Education Analysis

Education Requirements for Physicists

Does degree level affect salary? Based on education data in DOL PERM (green card) filings.

Salary by Education Level

What the Data Shows

For Physicists positions, filings requiring a Master's degree carried an average declared salary of $105,056 versus $103,783 for those requiring a Bachelor's - a premium of +1.2%. Across all certified filings with a stated education level, 6.6% accepted a Bachelor's degree as the minimum requirement.

Education vs Salary

Education LevelAverage SalaryFilings% of Total
Doctorate$105,7494761.8%
Master's$105,0562431.6%
Bachelor's$103,78356.6%

Education by Top Employer

EmployerMost Common Minimum% Bachelor's% Master'sMedian Salary
Brookhaven National Laboratory N/A N/A N/A $94,320
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC N/A N/A N/A $81,900
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC Doctorate 0% 0% $67,500
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Doctorate 0% 0% $72,960
UChicago Argonne LLC Doctorate 0% 0% $77,508
University of Maryland College Park N/A N/A N/A $61,627
University of Colorado N/A N/A N/A $68,912
UT-BATTELLE, LLC (OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY) N/A N/A N/A $87,000
The Trustees of Princeton University N/A N/A N/A $71,000
Texas A&M University N/A N/A N/A $48,000
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC N/A N/A N/A $113,712
Michigan State University Doctorate 11.1% 11.1% $73,451
Massachusetts Institute of Technology N/A N/A N/A $60,700
California Institute of Technology N/A N/A N/A $69,129
Stanford University/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory N/A N/A N/A $95,800
Jefferson Science Associates, LLC N/A N/A N/A $79,735
OAK RIDGE ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITIES N/A N/A N/A $59,772
The University of Texas at Austin N/A N/A N/A $48,900
University of Michigan Doctorate 0% 0% $55,000
The University of Chicago N/A N/A N/A $59,500