Nurse Practitioners vs Physician Assistants
Physician Assistants earns $3,580 more at the middle. Every figure is US government data you can check.
| Nurse Practitioners | Physician Assistants | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay in the middle median annual wage, May 2025 | $132,300 | $135,880 |
| Pay range 10th to 90th percentile | $101,340 to $174,420 | $99,380 to $190,280 |
| Years of school you pay for our own estimate from published entry requirements, not a BLS figure | 6 | 6 |
| Typical entry education | Master's degree | Master's degree |
| Jobs opening up each year | 29,400 | 11,500 |
| Growth by 2035 | 41.0% | 21.1% |
| People doing it now | 336,300 | 168,900 |
| Where the pay is highest and lowest state medians, not adjusted for cost of living or taxes | $168,520 in California down to $105,750 in Alabama | $165,690 in New Jersey down to $104,960 in Alabama |
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Jobs that use what you already know
Same skills, same knowledge, same daily tasks. Most of these are not on this site.
Nurse Practitioners
- Registered Nurses
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Family Medicine Physicians
- Acute Care Nurses
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
What these usually take: Graduate school — a master's, or a doctorate.
Physician Assistants
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Family Medicine Physicians
- Pediatric Surgeons
- Cardiologists
- Nurse Practitioners
- Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
What these usually take: Graduate school — a master's, or a doctorate.
O*NET 30.3 Database, U.S. Department of Labor. These are jobs that use similar skills, knowledge and daily tasks. It is a measure of how alike two jobs are — not a record of people moving between them.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment and wage data, May 2025, and employment projections 2025-35. Years of school is our own estimate from published entry requirements, not a BLS figure. State medians are not adjusted for cost of living or taxes, and that difference could be large either way. No advice, just data.