BLS MSA DATA · SOC 29-1071 · 3,890 MSA WORKERS · CA LICENSED
Physician Assistant Salary in Los Angeles, CA 2026, $161,890 Median | BLS + Market Data
PA pay across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro, where surgical and emergency roles at integrated systems sit far above a large safety-net and community-clinic base.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Karen Osei, RN, BSN, Clinical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
Los Angeles Median
$161,890
$77.83/hr BLS
P75
$204,970
$98.54/hr
Sector Peak
$220,580
Metro P90
BLS Workers
3,890
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA
vs CA Median
−$3,760
−2.3% below CA
Direct Answer
How much do physician assistants make in Los Angeles, CA in 2026?
Los Angeles physician assistants earn a BLS MSA median of $161,890/yr ($77.83/hr), 19.1% above the US figure and 2.3% below the California statewide median. The band is wide — $99,570 to $220,580 — because the metro's safety-net and community clinic sector sits well below its integrated-system surgical and emergency roles. PAs are notably scarce here relative to population, with a location quotient of 0.60. → Full physician assistant career guide, career path, CA licence, and Los Angeles job placement →
Key takeaways
Los Angeles physician assistants earn a BLS MSA median of $161,890/yr ($77.83/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1071, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA), with a metro P10–P90 range of $99,570 to $220,580.
LA PAs earn 19.1% above the US figure, with a published band stretching from $99,570 to $220,580.
A location quotient of 0.60 shows PAs are unusually scarce here relative to population, which supports the rate at the specialty end.
California's income tax absorbs a substantial part of the nominal premium at this pay level.
Los Angeles Physician Assistant Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Los Angeles Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do Los Angeles physician assistants earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended metro wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute this MSA's own published percentile range across the tiers Los Angeles employers actually hire at.
Level
MSA Median (BLS percentile-aligned)
New-graduate PA-C, first year
$99,570
Licensed PA-C, ambulatory or primary care
$161,890
Emergency medicine or inpatient specialty PA
$204,970
Surgical specialty PA with first-assist role
$220,580
Level medians are aligned to this metro's own published BLS OEWS May 2025 percentiles for SOC 29-1071; BLS does not publish a wage by credential level. GlobalCybers holds no verified placement sample for Los Angeles physician assistants, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1071, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA. No verified placement data: GlobalCybers has no placement sample for Los Angeles physician assistants, so every figure on this page is a published BLS estimate and no verified median is claimed. MSA sample size: an OEWS metro cell is drawn from a much smaller establishment sample than the statewide cell, so metro medians carry wider uncertainty and move more between releases. Where BLS suppresses or top-codes the metro wage for this occupation, this page reports the national figure and says so rather than asserting a Los Angeles median. Employer names mentioned on this page (e.g. in sector or FAQ copy) are illustrative examples of who hires in each market, not a claim of partnership. Full statewide methodology → · Full site methodology & data sources →
Full Data
How much do physician assistants make in Los Angeles CA in 2026?
Metric
Value
Source
BLS MSA Median (Annual)
$161,890
BLS OEWS May 2025
BLS Median Hourly
$77.83/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
P10 (Bottom 10%)
$99,570/yr · $47.87/hr
BLS OEWS
P25
$134,550/yr · $64.69/hr
BLS OEWS
P75
$204,970/yr · $98.54/hr
BLS OEWS
P90 (Top 10%)
$220,580/yr · $106.05/hr
BLS OEWS
vs California Median
−$3,760 (−2.3%)
vs $165,650 CA
vs National Median
+$26,010 (+19.1%)
vs $135,880 US
California State Income Tax
9.3%
California Tax Code
Licensing Authority
CA (Physician Assistant Board, Department of Consumer Affairs)
State board
Reading this page's sources:BLS OEWS is the official published wage, sampled 1–2 years back. Market intelligence rows are directional signals from recruiter conversations and industry sources, not independently verified — treat them as a range, not a benchmark.
