By VitalPost Editorial · August 22, 2026
CT surgery has topped PA compensation surveys for years. The state PA baseline, plus the first-assist and call dynamics that create the CT premium.
Ask which PA specialty pays the most and cardiothoracic surgery is the perennial answer in professional compensation surveys. CT surgical PAs harvest vessels, first-assist through long pump cases, run ICU care postoperatively, and take call for some of the sickest patients in the hospital — a skill set that takes years to build and that programs compete hard to keep.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program (May 2025), physician assistants in the United States earn an annual mean wage of $141,280 and an annual median wage of $135,880. The median is the midpoint — half earn more, half earn less — and it is usually the safer "typical" reference because the mean gets pulled around by the highest earners.
An honest note on the data: BLS publishes PA wages by state for the profession as a whole — not by specialty. The table below is the profession-wide baseline from the May 2025 federal survey. Cardiothoracic surgery roles generally sit above that baseline for the reasons covered here, but for specialty-specific dollar figures, consult the professional-association surveys linked in the references; we don't invent numbers the federal data doesn't contain.
| Rank | State | Annual mean wage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $169,110 |
| 2 | Washington | $164,430 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $162,100 |
| 4 | Oregon | $155,300 |
| 5 | New York | $155,150 |
| 6 | Vermont | $152,520 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | $150,150 |
| 8 | Alaska | $148,080 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $147,630 |
| 10 | Connecticut | $146,930 |
| 11 | Hawaii | $146,780 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | $146,630 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $146,480 |
| 14 | District of Columbia | $146,230 |
| 15 | Indiana | $144,260 |
| 16 | Delaware | $143,840 |
| 17 | Virginia | $142,630 |
| 18 | Arizona | $140,850 |
| 19 | Montana | $140,800 |
| 20 | Iowa | $139,870 |
| 21 | Maryland | $139,740 |
| 22 | Colorado | $139,580 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | $138,700 |
| 24 | Missouri | $137,710 |
| 25 | Wyoming | $137,320 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $136,750 |
| 27 | Ohio | $136,560 |
| 28 | Texas | $135,850 |
| 29 | Nevada | $135,790 |
| 30 | Maine | $134,690 |
| 31 | New Mexico | $134,670 |
| 32 | Florida | $134,470 |
| 33 | Nebraska | $132,810 |
| 34 | Idaho | $132,540 |
| 35 | Utah | $132,530 |
| 36 | Michigan | $132,140 |
| 37 | South Dakota | $131,910 |
| 38 | Illinois | $131,880 |
| 39 | North Dakota | $130,930 |
| 40 | Louisiana | $130,290 |
| 41 | North Carolina | $130,030 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $128,830 |
| 43 | Kansas | $127,240 |
| 44 | Pennsylvania | $125,160 |
| 45 | South Carolina | $120,720 |
| 46 | Kentucky | $119,990 |
| 47 | Arkansas | $118,430 |
| 48 | Tennessee | $117,300 |
| 49 | Georgia | $112,090 |
| 50 | Alabama | $110,860 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $106,820 |
Figures are U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS annual mean wages, May 2025 (51 states/territories with published data; BLS suppresses states with samples too small to publish, and those are omitted rather than estimated).
First-assist skill and call intensity set the rate. Endoscopic vein harvest proficiency, comfort in redo and emergency cases, and ICU management make an experienced CT PA extraordinarily hard to replace, and call burden is real — nights and weekends with acutely unstable patients. Programs pay accordingly, typically well above the profession-wide baseline shown below.
The baseline still matters. Specialty premiums ride on top of local market rates, so a cardiothoracic surgery PA in a high-baseline state generally out-earns the same role in a low-baseline one. Cost of living then reshapes the real value — compare any two states with our cost-of-living tool before treating a bigger number as a better offer.
See who's hiring. Browse open Physician Assistant roles on VitalPost — free for clinicians, and pay is shown on a listing whenever the employer posts it.
Treat the state figures as a well-sourced baseline, not a personal quote.
Mean vs. median. The mean (average) is pulled by the highest and lowest earners; the median better reflects a typical clinician. When the two diverge, anchor on the median and then ask where your experience, setting, and productivity would place you relative to it.
Every setting is blended. Each state figure averages academic centers, community hospitals, outpatient practices, and every experience level into one number. Your subspecialty focus, call burden, and seniority can put you well above or below it.
Wages aren't total compensation. OEWS captures wages and salaries — not sign-on bonuses, productivity (wRVU) upside, call pay, retirement contributions, malpractice coverage, or loan repayment. Two offers with the same base can differ by six figures in real value.
Owners and partners are undercounted. The survey primarily measures W-2 employees. Physicians with partnership distributions or independent-contractor income often out-earn what a wage survey shows. And because PA pay is frequently hourly or shift-based in this specialty, always reduce competing offers to an effective hourly rate — including differentials — before comparing.
Topics
Browse open roles or create a free, anonymous profile and let employers come to you.
Emergency departments lean heavily on PAs — and pay for it. The state-by-state PA baseline, plus what pushes EM PA compensation above it.
VitalPost Editorial
PMHNPs consistently rank among the best-paid NPs in every major survey. Here's the state-by-state NP baseline and the demand story behind the psych premium.
VitalPost Editorial
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national mean wage for physician assistants at $141,280 (median $135,880) in May 2025. Here's how PA pay compares state by state — and how to read the numbers before you negotiate.
VitalPost Editorial