Physician Assistants
SOC 29-1071 · 2024-2034
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Conduct complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. May, in some cases, prescribe medication. Must graduate from an accredited educational program for physician assistants.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
The job this trains for
- Typical pay in California
- $170,287per year
- Projected openings
- 11,040
- Projected change
- +26.7%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Writing
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $185,447 | 130 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $172,560 | 610 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $171,552 | 1,050 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $171,261 | 1,000 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $169,227 | 70 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $168,149 | 130 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $167,625 | 140 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $165,461 | 80 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $164,667 | 30 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $163,599 | 210 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $162,602 | 50 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $161,024 | 3,010 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $160,661 | 30 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $158,997 | 50 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $157,805 | 740 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $157,703 | 970 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $157,300 | 1,030 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $156,377 | 80 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $154,939 | 130 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $154,744 | 300 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $154,703 | 120 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $154,467 | 40 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $153,008 | 30 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $152,402 | 70 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $151,355 | 80 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $150,512 | 60 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $150,512 | 190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $142,202 | 110 |
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| The job this trains for | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Medicine Physicians | Not reported | 1,730 | +10.9% |
| Nurse Practitioners | $173,237 | 26,610 | +52.2% |
| General Internal Medicine Physicians | $322,677 | 2,360 | +9% |
| Pediatricians, General | $220,134 | 2,350 | +7% |