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Surgical first assistant salary

Open surgical first assistant jobs post a median of $43 an hour, with the middle half paying $40–$48: about $89,400 a year full time. Measured from 90 jobs at 34 employers that state their pay, read from each employer's own job board.

$43
Median posted /hr
$40–$48
Middle half /hr
$89,400
A year, full time
estimate, 2,080 hours
$32.11
BLS median /hr
May 2025

The jobs themselves: Surgical first assistant jobs

What surgical first assistants are paid

Each bar counts the open jobs posting an hourly rate in its step of pay (a range at its midpoint). The middle half of employers' rates is in the darker color.

Posted hourly rates of 90 open jobs. The chart spans the 2nd to the 98th percentile; the lowest rate posted is $16.78, the highest $82.

Posted on open jobs

$40–$48/hr

Middle half of 52 employer rates (each employer's advertised range once), median $43. 30% of the 304 open surgical first assistant jobs state an hourly rate. 30 more state an "up to" ceiling, a weekly travel rate, a per-visit fee, or a rate far from the rest (a differential read as pay), left out.

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Surgical first assistant pay by employer

What each employer posts for surgical first assistants, the employers with the most jobs stating pay first. An employer with at least 5 such jobs has a page of its own with every range it posts.

EmployerMedian postedPosted rangeJobs stating pay
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions$50.75$35–$8218
Ascension$37.50$31.41–$46.1010
Kaiser Permanente$57.25$42.04–$72.485
Sentara Health$49.75$39.96–$59.484
Emory Healthcare$47.75$47.794
Riverside Health$45.75$38.60–$59.684
CommonSpirit Health$44.25$32.30–$52.854
AdventHealth$41.50$28.97–$54.553
MarinHealth$40.25$35.56–$44.773
UVA Health$50$30.55–$74.202
Advocate Health$44.50$35.50–$53.252
Trinity Health$44.25$32.25–$57.062
UChicago Medicine$43.50$40.43–$50.052
Valley Health (Virginia)$43$34.37–$51.552
Froedtert South$41.50$31.50–$522
VCU Health$38.25$30.01–$46.512
Sanford Health$37.25$26.50–$49.502
APDerm$30.75$24.50–$36.752
HealthPartners$25.50$21.15–$29.632
Mary Washington Healthcare$51.75$41.41–$62.111
Adventist HealthCare$50$39.96–$59.941
Legacy Health$48.75$40.06–$57.281
UPMC$46.75$39.56–$54.161
Essentia Health$45$36.01–$54.021
Carle Health$43.25$31.85–$54.781
United Surgical Partners International$43$35.20–$51.041
Carilion Clinic$42$33.52–$50.281
Baptist Health South Florida$41.25$35.81–$46.551
OSF HealthCare$40.75$33.85–$47.791
Mercyhealth$40.50$32.47–$48.701
UMass Memorial Health$37.75$28.77–$46.741
University Health System - San Antonio$37.75$22.50–$531
Allied OMS$31.50$28–$351
UW Health$19.75$16.78–$22.651

Median of each employer's own jobs (a range at its midpoint), and the lowest and highest rate it posts. Jobs stating pay link to the employer's open jobs.

Surgical first assistant pay by state

States where at least 8 open jobs from 3 employers state an hourly rate, highest median first. Each opens the state's own page, with its towns and employers.

StateMedian postedMiddle halfBLS medianJobs
Virginia$50.25$43–$55.75$37.94 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)21
Florida$41.50$41.25–$43.50$30.07 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)13
Tennessee$39.50$38–$43.25$39.25 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)16

Median and middle half of employers' rates in the state. BLS medians are for the occupation's main SOC code in the state (May 2025).

Best-paid open surgical first assistant jobs

The open jobs posting the highest hourly rates tonight, at most two from one employer.

Every open job: Surgical first assistant jobs

What BLS measures

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys what people employed in the occupation earn, at every level of experience. A posting advertises what a new hire is offered, so the two measure different things.

Hourly wages, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Each figure opens its BLS page.
BLS occupation10th pct25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctEmployed
Surgical Assistants (29-9093)$19.08 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)$24.12 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)$32.11 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)$42.31 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)$51.74 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)22,270 (source: BLS OEWS, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)

The posted median ($43) is $10.89 above the BLS median ($32.11 (source: BLS OEWS May 2025, Surgical Assistants, opens in a new tab)). Posted ranges run from a new hire's rate to an experienced one's, and their midpoint is counted here.

Surgical first assistant salary: common questions

How much does a surgical first assistant make an hour?

Open surgical first assistant jobs on CareJobs.Now that state an hourly rate post a median of $43, with the middle half between $40–$48 (90 jobs from 34 employers, each employer's advertised range counted once). Postings advertise a base rate, usually before shift differentials and bonuses. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics measured a median of $32.11/hr ($66,800 a year) for surgical assistants in May 2025.

How much does a surgical first assistant make a year?

At the posted median of $43 an hour, full time (2,080 hours a year) comes to about $89,400, and the middle half to $83,200 to $99,800. That is arithmetic on the hourly rate, not a salary any job states.

Which states pay surgical first assistants the most?

By the median hourly rate open jobs post: Virginia ($50.25), Florida ($41.50) and Tennessee ($39.50). The lowest: Tennessee ($39.50), Florida ($41.50) and Virginia ($50.25). Each state's page breaks its pay down by town and employer.

Which employers pay surgical first assistants the most?

Among employers stating a rate on at least 5 open jobs: Kaiser Permanente ($57.25), HealthTrust Workforce Solutions ($50.75) and Ascension ($37.50). The employer table lists the 34 employers with the most jobs stating pay.

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay CareJobs.Now's open jobs state, read every night from each employer's own job board: 90 of 304 open surgical first assistant jobs (30%) state an hourly rate. No pay is estimated for a job that states none, "up to" ceilings and weekly travel rates are left out, and each employer's advertised range counts once in the median, so no single employer sets it.

More pay by job: Surgical

Surgical first assistant jobs →Every healthcare salary →Pay explorer →

Sources and method

Only pay a job states is used: a plain hourly or yearly figure or range in US dollars, read from the job's own posting. A range counts at its midpoint. In the median and the middle half each employer's advertised range counts once, so an employer posting one range in many towns does not set the figure; an employer's own figures count its jobs one by one. "Up to" ceilings, weekly travel rates and rates under a third or over three times the occupation's median are left out. The yearly estimate is the hourly rate times 2,080 hours (40 a week). A job counts under its occupation and every occupation above it, and under every state it is open in. A page exists while at least 8 jobs from 3 employers state a rate. BLS figures are as published.
  1. CareJobs.Now job board: the pay open jobs state, read nightly from each employer's own careers site, published October 24, 2026
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Surgical Assistants (SOC 29-9093), published May 15, 2026
  3. BLS OEWS May 2025: Surgical Assistants by state, published May 15, 2026
  4. BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035: Surgical Assistants (Occupational Outlook Handbook), published August 27, 2026

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). Surgical first assistant salary. Data as of October 24, 2026. https://carejobs.now/salaries/surgical-first-assistant

How the board counts