Physician Assistant.
Philadelphia.
$139,000
median salary, 5% above the national average
$119,000 to $167,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Physician Assistant pay in Philadelphia ranges from $119,000 to $167,000 in 2026. The median is $139,000, 5% above the national average. Philadelphia combines a robust healthcare and life sciences sector with established finance and higher education institutions. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Physician Assistant in Philadelphia, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $135,640 for Physician Assistants (SOC 29-1071) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, based on 3,390 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$103,720
25th percentile
$123,870
Median
$135,640
75th percentile
$157,050
90th percentile
$170,140
Workers surveyed
3,390
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Physician Assistants (SOC 29-1071) rather than Physician Assistant specifically. The Philadelphia range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 29-1071Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $125,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$90,000
to $111,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$118,000
to $146,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$153,000
to $181,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$174,000
to $215,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $37,000 to the total package.
Base
$139,000
Equity
$21,000
Bonus
$13,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $176,000
How Philadelphia compares.
Philadelphia, PA
$139,000
Cost of living: 9% above average
National Average
$133,000
Philadelphia is $6,000 above
Physician Assistant salary by city.
Salary by role in Philadelphia.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate a Physician Assistant offer in Philadelphia, understand the terrain. Philadelphia combines a robust healthcare and life sciences sector with established finance and higher education institutions. The city's pharmaceutical corridor is among the strongest in the country. Tech growth has accelerated, particularly in health tech and enterprise software, offering salaries that stretch further than in nearby New York. Surgical subspecialties and emergency medicine pay the highest PA salaries, often 20 to 30% above primary care. Geographic location matters significantly, with rural and underserved areas offering premium pay to attract talent. Experience in procedural skills and first-assist certification further boost compensation.
Entry-level PAs earn $95,000 to $105,000 in their first role. Mid-career PAs with specialty experience reach $120,000 to $135,000. Senior PAs in surgical specialties or leadership positions can command $145,000 to $165,000 with additional administrative responsibilities. In Philadelphia, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. PAs commonly receive productivity bonuses, CME allowances of $2,000 to $5,000 annually, malpractice insurance, and relocation assistance. Hospital systems often add shift differentials for nights, weekends, and call coverage. And on the tax side: pennsylvania has a flat 3.07% state income tax, but Philadelphia adds a 3.75% city wage tax for residents. This combined local burden is worth factoring into salary negotiations. When someone quotes you $139,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Account for the Philadelphia wage tax in your ask. Request a 5 to 8% premium over suburban offers to offset the city's local tax on all earned income. The range for Physician Assistants in Philadelphia runs from $119,000 to $167,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An ML Engineer in Philadelphia earns $141,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in Philadelphia is CTO at $314,000
Common questions.
Physician Assistant salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Philadelphia.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Physician Assistants in Philadelphia.
Related tools.
Do you work as a physician assistant in Philadelphia?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Physician Assistant Salary in Philadelphia, PA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/physician-assistant/philadelphia
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools