PA specialties and salary
PAs work across medicine, and many change specialties. In NCCPA's 2025 profile of board-certified PAs, surgical subspecialties were the largest single specialty category (18.3%), followed by family medicine/general practice (15.9%) and emergency medicine (10.4%). Counted together, primary care was larger, at 21.4%. More than half of clinically practicing PAs who answered (52.7%) said they had changed specialties at least once. Mean income was $134,010 (median $125,000).
Where PAs practice (2025)
| Practice area | Share of clinically practicing PAs |
|---|---|
| Surgical subspecialties (led by orthopaedic, cardiothoracic/vascular and neurosurgery) | 18.3% (largest single category) |
| Family medicine/general practice | 15.9% |
| Emergency medicine | 10.4% |
| Dermatology | 4.6% |
| Critical care medicine | 2.1% |
NCCPA says 21.4% of PAs practiced in primary care in 2025 (family medicine/general practice, general internal medicine and general pediatrics). That makes primary care, counted together, the leading practice area.
Pay
- Mean income: $134,010 in 2025 (median $125,000), up from a mean of $95,602 in 2013, according to NCCPA. These are self-reported incomes from PA positions, not adjusted for inflation.
- Highest average incomes: NCCPA lists cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, dermatology, critical care medicine, ophthalmic surgery and neurosurgery as the specialties with the highest average income.
- Government data: BLS reports a May 2025 median of $135,880 for PAs. NCCPA's figure is self-reported income from PA positions; BLS's is a wage estimate from employer data, so the two aren't directly comparable. See PA vs. NP for how PA pay compares.
Income varies with specialty, location, setting and experience. These are profession-wide figures. PAs in their first year earned less: a median of $115,000 (mean $113,238), according to NCCPA.
Changing specialties
- 52.7% of clinically practicing PAs who answered reported changing specialties at least once, and 14.3% said they were considering a change in the next year.
- Among PAs who changed, the median time to feel proficient in the new area was six months (mean 8.5 months).
- About 5.8% of PAs have finished a postgraduate program, most often in emergency medicine, general surgery and surgical subspecialties.
What this means before PA school
You don't pick a specialty when you apply. PA programs train generalists across the areas ARC-PA requires (see what PA school is like), and in PAEA's 2022 survey of entering PA students, "ability to change specialties" was the most-cited reason for choosing PA over another health profession. Only students who had applied to or seriously considered another profession were asked, and 37.3% of all respondents chose it.
Related guides
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What is the most common PA specialty?
In NCCPA's 2025 profile, surgical subspecialties were the largest single specialty category (18.3% of clinically practicing PAs), followed by family medicine/general practice (15.9%) and emergency medicine (10.4%). Counted together, primary care (family medicine, general internal medicine and general pediatrics) was larger, at 21.4%.
How much do PAs make?
NCCPA reports a mean income of $134,010 (median $125,000) for board-certified PAs in 2025, based on self-reported income from PA positions. BLS reports a May 2025 median wage of $135,880, based on employer wage data, so the two figures aren't directly comparable. Pay varies with specialty, location and experience, and NCCPA reports a lower median of $115,000 for PAs in their first year of practice.
Can PAs change specialties?
Yes. In NCCPA's 2025 profile, 52.7% of clinically practicing PAs who answered said they had changed specialties at least once. Among those who changed, the median time to feel proficient in the new area was six months.
Sources (all opened October 2026)
- NCCPA: 2025 Statistical Profile of Board Certified PAs (published May 2026): https://www.nccpa.net/wp-content/uploads/documents/2025-Statistical-Profile-of-Board-Certified-PAs.pdf
- NCCPA: PAs continue to grow, adapt and move across specialties (May 13, 2026): https://www.nccpa.net/2025-statistical-profile-of-board-certified-pas-report
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Physician Assistants (Occupational Outlook Handbook): https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm
- PAEA Student Report 6 (2022 Matriculating Student and End of Program Surveys): https://paeaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FINAL_student-report-6-2025-01-13.pdf