Physics Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1054 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$100,310

per year, nationally

Middle half

$74,050–$132,650

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

13,090

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.5%

1,300 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.

$60,200$177,850

10th: $60,200
25th: $74,050
Median: $100,310
75th: $132,650
90th: $177,850

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional 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 physics teachers, postsecondary 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	California	$139,420	110.7	1,130	0.74×
2	Connecticut	$112,410	103.6	260	1.80×
3	Massachusetts	$111,280	105.8	680	2.23×
4	Maryland	$110,980	105.0	300	1.29×
5	Michigan	$109,090	96.2	460	1.23×
6	New Mexico	$108,850	92.2	70	1.02×
7	Delaware	$108,810	99.8	70	1.64×
8	Minnesota	$107,240	98.6	250	1.00×
9	Idaho	$106,040	95.5	50	0.69×
10	Virginia	$104,490	101.1	610	1.75×
11	Oregon	$104,320	103.4	230	1.42×
12	Maine	$104,270	97.0	60	1.08×
13	Iowa	$104,270	87.8	120	0.93×
14	New York	$103,100	107.9	1,080	1.32×
15	Indiana	$102,970	93.3	270	1.02×
16	North Dakota	$101,700	89.0	40	0.98×
17	Georgia	$101,580	96.3	210	0.51×
18	Missouri	$99,970	90.8	230	0.91×
19	Utah	$99,860	98.9	120	0.79×
20	Colorado	$99,280	103.1	280	1.15×
21	New Hampshire	$99,050	104.2	40	0.66×
22	New Jersey	$98,920	108.8	530	1.46×
23	Nebraska	$98,460	90.1	70	0.86×
24	Vermont	$98,390	98.0	50	1.79×
25	Pennsylvania	$98,370	97.6	580	1.13×
26	West Virginia	$98,320	89.5	50	0.80×
27	Montana	$98,050	94.6	70	1.52×
28	Texas	$97,760	97.1	1,110	0.94×
29	Kansas	$97,140	90.1	110	0.88×
30	Washington	$96,930	107.0	310	1.04×
31	Nevada	$96,330	100.0	90	0.71×
32	Ohio	$96,310	92.8	420	0.91×
33	Illinois	$94,900	100.0	540	1.05×
34	Oklahoma	$91,580	87.8	90	0.62×
35	Louisiana	$90,040	88.2	90	0.55×
36	Wisconsin	$89,630	94.1	210	0.85×
37	North Carolina	$87,370	94.3	440	1.07×
38	South Dakota	$86,010	88.6	30	0.89×
39	District of Columbia	$85,190	109.9	130	2.25×
40	Alabama	$82,750	88.8	170	0.97×
41	South Carolina	$81,210	93.7	150	0.77×
42	Tennessee	$80,630	91.9	340	1.25×
43	Kentucky	$80,270	90.2	160	0.94×
44	Florida	$74,050	103.4	180	0.22×
45	Mississippi	$71,160	87.0	100	0.97×
46	Arizona	$65,730	100.7	350	1.29×
47	Arkansas	$64,900	86.9	30	0.30×

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 physics teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for physics teachers, postsecondary

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	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$172,510	113.6	440	0.83×
2	College Station-Bryan, TX	$167,090	91.0	80	7.42×
3	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$152,190	111.9	120	0.92×
4	Ann Arbor, MI	$141,400	100.9	80	4.25×
5	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$139,400	106.4	60	0.41×
6	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$138,980	92.9	50	1.92×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$133,360	115.6	70	0.37×
8	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$132,790	106.7	80	0.88×
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$130,310	104.8	160	0.98×
10	Lincoln, NE	$128,750	91.6	50	2.96×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$128,640	108.3	510	2.22×
12	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$114,880	100.2	60	10.91×
13	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$114,590	95.8	50	1.15×
14	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$111,460	105.4	160	1.57×
15	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$108,070	97.3	60	0.52×
16	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$107,410	100.1	170	0.69×
17	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$107,080	102.7	100	2.07×
18	Columbia, MO	$106,680	89.4	30	3.47×
19	Oklahoma City, OK	$106,000	90.4	40	0.63×
20	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$105,810	108.8	80	4.65×
21	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$105,560	98.2	100	1.58×
22	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$104,880	100.3	110	0.67×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$104,690	112.6	870	1.09×
24	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$103,780	95.5	60	1.18×
25	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$103,750	102.6	290	1.20×
26	Richmond, VA	$103,650	97.9	50	0.95×
27	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$103,530	99.6	90	2.48×
28	St. Louis, MO-IL	$102,530	95.1	100	0.85×
29	Worcester, MA	$101,620	102.5	60	2.12×
30	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$101,250	92.6	40	1.07×
31	Harrisonburg, VA	$101,210	94.9	30	6.24×
32	Columbus, OH	$101,060	95.5	80	0.90×
33	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$100,770	105.8	100	0.76×
34	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$100,430	98.1	220	2.03×
35	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$99,650	103.1	170	0.51×
36	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$99,480	98.6	230	0.81×
37	Knoxville, TN	$99,090	92.6	80	2.25×
38	Rochester, NY	$98,690	97.0	120	3.00×
39	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$98,470	97.9	130	2.09×
40	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$98,060	111.1	200	1.13×

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 physics teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760