2020 AAPA Salary Report Shows Uptick in 2019 PA Salaries, Compensation

New Digital Salary Option Offers Customizable Search to Inform PA Career Decisions

August 3, 2020

2020 Salary Report coverThe 2020 AAPA Salary Report, released today, shows that 2019 salary and compensation numbers for the PA profession continued their upward trend last year. The survey includes PA-reported data covering 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The median annual salary for full-time U.S. PAs rose from $106,000 in 2018 to $110,000 in 2019.

Compensation, which includes base salary, hourly wages, or some form of productivity pay, is also measured by AAPA’s survey. In 2019, median compensation across the profession increased to $111,000 from a median of $107,500 in 2018.

This year, AAPA has launched a new Digital Salary Report, allowing PAs to input information about their practice to obtain custom compensation data for their specific situation. With actual and cost-of-living adjusted compensation, as well as cross-state and specialty comparisons, PAs can make informed decisions before moving – in their careers or across the country.

“In the midst of COVID-19, many PAs are facing challenges such as furloughs and significant changes within their workplaces,” said AAPA President and Chair of the Board Beth R. Smolko, DMSc, MMS, PA-C. “The increase in PA base salary and compensation in 2019 underscores how valuable PAs are in today’s healthcare workforce – which has become even more evident during this time of increased need for access to healthcare providers. The AAPA Salary Report and the new, customizable digital version will be a valuable resource for PAs as they navigate the ever-evolving healthcare space.”

Access the 2020 AAPA Salary Report

Other highlights from the report include:

  • PAs working part-time (less than 32 hours per week) report working a median of 24 hours weekly and report median base salaries of $85,000 and median hourly wages of $60.
  • Full-time PAs report working a median of 40 hours weekly and report a median base salary of $110,000 and median hourly wages of $62.73. Median pay among PAs who are paid based on productivity metrics was $145,000.
  • Across all compensation types, median base compensation was $111,000 in 2019.
  • About half of full-time PAs received a bonus, and half of PAs who received a bonus reported it was $5,500 or more.
  • PAs who work in emergency medicine earn more than PAs in other major specialty areas with median base compensation of $124,100 across the profession, comprising salary, hourly, and productivity paid PAs.

The AAPA Salary Report is the only PA salary resource that provides detailed information about base salary, base hourly wage, bonus, and benefits. The report provides detailed breakdowns based on experience, specialty, setting, and employer. Data for this report were collected through the 2020 AAPA Salary Survey between February 1 and March 1, 2020. The survey was open to all PAs, and 13,682 PAs responded to the survey. For more information on the methodology, please contact [email protected].

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