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Industry Profile · California

Physicists salary in Education, California

Colleges, universities, K-12, and educational support services.

Adrian Serafin, founder and editor of RateOrchardBy Adrian SerafinFounderUpdated May 4, 2026
Real disclosed salaries

Physicists (Education) in California: actual employer-disclosed pay

Public records from 142 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $83,440. Every figure below is an actual offered salary an employer attested to under federal law.

By DOL wage level

DOL classifies every offer into one of four wage levels based on the role's experience and skill requirements.

LevelFilingsMedian offer
Level I — entry54$82,850
Level II — qualified20$118,250
Level III — experienced4$127,000
Level IV — fully competent4$147,198

Top employers filing for this role

Companies with the most certified filings for Physicists (Education) in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings.

EmployerMost-filed titleFilingsMedian
Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator LabResearch Associate52$105,292
The Leland Stanford, Jr UniversityPhysical Science Research Scientist20$84,070
California Institute of TechnologyPostdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Physics11$85,000
University of California, BerkeleyPostdoctoral Scholar Employee10$79,267
University of California, Los AngelesPostdoctoral Scholar8$82,100
University of California at Santa BarbaraPostdoctoral Scholar7$74,425
Regents of the University of California at RiversideJunior Specialist7$74,425
California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion LaboratoryTechnologist6$140,049
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGOPostdoctoral Scholar-Employee5$80,034
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINEASSOCIATE SPECIALIST4$76,840

Recent sample filings

A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.

  • Postdoctoral Scholar Employee at University of California, Berkeley
    $77,030
    BerkeleyDecided Dec 22, 2025I-200-25350-484720
  • Research Associate at Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator Lab
    $80,000
    Menlo ParkDecided Dec 17, 2025I-200-25344-473173
  • Associate Project Scientist at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
    $93,300
    La JollaDecided Dec 3, 2025I-200-25329-436136
  • Postdoctoral Scholar at University of California at Santa Barbara
    $74,281
    Santa BarbaraDecided Dec 2, 2025I-200-25329-434814
  • Staff Research Physicist at The Trustees of Princeton University
    $144,000
    Santa ClaraDecided Nov 26, 2025I-200-25323-421257
  • Gravitational-Wave Experimental Physicist at California Institute of Technology
    $100,262
    PasadenaDecided Nov 25, 2025I-200-25322-417292
  • Associate Scientist at Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator Lab
    $134,000
    Menlo ParkDecided Nov 20, 2025I-200-25317-406460
  • Research Associate at Chapman University
    $78,125
    OrangeDecided Nov 14, 2025I-200-25310-382742

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Disclosed wages reflect what employers attested to pay; actual paid wages may differ. Only certified filings are shown — denied and withdrawn cases are excluded.