Physics degree salary: what graduates earn, from federal data.
Bachelor's graduates in Physics: national earnings 1 to 7 years after completing, the spread across 102 programs, federal debt, and pay in 4 related occupations.
5,781 federal-aid graduates working and not enrolled, field 40.08
College Scorecard reports that bachelor's graduates in Physics who received federal financial aid had median earnings of $82,129 five years after completing (2024 dollars), with the middle half of graduates between $55,431 and $111,313. The figure covers 5,781 graduates who were working and not enrolled. It describes past federal-aid graduates; it is not a figure for every physics graduate and not a salary offer. Master's graduates in the same field: $100,842.
- Median earnings, 5 years after
- $82,129
- national, 2024 dollars
- Middle 50% of graduates
- $55,431–$111,313
- 25th to 75th percentile
- Graduates measured
- 5,781
- working, not enrolled
- Credential level
- Bachelor's
- field 40.08: Physics
- Population
- bachelor's graduates in Physics with federal aid, working and not enrolled
- Classes
- Completed 2016-17 or 2017-18; earnings in 2022 and 2023
- Source
- College Scorecard, updated Oct 15, 2026
5 credential levels in Physics
Data Each bar is Scorecard's national median for that credential level, 5 years after completing. They are different programs and graduates, not a before-and-after.
Bachelor's graduates, by time since completing
Data Each row is a different graduating class, all measured in 2022 and 2023. Read across rows as a snapshot, not as one class's career path.
| Time after completing | Median | Middle 50% | Graduates measured | Graduating classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year after | $52,079 | $30,892–$76,067 | 4,999 | completed in 2020-21 or 2021-22 |
| 4 years after | $76,786 | $51,777–$102,948 | 5,602 | completed in 2017-18 or 2018-19 |
| 5 years after | $82,129 | $55,431–$111,313 | 5,781 | completed in 2016-17 or 2017-18 |
| 7 years after | $92,704 | $62,755–$129,206 | 5,485 | completed in 2014-15 or 2015-16 |
How much it varies by college, and what borrowers owed
Data Program-level figures: each program reports its own median, and these ranges describe the middle half of programs.
Middle half of the 102 bachelor's programs in this field that report 5-year earnings, ranked by each program's own median (the middle program: $84,354). This is a spread of program medians, not of graduates, and it is not the national median.
Middle half of the 80 programs that report it, using each program's median federal Direct and Grad PLUS debt for borrowers who completed in 2022-23 or 2023-24 (middle program: $19,500). Excludes private loans, Parent PLUS loans and interest, so it often understates what is owed; it describes borrowers only, not all graduates.
What jobs related to this field pay
Data Occupations the NCES/BLS crosswalk relates to these programs, with BLS pay and projected growth. Graduates can work anywhere; the crosswalk records preparation, not outcomes.
$82,129 median, bachelor's graduates in Physics, 5 years after completing, federal-aid graduates only (2024 dollars).
BLS median wages (May 2025) for everyone in the occupations below, whatever they studied. Not the same people, period or measure as the graduate figure.
| Occupation | BLS median pay | Employed | Growth 2025–35 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High School Teacher | $72,040 | 1,065,210 | -0.2% | Salary data |
| Natural Sciences Manager | $167,220 | 108,690 | +8.2% | |
| Physicist | $172,250 | 20,430 | +7.2% | Salary data |
| Physics Teachers, Postsecondary | $100,310 | 13,090 | +2.4% |
Is a physics degree worth it? What the data can and cannot say
Data No score and no verdict: the decision depends on costs and plans this data does not see.
Bachelor's graduates in Physics: $82,129 median five years out, $52,079 for the class one year out and $92,704 seven years out; the middle half of 80 programs reported median federal debt of $17,500-$22,758.
Your tuition and aid, private loans, time out of work, taxes, lifetime pay, job fit, or what you would earn without the degree.
Common questions
How much do physics majors make?
Is a physics degree worth it?
Why do physics salary figures differ between sites?
Earnings in related fields
How this page is built
Scorecard measures earnings for graduates who received federal financial aid (Title IV grants or loans) and were working and not enrolled in school, as the sum of W-2 wages and positive self-employment earnings, adjusted to 2024 dollars. National figures are Scorecard's own medians and percentiles for 4-digit CIP field 40.08 (Physics) at each credential level; TryHired does not combine or average them. Program ranges are quartiles of the program medians Scorecard publishes for each college. Debt is cumulative federal Direct (Stafford) and Grad PLUS loans disbursed at the reporting institution. Privacy-suppressed values are not shown or estimated. Searches this page answers include “is a physics degree worth it”, “physics major salary”, “physics degree salary” (Ahrefs, U.S.).
- Graduates without federal aid, or who were enrolled, not working or deceased in the measurement year.
- Tuition paid, private loans, interest, taxes, lifetime earnings, cause and effect, or any individual's outcome.
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study data (Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study, data updated Oct 15, 2026; retrieved Oct 25, 2026) and technical documentation (October 2026).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, occupational projections 2025–35.