Physical Scientists, All Other salary

SOC 19-2099 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$122,570

per year, nationally

Middle half

$86,620–$161,890

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

22,300

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+0.6%

2,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$67,000$195,190

10th: $67,000
25th: $86,620
Median: $122,570
75th: $161,890
90th: $195,190

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where physical scientists, all other earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$156,730	109.9	790	7.88×
2	Minnesota	$147,890	98.6	540	1.28×
3	North Dakota	$147,650	89.0	70	1.16×
4	Maryland	$141,290	105.0	1,810	4.56×
5	South Carolina	$141,130	93.7	70	0.22×
6	Massachusetts	$138,380	105.8	350	0.66×
7	Georgia	$137,680	96.3	1,020	1.46×
8	Alabama	$135,350	88.8	140	0.47×
9	Pennsylvania	$134,780	97.6	460	0.53×
10	Colorado	$134,440	103.1	710	1.72×
11	Washington	$133,980	107.0	450	0.88×
12	Florida	$131,690	103.4	340	0.24×
13	California	$130,610	110.7	2,320	0.89×
14	Tennessee	$129,570	91.9	120	0.27×
15	Arizona	$125,270	100.7	170	0.38×
16	New Mexico	$123,820	92.2	240	1.91×
17	Alaska	$120,240	102.4	140	2.96×
18	Michigan	$118,870	96.2	130	0.21×
19	New York	$117,820	107.9	1,510	1.09×
20	Utah	$115,920	98.9	250	0.99×
21	Hawaii	$112,880	110.0	100	1.08×
22	New Hampshire	$112,370	104.2	210	2.19×
23	Oklahoma	$112,260	87.8	80	0.33×
24	North Carolina	$110,030	94.3	650	0.92×
25	New Jersey	$109,990	108.8	590	0.96×
26	Oregon	$109,580	103.4	290	1.02×
27	Illinois	$108,970	100.0	580	0.66×
28	Mississippi	$108,890	87.0	380	2.26×
29	Ohio	$108,790	92.8	430	0.54×
30	Nebraska	$101,440	90.1	40	0.27×
31	Texas	$100,920	97.1	2,310	1.15×
32	Connecticut	$99,990	103.6	370	1.51×
33	Wisconsin	$97,470	94.1	70	0.17×
34	Montana	$94,520	94.6	100	1.35×
35	Louisiana	$94,320	88.2	280	1.02×
36	Kentucky	$81,260	90.2	260	0.92×
37	Iowa	$80,810	87.8	100	0.44×
38	Wyoming	$69,240	92.7	60	1.42×
39	Indiana	$68,670	93.3	1,240	2.70×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where physical scientists, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for physical scientists, all other

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$180,470	101.8	70	0.69×
2	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$176,440	104.8	410	1.47×
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$170,980	108.9	2,740	6.08×
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$160,580	110.4	340	2.09×
5	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$157,710	100.0	80	2.22×
6	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$149,550	91.9	40	1.05×
7	Charlottesville, VA	$144,580	99.1	100	6.25×
8	Huntsville, AL	$142,650	93.1	70	1.78×
9	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$142,080	92.7	120	2.21×
10	Boulder, CO	$141,320	105.2	—	—
11	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$140,980	105.8	420	1.81×
12	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$139,560	112.6	860	0.63×
13	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$137,680	100.1	930	2.25×
14	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$137,340	100.9	60	1.15×
15	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$137,220	102.6	310	0.74×
16	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$137,050	108.3	350	0.89×
17	Knoxville, TN	$136,990	92.6	60	0.99×
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$136,160	113.6	820	0.91×
19	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$134,720	111.1	310	1.02×
20	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$133,590	103.1	700	1.20×
21	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$132,830	100.1	50	2.59×
22	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$132,410	111.9	180	0.81×
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$131,640	110.5	50	1.02×
24	Anchorage, AK	$131,060	105.4	90	3.55×
25	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$130,940	114.2	50	0.13×
26	Colorado Springs, CO	$129,630	100.7	30	0.73×
27	Pittsburgh, PA	$128,750	94.7	140	0.88×
28	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$128,720	115.6	—	—
29	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$128,380	97.6	370	7.46×
30	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$125,070	92.6	70	1.15×
31	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$123,750	103.3	40	0.13×
32	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$123,240	100.9	150	1.26×
33	Albuquerque, NM	$121,890	95.5	160	2.82×
34	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$121,720	103.6	430	0.66×
35	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$120,740	95.4	80	0.51×
36	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$120,490	94.7	170	1.07×
37	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$118,560	101.1	50	2.24×
38	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$117,840	103.2	100	2.99×
39	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$117,770	105.4	170	0.97×
40	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$117,640	97.9	310	2.87×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where physical scientists, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health$82,220
Chemists$91,240
Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers$101,920
Physicists$172,250
Atmospheric and Space Scientists$99,070
Materials Scientists$117,790
Hydrologists$96,600
Astronomers$128,820