How Much Does a Physician Assistant Make in District of Columbia in 2026?

A typical Physician Assistant in the District of Columbia earns about $64.97 per hour, or $135,140 per year, according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). Spread across the year, that works out to roughly $11,262 a month. On a weekly basis, the same annual figure comes to about $2,599. Those figures describe typical pay for the role across the District, not entry-level or senior pay specifically.

That typical pay is about 1% below the national figure of $135,880 a year, a gap small enough that pay in the District closely tracks the rest of the country. The District ranks 21st among the 51 states and jurisdictions reporting data for this occupation. Only about 470 Physician Assistants work in the District, a modest workforce for a jurisdiction of its size.

Entry-level positions for Physician Assistants in the District typically offer around $40.64 per hour, or about $84,520 a year, per the same May 2025 data. That is well below the district's typical pay of $135,140, reflecting lower starting rates for newly licensed PAs. Pay climbs steadily with experience and added responsibility. Within a few years, many see pay move closer to the district's typical figure.

Experienced Physician Assistants in the District often earn upwards of $79.76 per hour, or about $165,890 a year, after building a track record in senior clinical roles. The top 10% of earners make over $213,560 a year, or about $102.67 an hour. That leaves an entry-to-top spread of $129,040, one of the wider gaps in the profession. Setting, experience, and city help explain who lands near which end.

Physician Assistant pay in the District has climbed steadily over the past decade, from $103,730 in 2015 to $135,140 in 2025. That is a gain of $31,410, a 30% increase over ten years. The rise was not perfectly smooth: pay dipped slightly in 2016 and again in 2023 before recovering, but the overall decade trend points upward.

Nationally, Physician Assistant pay rose 38% over the same ten years, a faster pace than the District saw. That means the District's typical pay has grown, just not as quickly as the country as a whole. For someone starting a PA career in the District now, the decade of data shows pay has moved up over time, though nothing about future gains is guaranteed.

Pay for Physician Assistants across the District is centered on the Washington metro area, which reports a typical wage of $148,200 a year, or $71.25 an hour. That figure covers the entire Washington metro area, not a single neighborhood or agency. It runs about 10% above the District-wide figure of $135,140.

Because the District is essentially one metro area, pay for Physician Assistants is fairly uniform across it rather than varying from neighborhood to neighborhood. Washington also holds the largest Physician Assistant workforce in the data, with about 3,020 employed there. The District carries a high cost of living compared with most of the country, and pay in this range should be weighed against that when comparing offers elsewhere.

Neighboring states pay slightly more than the District. Maryland's typical Physician Assistant pay is $137,560 a year, about 2% higher than the District figure, and Virginia's is $135,940, about 1% higher. Both differences are small enough that they rarely justify a move on pay alone. Physician Assistant licensure earned in the District can often be transferred or endorsed into a neighboring state, which keeps regional moves relatively straightforward for those chasing a modest pay difference.

Physician Assistants in the District of Columbia typically earn $135,140 a year, close to the national figure and up 30% over the past decade. That upward trend has held steady even through a couple of down years. Anyone considering this career locally should check the District's licensing board for current requirements and review city-level pages for the Washington metro area to see how local figures compare before making a move.