Earnings
 Your earning potential is a combination of your skills and the
market value of those abilities. The salaries that are common when you complete
your ultimate degree will be different, in part, because of inflation and,
in part, because the relative demand for technological skills constantly
changes.
 Variables
Affecting Salaries
Although a great many variables contribute to the salary you are likely to
earn, the four major factors are:
- highest degree
(e.g., bachelors, masters, PhD),
- credentials
(e.g., licenses, board certification, and teaching certificates),
- type of
employer (e.g., academe, private sector, government), and
- years of
experience.
Current
Statistics
Median annual earnings of physicists is
94,240 in the most recent data. The middle 50 percent earned between $72,910 and
$117,080. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $52,070, and the
highest 10 percent earned 143,570.
Median annual earnings of astronomers is $95,740. The middle
50 percent earned between $62,050 and $125,420, the lowest 10 percent
less than $44,590, and the highest 10 percent more than $145,600.
According to a 2007 National Association of Colleges and Employers
survey, the average annual starting salary offer to physics doctoral
degree candidates was $52,469.
The American Institute of Physics reported a median annual salary of
$80,000 in 2006 for its members with Ph.D.'s (excluding those in
postdoctoral positions) who were employed by a university on a 9-10
month salary; the median was $112,700 for those who held a Ph.D. and
worked at a federally funded research and development center; and
$110,000 for self-employed physicists who hold a Ph.D. Those working in
temporary postdoctoral positions earned significantly less.
The average annual salary for physicists employed by the Federal
Government was $111,769 in 2007; for astronomy and space scientists, it
was $117,570.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the American
Institute of Physics and the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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