Los Angeles Sectors
Which Los Angeles sector pays physician assistants the most?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for physician assistants across the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro and does not break it out by industry. The sectors below are ranked in the order Los Angeles employers actually pay, with each row anchored to this metro's own published percentile ladder (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1071).
Sector
MSA Median
Notes
Surgical specialty and first-assist PAs
$220,580
Cardiothoracic, orthopaedic and neurosurgical PAs at the metro's integrated and academic systems reach the $220,580 top of the published band.
Emergency medicine and inpatient specialty
$204,970
Emergency department and inpatient specialty PAs sit around the $204,970 P75, with differentials and call adding on.
System-employed ambulatory and primary care
$161,890
The typical LA physician assistant in an employed ambulatory role sits at the $161,890 metro median.
Community clinics, FQHCs and new-graduate roles
$134,550
County facilities, federally qualified health centres and first-year PA posts sit near the $134,550 P25, which is where much of the metro's safety-net staffing sits.
Real Take-Home
What is the actual take-home pay for a Los Angeles physician assistant?
Real Los Angeles scenarios, line by line. California's progressive income tax reaches its upper-middle brackets at the $161,890 metro median, making state withholding an LA physician assistant's second-largest deduction. Comparing an LA offer with one in a no-tax state on gross alone materially overstates the difference in what actually arrives.
Estimates only. Pre-tax deductions (401k, health premium) reduce taxable income further. Consult a tax professional.
Los Angeles Physician Assistant Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
How much do physician assistants make in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles physician assistants earn a BLS MSA median of $161,890/yr, or $77.83/hr, with a published metro range of $99,570 to $220,580. That is 19.1% above the US figure. Specialty rather than seniority drives position in that band: surgical and emergency roles occupy the top, safety-net and community clinics the bottom.
Do physician assistants earn more in Los Angeles than elsewhere in California?
No — Los Angeles sits 2.3% below the California statewide median, which Bay Area pay lifts. LA still pays well above the national figure; it simply is not the top of its own state.
Which Los Angeles PA specialties pay the most?
Surgical specialties with first-assist responsibilities top the published band near $220,580. Emergency medicine and inpatient specialty roles sit around $204,970 before differentials. Ambulatory primary care sits at the metro median, and the safety-net sector anchors the lower quartile around $134,550.
What licence do Los Angeles physician assistants need?
A California physician assistant licence from the Physician Assistant Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs, plus NCCPA certification. California requires a practice agreement with a supervising physician defining scope, and separate authority arrangements for furnishing medication.
Is Los Angeles a strong market for PAs?
The pay is strong and PAs are scarce here relative to population, so demand is real. The catch is dispersion: the difference between a community-clinic role and a surgical specialty role in this metro is more than 60%, so which service you enter matters far more than how long you stay.
Why LA pays PAs well but below its own state
Southern California's integrated systems pay strongly for surgical and emergency PAs, and the profession is thinly staffed relative to population, both of which support the rate. What holds the metro under the California median is its large county and federally qualified safety-net sector, which employs PAs at rates near the bottom of the published band — a segment proportionally smaller in the Bay Area.
What this figure does not capture
First-assist fees, call pay and shift differentials are excluded, and for a surgical or emergency PA in this market those are a routine part of income rather than an occasional addition. The estimate also blends every specialty and spans a metro from central Los Angeles to Anaheim.
The practice-agreement mechanic
California PAs work under a practice agreement with a supervising physician that sets out permitted procedures and furnishing authority. The breadth of that agreement determines whether a PA can take first-assist and procedural work, which is the single largest determinant of where they land in this band. Negotiating scope at hire is therefore worth more than negotiating base pay for an LA PA planning a surgical career.
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Outlook & openings: Physician assistant employment is projected to grow 20.4% nationally over 2024–2034; scaled to the Los Angeles metro's share of national employment that is roughly 290 openings a year, a pro-rated figure derived from the national EP total rather than an LA-specific projection. (2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34, pro-rated to the metro)
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