Physician Assistant Salary in Florida 2026, $129,620 Median | BLS Data by City
Florida's physician assistant market is shaped by two things you will not find together in many states: an enormous elderly patient population that generates specialty and procedural volume, and a supervision framework that has loosened enough to let PAs staff far more settings than they could a few years ago.
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 →
FL Median
$129,620
$62.32/hr
vs National
−$6,260
4.6% below US median
FL P90
$181,610
$87.31/hr · top earners
FL Job Growth
+20.4%
2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34
🤑Florida levies no state income tax, and at a physician assistant's income that is worth a substantial sum every year against California, New York or Oregon. It is the reason Florida's below-median gross figure understates the state's real position: a PA here at $129,620 takes home comparably to one earning noticeably more in a high-tax state. Florida's countervailing costs are property insurance and coastal housing, which have risen faster than wages in exactly the markets at the top of the metro table.
Direct Answer
How much do physician assistants make in Florida in 2026?
Florida physician assistants earn a median $129,620 a year, or $62.32 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, 4.6% below the national median of $135,880 — though with no state income tax withheld, Florida take-home compares well against higher-paying states. The range runs $98,530 to $181,610, and specialty rather than seniority determines placement within it. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota pays the most at $142,510, ahead of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach at $132,360 and Jacksonville at $132,350. → Full physician assistant career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $129,620 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
Key takeaways
Florida physician assistants earn a median $129,620/yr ($62.32/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1071), 4.6% below the $135,880 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $98,530 to $181,610.
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota at $142,510 leads by about ten thousand dollars over the big metros, which is the retiree-market pattern: dense specialty and procedural volume in a market that is not oversupplied with clinicians.
The gap between the state 25th percentile of $111,360 and the 75th of $156,920 is a specialty gap — orthopaedics, dermatology, surgery and emergency medicine at the top, primary care at the bottom.
Florida withholds no state income tax, which more than offsets the state's small gross shortfall against the national median for most PAs.
Florida Physician Assistant Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
$98,530
P10
$111,360
P25
$129,620
Median
$156,920
P75
$181,610
P90
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the Florida physician assistant pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1071, Florida statewide estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them. OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation in Florida; it does not break pay out by credential or licence level.
Pay by level: the level and career-stage tables on this page distribute Florida's own published BLS pay range across the tiers employers actually hire at. They are GlobalCybers estimates aligned to published percentiles, not separate BLS publications.
Placement sample: GlobalCybers holds no Florida placement sample for this occupation, so this page shows published and percentile-aligned figures only — no placement-based median is claimed anywhere on it.
How to become a licensed physician assistant in Florida, step by step
1
Graduate from an accredited PA programme
Complete an ARC-PA accredited master's-level PA programme with its supervised clinical rotations.
2
Pass the PANCE and licence with the Board of Medicine
Sit the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination and apply for licensure to the Florida Board of Medicine, registering the supervising physician relationship.
3
Move into a procedural or surgical specialty
Take an orthopaedics, dermatology, surgical or emergency medicine post rather than general primary care — the step toward the state 75th percentile of $156,920.
4
Take a lead role or high-volume locum work
Move into lead PA practice, high-volume procedural work, or locum contracts covering Florida's seasonal demand, which is where the state 90th percentile of $181,610 sits.
FBOM License Levels
How much do the physician assistant credential levels pay in Florida?
Florida licenses issued by FBOM (Florida Board of Medicine, Department of Health), which licenses physician assistants and registers their supervising physicians in Florida. Each level's median pay in Florida markets.
FBOM License
FL Pay Range
FL Median
Key Note
New graduate PA
$91K–$111K
$98,530
Around the state 10th percentile. First year post-certification in primary care, urgent care or hospital medicine with structured supervision.
Practising PA, general specialty
$111K–$157K
$129,620
The Florida median. Three to seven years in family medicine, internal medicine, urgent care or hospital medicine, carrying an independent patient load.
Surgical, procedural or dermatology PA
$149K–$182K
$156,920
The state 75th percentile. Orthopaedics, dermatology, surgery and emergency medicine — the specialties that pay a clear premium in Florida's retiree markets.
Lead PA, high-volume procedural or locum practice
$174K–$222K
$181,610
The state 90th percentile. Lead PAs, high-volume procedural practice, and locum contracts covering Florida's seasonal patient swings.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a Florida physician assistant's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for an FL physician assistant typically adds the following on top.
Florida physician assistants earn a median $129,620 a year, $62.32 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, slightly below the national figure but with no state income tax withheld. The middle half earns between $111,360 and $156,920, and the full range is $98,530 to $181,610. Specialty choice explains most of that spread.
Which Florida city pays physician assistants the most?
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota leads at $142,510, then Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach at $132,360, Jacksonville at $132,350, Naples-Marco Island at $132,310 and Wildwood-The Villages at $131,710. The retiree-dense Gulf coast and central Florida markets dominate, which reflects where the specialty and procedural volume is.
How do I get a Florida PA licence?
Graduate from an ARC-PA accredited PA programme, pass the PANCE, and apply to the Florida Board of Medicine within the Department of Health. Florida requires the supervising physician relationship to be registered, and recent reforms have widened what PAs may do without direct supervision, including in primary care settings.
Which Florida PA specialties pay the most?
Orthopaedics, dermatology, surgical subspecialties and emergency medicine, all of which are unusually well represented in Florida because of its patient demographics. Family medicine, internal medicine and paediatrics sit at the lower end. The spread between them is roughly the spread between the state 25th and 75th percentiles.
How does Florida compare with nearby states?
Michigan at $131,510, Maine at $131,170, North Carolina at $129,360, Louisiana at $128,870 and West Virginia at $128,610 all sit within about three thousand dollars of Florida. Florida's advantage over that group is the absence of a state income tax; its disadvantage is housing and insurance cost in the coastal markets that pay best.
Why does a retiree market pay physician assistants more?
Because it changes the case mix. An older population produces far more orthopaedic, dermatological, cardiological and ophthalmological volume per capita, and those are exactly the specialties that pay PAs a premium. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota and Wildwood-The Villages are not wealthy labour markets in general — they are markets where the specific clinical work that pays PAs well is concentrated.
What did Florida's supervision reforms change?
They widened the settings a PA can staff. Florida moved away from the most restrictive elements of physician supervision, allowing PAs greater autonomy in primary care and reducing some administrative constraints on prescribing and practice. The economic effect is more posts rather than a step change in rates — which is consistent with a median that has not pulled ahead of the national figure.
Should a PA choose Florida over a higher-paying state?
It depends on specialty and on housing. On take-home a Florida PA in a procedural specialty does very well, particularly against California and New York. On gross the state is below the national median, and the coastal markets with the best clinical opportunities are the ones where insurance and housing costs have risen fastest. Run both sides before treating the tax advantage as free money.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects 20.4% national growth for physician assistants through 2034, and Florida's share of national employment works out to roughly 690 openings a year, pro-rated from the national average annual openings figure. Florida's demand is driven by its elderly population and by the specialty and procedural practices that serve it — orthopaedics, dermatology, cardiology and ophthalmology all staff heavily with PAs here, more so than in younger states.
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