Side-by-side distribution
Physicist
$185,189
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.7%
- Live roles
- 234
Postdoc
$72,754
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 59.5%
- Live roles
- 383
Highest-paying jobs
Sr. Medical Physicist (Palm Springs, CA)
Senior Medical Physicist Radiation Therapy
Radiation Physicist - Cabarrus Levine Cancer
Medical Physicist Oncology Senior - Levine Cancer Proton & Advanced Radiation Center
Med Physicist Oncology Sr
Physicist - Radiation Oncology
Medical Physicist
Medical Physicist - per diem
Medical Physicist - per diem
Medical Physicist
Highest-paying jobs
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Physics Expert (PhD / Postdoc)
Postdoctoral Researcher, Post-Training and Continual Adaptation for Robotics
Postdoctoral Researcher, Human Aware Interaction Learning
Clinical Sciences FY27 Postdoctoral Fellow – Open Pool
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Soil Security for Cotton Farming Systems
Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Fellow - Health Policy
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Postdoctoral Researcher in Microwave and Antenna Engineering for CubeSat Applications
PostDoc – Machine Learning
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Applied Materials
|
$164,000 | 18 |
|
Siemens Healthineers
|
$205,063 | 16 |
|
Advocate Health
|
$252,148 | 6 |
|
Albany Medical Center
|
$256,344 | 3 |
| AD AdventHealth | $231,248 | 3 |
Infleqtion
|
$211,000 | 3 |
IonQ
|
$165,000 | 3 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$101,450 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| NU Northeastern University | $72,754 | 39 |
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$65,000 | 27 |
| CS Colorado State University | $65,000 | 14 |
Cleveland Clinic
|
$63,480 | 13 |
University of British Columbia
|
$60,000 | 13 |
| MG Mass General Brigham | $76,465 | 11 |
| BI Beth Israel Lahey Health | $60,000 | 11 |
| UO University of Queensland | $99,516 | 10 |
Physicist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $211,000 | 3 |
Postdoc salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $103,250 | 9 |
| New York | $78,000 | 12 |
| Boston | $72,754 | 48 |
| Austin | $62,131 | 8 |
Physicist vs Postdoc: which pays more?
The median for Physicist is $185,189 per year (typically $142,500–$225,426), versus $72,754 for Postdoc ($64,000–$83,025). That puts Physicist about 155% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Physicist and Postdoc are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.