Nurse practitioners and physician assistants saw their median total cash compensation grow by about 2% from 2025 to 2026, according to a new report from healthcare consulting firm SullivanCotter.
The “2026 Advanced Practice Provider Compensation and Productivity Survey Report” collected data from 892 organizations and covers more than 160,900 individual advanced practice providers.
Here are eight things to know from the report:
- Total cash compensation growth for hospital-based NPs and PAs was about 2% between 2025 and 2026, down from growth of more than 5% the prior year, a shift the report tied to market normalization following several years of pandemic-era compensation surges.
- Median total cash compensation for CRNAs grew 6.3% year over year, while certified anesthesiologist assistant median total cash compensation grew 8.2%.
- The anesthesia growth gap widens further over a longer window: CRNA compensation is up 19.3% since 2023, and CAA compensation is up 30.2% over the same three-year period.
- Growth by specialty category was more uniform outside anesthesia: primary care and surgical specialties each saw roughly 3% year-over-year compensation growth, while hospital-based specialties grew about 2%.
- Primary care productivity also ticked up, with median work relative value units (wRVUs) rising to 4,450 in 2026 from 4,316 in 2025.
- Incentive pay tied to that productivity grew too. The largest median incentive payment for primary care advance practice providers reached $12,500, or 9.3% of base salary, up from $10,000 (7.6% of base salary) in 2025.
- More than half of organizations surveyed use incentive pay for at least some advanced practice providers. Shift differentials are also common, offered by 67% of organizations, and 82% of organizations offer extra pay for picking up additional shifts.
- Organizations are increasingly building out formal pay structures for APP leaders. More than 80% use separate salary grades for top APP executives, compared with 41% for clinical-level APP leaders. Incentive pay is far more common at the top, as 89% of organizations offer incentives to top APP executives, versus 53% for clinical-level leaders.
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