Physician assistants in New Hampshire earned the third highest average salary in the country in 2014 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the nonmetropolitan area of Nrothern New Hampshire was the third highest paying rural area in the country for physician assistants.
Factors Contributing to the Growing Demand for PAs in New Hampshire
Even as the demand for physician assistants explodes nationally, job growth in New Hampshire is expected to be particularly high. The New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau considers the job prospects for physician assistants to be “very favorable,” and expects the number of PAs in the state to increase by 36.5% between 2012 and 2022.
New Hampshire experienced the third greatest increase in the number of physician assistants in the country between 1980 and 2007 according to a research article published in Human Resources for Health in 2009. The researchers also found that New Hampshire had the highest ratio of physician assistants to residents in the country.
A combination of factors appears to account for the large number of physician assistants in New Hampshire. The state has uninsured patient rates below the national average, and physician assistants in New Hampshire have relatively flexible supervision requirements. For instance, a physician is not required to be physically present when a physician assistant is practicing, as long as they maintain communications by phone or email.
The New Hampshire Society of Physician Assistants advocates to further improve the profession in the state. This society was influential in getting HB 1280 passed in 2015, a piece of legislation that enables physician assistants to authorize disability placards and plates.
Physician Assistant Salaries in New Hampshire by Location
Physician assistants in New Hampshire earned a median salary that was $10,177 higher than the national median for PAs reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2014. The median salary among physician assistants in the state was $105,997 according to the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.
The BLS provides a detailed analysis of PA salaries for the major metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of New Hampshire as of 2014: