The prospect of getting a job as a physician assistant in Ohio is considered so promising that the state’s Department of Job and Family Services rated it as the 10th fastest growing occupation in the state. This agency projected a 31.8% increase in the number of jobs for physician assistants between 2012 and 2022.
The demand for physician assistants is increasing at a rapid rate due to the increase in the number of people with insurance, the aging of the population, and insurance company preferences for the high-quality lower cost care that physician assistants provide.
The Cleveland Clinic provides an example of the dramatic increase in the number of physician assistants in a New York Times article from 2014. The clinic employed 400 physician assistants at that time and had openings for 30 more. In contrast, only about 50 physician assistants were employed there ten years ago.
Physician assistants are critical when it comes to increasing access to care. Increasing the number of PAs in practice should help to alleviate the shortage of primary care providers in the state. Still, the state has a long way to go, as the Health Policy Institute of Ohio ranked the state 47th in the country in terms of access to affordable healthcare in 2014.
The Salaries of Ohio’s Physician Assistants Vary By Location
Physician assistants in Ohio earned a median salary of $99,166 as of 2015 according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The median salary of physician assistants in Ohio varied greatly depending on their location, with the highest median salary found in Toledo (2015):
Major Metropolitan Areas
- Akron: $82,081
- Canton-Massillon: $105,534
- Cincinnati: $92,687
- Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor: $106,396
- Columbus: $96,875
- Dayton: $106,558
- Huntington: $94,887
- Lima: $96,297
- Parkersburg: $90,831
- Steubenville-Weirton: $67,500
- Toledo: $109,194
- Wheeling: $85,571
- Youngstown: $94,958
Nonmetropolitan Areas
- West Northwestern Ohio: $83,632
- Eastern Ohio: $94,198
- Southern Ohio: $91,308
Regions
- Southwest Ohio: $92,265
- Northeast Ohio: $102,083
- Central Ohio: $97,017
- West Ohio: $105,602
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a high level of detail on the salaries of physician assistants in Ohio. Experienced physician assistants in Canton-Massillon (representing the 90th percentile) earned the highest average salary statewide: