Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

19-2012 Physicists

Conduct research into the phases of physical phenomena, develop theories and laws on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply laws and theories to industry and other fields.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
12,390	4.6 %	$42.48	$88,350	1.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$23.98	$31.93	$41.17	$52.35	$63.26
Annual Wage (2)	$49,880	$66,410	$85,630	$108,890	$131,570

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Scientific research and development services	4,460	$45.02	$93,640	1	6
Federal government (OES designation)	3,370	$44.10	$91,730	2	7
Colleges and universities	890	$26.04	$54,160	3	15
General medical and surgical hospitals	720	$49.70	$103,370	4	2
Architectural and engineering services	310	$39.48	$82,110	5	11

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Offices of physicians	160	$54.23	$112,790	9	1
General medical and surgical hospitals	720	$49.70	$103,370	4	2
Other chemical product and preparation mfg.	(6)	$47.65	$99,120	(6)	3
Management and technical consulting services	190	$47.59	$98,980	8	4
Electronic instrument manufacturing	200	$45.79	$95,240	6	5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
District of Columbia	540	$46.47	$96,650	0.091%	15
Maryland	1,000	$45.87	$95,410	0.041%	17
Tennessee	620	$34.46	$71,670	0.024%	42
Virginia	770	$44.26	$92,060	0.023%	22
Colorado	330	$44.38	$92,320	0.016%	17

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
Connecticut	140	$68.05	$141,540	0.009%	8
Oregon	30	$54.49	$113,330	0.002%	9
Massachusetts	470	$51.62	$107,370	0.015%	18
District of Columbia	540	$46.47	$96,650	0.091%	15
Nevada	(6)	$46.44	$96,590	(6)	14

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Boulder-Longmont, CO PMSA	190	$47.40	$98,590	0.123%
Panama City, FL MSA	60	$41.09	$85,470	0.098%
Madison, WI MSA	270	$25.74	$53,530	0.096%
Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV PMSA	1,880	$47.49	$98,770	0.070%
Las Cruces, NM MSA	40	$39.44	$82,030	0.070%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Hartford, CT MSA	(6)	$84.53	$175,820	(6)
Boston, MA-NH PMSA	350	$55.31	$115,040	0.018%
San Jose, CA PMSA	80	$49.97	$103,940	0.009%
Syracuse, NY MSA	(6)	$49.47	$102,890	(6)
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI PMSA	40	$49.13	$102,190	0.005%

About May 2003 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

    Select a major group to view     All Occupations Management Occupations Business and Financial Operations Occupations Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations Architecture and Engineering Occupations Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations Community and Social Services Occupations Legal Occupations Education, Training, and Library Occupations Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Occupations Healthcare Support Occupations Protective Service Occupations Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations Personal Care and Service Occupations Sales and Related Occupations Office and Administrative Support Occupations Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations Construction and Extraction Occupations Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations Production Occupations Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004