own license. APPs sit between RN-level bedside care and physician-level decision authority, with scope of practice that varies by state. The two dominant paths are the APRN route (NP / CNS / CRNA / CNM, built on an RN license) and the PA route (a separate medical-model master's program).
APRNs (NP, CNS, CRNA, CNM) start with a BSN and RN license, complete a graduate program in their chosen population focus, and pass the national certification exam (e.g. AANP/ANCC for NPs). PAs come through a separate medical-model master's program with no nursing prerequisite, then pass the PANCE. Both routes require state APP licensure / authorization to practice; collaboration and supervision rules vary widely by state.
| Degree | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Master of Science in Nursing (MSN-NP)MSN | 2-3 years post-BSN | Standard entry to Nurse Practitioner practice. Tracks include FNP, AGNP (primary or acute), PMHNP, PNP, NNP, and Women's Health NP. |
| Doctor of Nursing PracticeDNP | 3-4 years post-BSN | Terminal practice degree for APRNs. Increasingly the entry-level requirement for some specialties (CRNA programs are doctoral-only as of 2025). |
| Physician Assistant Master'sMPAS / MMS / MSPAS | 27 months full-time | Medical-model program covering didactic plus 2,000+ supervised clinical hours across core rotations (IM, surgery, EM, peds, OB, behavioral health, family medicine). |
| Post-master's certificateCert | 1-2 years | Adds a new APRN specialty (e.g. PMHNP) on top of an existing master's. Common for FNPs who want to add an acute-care or psych population focus. |
Required for NPs, CNSes, CRNAs, and CNMs. Built on top of the underlying RN license. Some states grant full practice authority; others require physician collaboration.
Required for PAs in every state. Eligibility requires PANCE certification and graduation from an ARC-PA accredited program.
Required to prescribe controlled substances. Almost universally required in practice for full-scope outpatient roles.
Required for nearly all APP roles; PALS is required for pediatric specialties.
| Credential | Issued by | Pay impact |
|---|---|---|
| AANP / ANCC NP certification National NP board certification (population-focused) Population-focused certification (FNP, AGNP, PMHNP, PNP, etc.) is the bridge from graduation to state APRN licensure. Not optional. | AANP or ANCC | Entry requirement |
| PANCE / PANRE Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam PANCE is the post-graduation entry exam; PANRE recertifies every 10 years. Standard requirement for PA state licensure. | NCCPA | Entry requirement |
| Specialty CAQ / sub-specialty Certificate of Added Qualifications (PAs) or specialty certification (NPs) Surgical, EM, cardiology, hospital medicine, psychiatry — both PAs and NPs can add formal specialty credentials. Often required for procedure-heavy roles. | NCCPA / specialty boards | +5-15% |
- 0-1 yearsNew-grad APP / Fellowship
Newly licensed NP or PA. Many systems run formal post-graduate fellowships (EM, hospitalist, surgery, primary care) for structured onboarding.
- 1-4 yearsStaff APP
Independent clinical caseload within specialty. Builds procedural skill and patient panel.
- 4-8 yearsSenior / specialty APP
Holds specialty CAQ or sub-specialty certification. Often a clinical preceptor for new-grad APPs and physician residents.
- 8+ yearsLead APP
Oversees APP scheduling, hiring, and protocols for a service line. Partners with the medical director on quality and throughput metrics.
- 12+ yearsDirector of APPs / Chief APP
System-level leadership over the APP workforce. Owns scope-of-practice strategy, credentialing, and APP-physician collaboration models. Often holds a doctorate (DNP or DMS).
Schedule. Outpatient APPs run business hours with limited call. Hospital and ER APPs typically work 12-hour shifts including nights, weekends, and holidays. Surgical APPs may take significant first-assist call.
Physical demands. Largely moderate — clinic-based roles involve frequent standing and EHR work; procedure-heavy specialties (surgery, EM, cardiology) add patient positioning, suturing, and longer stretches on your feet.
Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are projected to be among the fastest-growing US occupations of the decade. Demand is driven by physician shortages (especially in primary care and rural areas), expanding scope-of-practice laws, and the shift of routine specialty care from physicians to APPs.
What clinicians ask about Primary Care Physician Assistant pay.
What is the average Primary Care Physician Assistant salary in 2026?
The median Primary Care Physician Assistant salary is $37.10/hr (approximately $77,168/yr) based on 50 active job postings.
What is the pay range for Primary Care Physician Assistant?
Hourly pay ranges from $34.48 at the 25th percentile to $85.95 at the 75th percentile, with the top 10% earning above $91.08/hr.
Which state pays Primary Care Physician Assistant roles the most?
Alabama currently leads with a median of $59.74/hr across 0 postings.
How many employers are hiring Primary Care Physician Assistants?
Our dataset shows 12 unique employers posting Primary Care Physician Assistant roles across 8 states.
Where does TrueRounds get Primary Care Physician Assistant salary data?
All salary figures are computed from active US healthcare job postings with listed pay ranges, collected over a rolling 180-day window and weighted by posting volume.
Explore other Advanced Practice Provider tracks.
Primary Care Physician Assistant sits inside the Physician Assistant track. Here are sibling tracks across Advanced Practice Provider — same category, different clinical focus and pay envelope.
Active US healthcare postings. Weighted by volume. Refreshed daily.
Pay benchmarks are computed from active job postings with listed pay ranges, collected on a rolling 180-day window. Each role's percentiles are weighted by posting volume so a metro with two postings doesn't outweigh a metro with two hundred. Outliers (postings priced more than 4× the role median) are dropped to avoid contract-line distortion.
Use the data, then push back.
Bring these numbers into your next contract conversation. Recruiters know what the market pays — now you do too.