Doctors aren’t enough. There never were.
As the physician shortage bites harder, physician assistants (PAs) are filling the void. And getting paid for it. Average compensation hit $140,000.
New data from the American Academy of Physician Associates shows median pay rose 4.5%. Up from $134k last year. More than half of PAs took home a bonus too, with $6,000 being the typical median.
The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistans tells a similar story, though their numbers are slightly lower. Mean income landed at $134,01n2 in 2025. Compare that to $95,602 in 2013? That is not inflation. That is demand.
The workforce is exploding. 5.9% growth in a single year. We are now staring down 201,031 certified PAs.
“Their flexibility to practice across specialties… is a powerful strength that supports improved access to care throughout the country.”
– Dawn Morton-Rias, NCCPA President
Why? Because primary care is on fire. The Association of American Medical Collegss predicts we could lose up to 80,600 physicians by 2030. Maybe 124,000 depending on which report you trust.
States are panicking. Or adapting. Hard to tell. Either way, they are handing PAs more authority. Prescribing power. Diagnostics. Less hand-holding from supervising physicians.
Todd Pickard of the AAPA calls it essential. He says PAs meet patient needs. He probably isn’t wrong.
It isn’t exactly an entry-level gig. You need a master’s degree, usually 27 to 30 months of school. Plus three years of healthcare training before that. Then the national exam. Then state licensing.
They work everywhere. ERs. Surgery centers. Urgent care clinics.
Yet the primary care roots are fraying. Only 21.4% of PAs stay in primary care. Surgery is taking over at 18.3%. The money follows the trauma bays, it seems.
Is the pipeline wide enough to fix the healthcare crisis? Maybe. The checks are getting fatter. The titles are getting broader. The patients are still waiting.
We’ll see if the next batch of grads can keep up. Or if this is just another stopgap that feels permanent for a moment.
