Physicists
SOC code 19-2012 · 3,515 certified H-1B positions, FY2023–FY2026.
3,515
certified positions
$84,906
Median pay
$68,645
25th pct
$124,000
75th pct
$170,000
90th pct
$61,579
10th pct
Estimates from public U.S. Department of Labor records — wages are
employer-attested offered wages, not verified salaries paid; counts are filings, not
people. Not legal, financial, or career advice. See our
disclaimer & terms.
Data: DOL filings FY2023–FY2026 (through June 2026) · Page updated October 2026
$71,261
Median prevailing wage
$61,579$84,906 median$170,000
Quarterly median pay 2022-Q4 → 2026-Q2 · ▲ 16.7%
Wage-level mix DOL prevailing-wage levels on these filings
Level I · Entry — 1,880 (60%), med $72,000Level II · Qualified — 696 (22%), med $116,469Level III · Experienced — 368 (12%), med $140,000Level IV · Fully competent — 201 (6%), med $190,000
Top employers hiring
| Employer | Positions | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Brookhaven National Laboratory | 261 | $124,200 |
| UT-BATTELLE, LLC (OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY) | 104 | $121,650 |
| Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator Lab | 95 | $101,837 |
| Triad National Security, LLC | 92 | $111,904 |
| Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC | 79 | $85,300 |
| Fermi Research Alliance, LLC | 77 | $73,798 |
| Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | 77 | $123,781 |
| UChicago Argonne LLC | 76 | $82,451 |
| The Trustees of Princeton University | 75 | $80,000 |
| University of Maryland College Park | 65 | $77,330 |
| Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC | 61 | $180,000 |
| The Leland Stanford, Jr University | 56 | $84,230 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 55 | $78,900 |
| University of California, Berkeley | 45 | $77,327 |
| California Institute of Technology | 42 | $81,244 |
Top states
| State | Positions |
|---|---|
| California | 700 |
| New York | 521 |
| Illinois | 386 |
| Massachusetts | 189 |
| Texas | 169 |
| Maryland | 148 |
| New Jersey | 139 |
| Tennessee | 135 |
| New Mexico | 99 |
| Virginia | 88 |
| Michigan | 87 |
| Pennsylvania | 79 |
| North Carolina | 63 |
| Ohio | 53 |
| Florida | 50 |