Connecting PAs with Premier Healthcare Careers in the Keystone State. This page is maintained by Blake Moser, founder of Advanced Practice Recruiters in Tyler, Texas. APR places physician assistants exclusively — surgical, primary care, hospitalist, EM, dermatology, orthopedic, and procedural specialties. Below is what you need to evaluate the Pennsylvania PA market: salary ranges, the supervision framework, where active hiring is concentrated, and how the search actually runs.
Pennsylvania has a distinguished history with the physician assistant profession — the first PA program in the United States was established at Duke University, and Pennsylvania has long been home to leading PA programs and progressive PA-positive healthcare systems. The state offers physician assistants access to two major healthcare markets in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, each with world-class medical institutions.
Philadelphia's Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Temple Health, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provide PA opportunities at an exceptional academic medicine level. Pittsburgh's UPMC — one of the largest integrated health systems in the nation — employs thousands of healthcare providers including a large PA workforce across its extensive network.
Pennsylvania has a collaborative practice model that, while requiring supervision, provides PAs working at major institutions with highly professional and autonomous clinical environments. The state's rich history, cultural amenities, sports culture, and relative affordability compared to New York and the major Northeast cities make it an attractive destination for PA professionals building long-term careers.
PA base salaries in our Pennsylvania searches cluster around $128K, with most offers landing between $110K and $155K. Total compensation typically runs 10–25% above base once productivity bonuses, call pay, sign-on, relocation, CME, malpractice, and retirement match are included. Cost of living in Pennsylvania sits near national average — material for translating an offer into actual purchasing power.
The factors that move offers most: subspecialty (surgical first-assist, neurosurgery, cardiovascular, EM, dermatology, and orthopedic spine/sports run at the top end), post-certification experience, the supervision model described below, urban-versus-rural placement, employer model (academic system, private group, hospital employment, FQHC, telehealth), wRVU structure, call frequency, and any NCCPA Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ).
Reference data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Physician Assistants (OOH) publishes the national mean wage and Pennsylvania state-area estimates; AAPA Compensation Resources and the NCCPA Statistical Profile track specialty and credentialing breakdowns.
Supervision model: Required Supervision. Pennsylvania requires direct physician supervision for physician assistants. PAs must maintain a written supervision agreement, may face a ratio cap per supervising physician, and may have additional limits on prescribing Schedule II–V controlled substances or signing certain orders. The hiring conversation usually centers on supervisor bandwidth, ratio room, and which procedures need cosignature.
Pennsylvania PAs are licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. A supervision agreement with a licensed Pennsylvania physician is required. PAs can prescribe medications including controlled substances within their supervision agreement. NCCPA certification must be maintained for licensure. Pennsylvania has long valued PAs and has a well-established regulatory framework.
The metros and regions where we are most often opening PA searches:
Recurring employer relationships in Pennsylvania include UPMC, Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Geisinger Health, WellSpan Health, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, plus a long tail of regional health systems, surgical and dermatology groups, orthopedic private practices, urgent-care networks, FQHCs, and telehealth platforms credentialed in Pennsylvania. Procedural and surgical PA roles tend to pay above the state average; rural and Critical Access roles often carry a sign-on or geographic premium.
Every search opens with a 20-minute call to nail down the role: scope, NCCPA certification + any CAQ, procedural case mix, supervision arrangement under Pennsylvania law, geographic flexibility within the state, and the realistic compensation envelope. From there we work the active and passive PA pool — verifying PA-C status with NCCPA, Pennsylvania licensure (or licensure-eligibility), DEA, malpractice history, and recent procedural logs for surgical or interventional roles — and present a screened shortlist within a few business days.
The engagement is contingent — no upfront fee and no exclusivity required. Permanent placements carry a written replacement guarantee covering the initial employment period; if the placed PA leaves inside the guarantee window we re-run the search at no additional fee.
Demand pressure in Pennsylvania is currently very high. Nationally, the BLS projects physician assistant employment to grow roughly 28% between 2023 and 2033 — far above the average for all occupations. Pennsylvania is the home state of the physician assistant profession and offers PAs access to two world-class healthcare markets in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with UPMC and Penn Medicine, among the nation's most respected health systems.
Physician assistants in Pennsylvania earn an average salary of approximately $128,000 per year, with ranges between $110,000 and $155,000. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh positions at academic medical centers and major health systems offer the most competitive compensation. Pennsylvania's cost of living is near the national average, with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh significantly more affordable than New York City or Boston.
To practice in Pennsylvania, PAs must hold NCCPA certification, obtain a license from the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine, and establish a supervision agreement with a licensed Pennsylvania physician. The supervision agreement must specify the physician's availability and the PA's scope of practice. DEA registration is required for controlled substance prescribing. Pennsylvania has a well-developed PA regulatory system with a long history of PA utilization.
UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) is one of the nation's largest and most respected integrated health systems, employing thousands of healthcare providers across its Pittsburgh-based campuses and statewide network. UPMC's academic affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine ensures a highly professional, research-oriented environment. PAs at UPMC work across virtually every specialty and subspecialty with access to some of the most complex cases in the region.
Philadelphia has one of the most concentrated collections of academic medical centers of any US city. Penn Medicine's Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital, Jefferson Health, Temple University Hospital, and Drexel Medicine all employ large numbers of PAs. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is one of the nation's premier pediatric hospitals and a significant PA employer. The Philadelphia market also has strong community health center and suburban healthcare PA demand.
Reach Blake Moser at Advanced Practice Recruiters: 469-457-4570 or blake@advancedpracticerecruiters.com. Most inquiries get a same-business-day reply.
Related: PA recruiting (national) · 2026 PA Salary Guide · PA supervision by state · NP recruiters in Pennsylvania