Abstract The study investigated the associations between burnout—conceptualized as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion/physical fatigue and cognitive weariness—and pain parameters (overall pain, pain sites, intensity and frequency, and perceived disability) among 2,300 women living in Stockholm County. The study was a longitudinal panel survey with two assessments by means of questionnaires, 1 year apart. After adjustment for socio‐demographic and work characteristics, smoking, psychological distress, physical health and basal pain parameters, T1 levels of burnout and/or their change scores were the most important predictors of overall pain, neck/shoulder pain, back pain and disability. Pain frequency was related to increases in tension and listlessness. The results indicated that burnout contributes to the onset and maintenance of pain and to the functional impairment that it causes. Further studies are needed to evaluate the extent to which pain and burnout, may be mutually reinforcing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.