---
title: "Physicist"
description: "Conduct research into physical phenomena, develop theories on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply physical laws and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/physicist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Physicist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-2012 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-2012.00

Conduct research into physical phenomena, develop theories on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply physical laws and theories.

Also advertised as: Astrophysicist; Biophysics Scientist; Health Physicist; Medical Physicist; Research Physicist; Scientist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $172,250 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $82.81/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $82,110 to $274,110, with the middle half between $111,720 and $222,760
- **Total US employment:** 20,430
- **Typical entry education:** Doctorate
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +7.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 26/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 20,430 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $82,110 |
| 25th | $111,720 |
| 50th (median) | $172,250 |
| 75th | $222,760 |
| 90th | $274,110 |
| Mean (average) | $171,180 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FL | $225,390 | $217,949 | 340 |
| NH | $214,030 | $205,472 | 30 |
| PA | $210,990 | $216,240 | 230 |
| CA | $207,490 | $187,401 | 5,930 |
| OR | $200,320 | $193,806 | 90 |
| OK | $200,050 | $227,736 | 40 |
| TX | $184,040 | $189,621 | 580 |
| NY | $181,970 | $168,614 | 1,140 |
| KY | $180,910 | $200,657 | 50 |
| CT | $180,300 | $174,018 | 60 |
| IA | $178,110 | $202,947 | 110 |
| MD | $174,390 | $166,151 | 1,200 |
| NC | $174,180 | $184,657 | 150 |
| WI | $173,120 | $183,984 | 180 |
| MN | $171,220 | $173,614 | 110 |

28 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 43 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/physicist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/physicist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 23,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 24,800 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 1,700 jobs, or +7.2%. Much faster than average: 7.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Doctoral Degree | 49.0% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 39.1% |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 8.1% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 3.8% |

## What the work involves

- Analyze data from research conducted to detect and measure physical phenomena.
- Report experimental results by writing papers for scientific journals or by presenting information at scientific conferences.
- Perform complex calculations as part of the analysis and evaluation of data, using computers.
- Describe and express observations and conclusions in mathematical terms.
- Collaborate with other scientists in the design, development, and testing of experimental, industrial, or medical equipment, instrumentation, and procedures.
- Design computer simulations to model physical data so that it can be better understood.
- Perform peer reviews of scientific papers.
- Write research proposals to receive funding.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Science — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Programming — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Physics — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Mathematical Reasoning — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Number Facility — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 7.00 |
| R — Realistic | 4.94 |
| C — Conventional | 4.80 |
| A — Artistic | 2.75 |
| S — Social | 2.12 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.77 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| INTJ | 86.8 |
| ISTJ | 82.6 |
| ISTP | 82.1 |
| INTP | 73.1 |
| ISFJ | 58.0 |

Best-fitting types: INTJ, ISTJ, ISTP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Mathematician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mathematician) — median $126,710
- [Astronomer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/astronomer) — median $128,820
- [Physics Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physics-teacher-postsecondary) — median $100,310
- [Data Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/data-scientist) — median $120,230
- [Biochemist and Biophysicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist) — median $127,410
- [Chemist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemist) — median $91,240
- [Nanosystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanosystems-engineer) — median $122,930
- [Materials Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-scientist) — median $117,790
- [Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geoscientist) — median $101,920
- [Molecular and Cellular Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molecular-and-cellular-biologist) — median $98,920

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/physicist