Physician vs. nurse practitioner vs. physician assistant pay: A cross-occupation comparison

Here are 19 numbers to know illustrating the income differences between physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

Physicians:

• Primary care physicians earned an average of $242,000 in 2021, according to Physicians Thrive's 2022 "Physician Compensation Report." This was a decrease from 2020's average of $243,000.
• Specialists earned an average of $344,000 in 2021, down from $346,000 in 2020.

Nurse practitioners:

• The mean annual salary of a nurse practitioner is $118,040, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Physician assistant:

• The mean annual salary among physician assistants is $119,460, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here is the average salary of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in various earning percentiles, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and ZipRecruiter: 

Editor's note: * = Salary data gathered from ZipRecruiter.