According to the United States Department of Labor, physician assistants were among Kentucky’s 50 highest-paid professionals in 2014. Physician assistants working statewide earned an average annual salary of $96,260 and an average hourly wage of $46.28.
Physician assistants in Kentucky typically make between $77,500 and $129,300 annually. This more than $50,000 salary difference is primarily due to varying degrees of experience within the physician assistant community.
In 2014, the United States Department of Labor reported that entry-level physician assistants in Kentucky earned an average annual salary of $77,500 and an average hourly wage $37.26, while median salary-earners netted n average annual salary closer to $92,600 and an average hourly wage of $44.51. Local employers paid the most experienced physician assistants in the state an average salary of $129,300 annually.
Employment Trends for Physician Assistants in Kentucky
In Kentucky, the field of physician assisting is also experiencing rapid employment growth. The United States Department of Labor expects that the number of physician assistants practicing in Kentucky will sharply escalate from 820 in 2012 to 1,190 by 2022. This indicates a 45% positive growth change, which is 7% faster than the national growth rate for the occupation. As a result, aspiring physician assistants in Kentucky can anticipate approximately 50 annual jobs openings through 2022.
Job opportunities may be especially prevalent in the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH metropolitan division. This area held the sixth highest concentration of physician assistants compared to all other metropolitan areas in the country in 2014. Physician assistants working here during that year earned an average annual salary of $93,800 and an average hourly wage of $45.10.
Kentucky employers that posted online job advertisements for physician assistants on job aggregation sites in September 2015 included:
- Pain Management Medicine
- University of Kentucky
- Owensboro Health
- Baptist Healthcare System
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Clark Regional Medical Center
- Catholic Health Initiatives
- Medical Center at Bowling Green
Physician Assistant Salaries by Region in Kentucky
In 2014, the United States Department of Labor released occupational wage statistics showing that physician assistant salaries often differed considerably according to location.
For instance, physician assistants working in the Lexington-Fayette County metropolitan area received an average annual salary of $106,040. Meanwhile, those employed in the East nonmetropolitan region of the state collected a noticeably lower average annual salary of $78,430. More regional salary averages are as follows:
- Louisville-Jefferson County: $95,440
- Owensboro: $104,730
- West nonmetropolitan area: $105,040
- South Central nonmetropolitan area: $94,790
- West Central nonmetropolitan area: $84,710
The data table below provides a deeper insight into physician assistant salaries in these regions (US Department of Labor, 2014):