H-1B salary guideSOC 19-2012Rank #40Updated Jun 2026
Physicists
H-1B prevailing-wage data for Physicists (SOC 19-2012). Based on 27,908 Labor Condition Applications filed with the US Department of Labor.
Median wage
$106,827
P50 · FY2026
P25 wage
$79,784
lower quartile · FY2026
P75 wage
$200,820
upper quartile · FY2026
Filings
1,086
Rank #40 · FY2026
Wage by DOL prevailing-wage level
P25 / P50 / P75 of offered annual wage at each PW_WAGE_LEVEL. Level I = entry, Level IV = expert — the I-to-IV gap is the career runway.
| Level | N | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 3,610 | $60,400 | $70,530 | $84,000 |
| Level II | 4,024 | $70,000 | $87,748 | $131,180 |
| Level III | 2,842 | $90,000 | $130,000 | $160,000 |
| Level IV | 1,678 | $126,000 | $183,150 | $205,000 |
| Level | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | $60,400 | $70,530 | $84,000 |
| Level II | $70,000 | $87,748 | $131,180 |
| Level III | $90,000 | $130,000 | $160,000 |
| Level IV | $126,000 | $183,150 | $205,000 |
Top hiring states
Worksite states with the most filings for this SOC, with the local median wage.
Top sponsoring employers
Who actually files most for this role.
Massachusetts Institute of…
906
Brookhaven National Labora…
479
FACEBOOK, INC.
476
Intel Corporation
391
The University of Virginia
364
Meta Platforms, Inc
361
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MI…
361
The Ohio State University
288
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M.…
251
Battelle Memorial Institute
245
Median wage by fiscal year
How the typical offered wage for this SOC has drifted across fiscal years.
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| FY2010 | $65k |
| FY2011 | $67k |
| FY2012 | $67k |
| FY2013 | $69k |
| FY2014 | $70k |
| FY2015 | $70k |
| FY2016 | $73k |
| FY2017 | $73k |
| FY2018 | $80k |
| FY2019 | $80k |
| FY2020 | $95k |
| FY2021 | $93k |
| FY2022 | $100k |
| FY2023 | $97k |
| FY2024 | $85k |
| FY2025 | $89k |
| FY2026 | $107k |
Compare Physicists with another occupation
Side-by-side view of KPIs, outcomes, top breakdowns and yearly trend.
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Understand the data
Definitions and methodology behind these H-1B figures.