Entry-level Physicist salary in San Francisco, CA

Based on 42 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level I in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Menlo Park, Berkeley, Livermore, Fremont, Hayward.

Also listed as: Medical Physicist, Assistant Physicist

Median salary$83,480
Middle 50%$79.9k–$119.5k
vs. all levels here−34%comparison median $127,000
Filings42FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $78,853 and $142,761.
PercentileSalary
10th$78,853
25th$79,914
50th (median)$83,480
75th$119,538
90th$128,360

Salary by year

Median salary

$60k $95k $130k FY2020: median $88,700 (48 filings) FY2021: median $91,500 (31 filings) FY2022: median $114,500 (37 filings) FY2023: median $69,556 (17 filings) FY2024: median $78,853 (29 filings) FY2025: median $84,730 (32 filings) FY2026: median $80,000 (10 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 48 filings FY20 FY2021: 31 filings FY21 FY2022: 37 filings FY22 FY2023: 17 filings FY23 FY2024: 29 filings FY24 FY2025: 32 filings FY25 FY2026: 10 filings FY26 48
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$88,700$72,744$96,99948
FY2021$91,500$72,744$100,00031
FY2022$114,500$102,600$128,75037
FY2023$69,556$61,589$95,80017
FY2024$78,853$62,462$95,80029
FY2025$84,730$79,979$119,65432
FY2026$80,000$79,914$92,69410

Cost of living

San Francisco's median entry-level Physicist salary of $83,480 is worth about $72,200 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Francisco = 115.6).

Employers filing at this level

EmployerMedianFilings
Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator Lab$80,00026
Lawrence Livermore National Securitytoo few7
The Leland Stanford, Jr Universitytoo few2
Western Digital Technologiestoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $83,480 42
Mid-level · Level II $152,153 43
Senior · Level III $163,938 24
Expert · Level IV $194,820 16

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Entry-level · Level I$78,853$83,48042
Mid-level · Level II$96,242$152,15343
Senior · Level III$113,610$163,93824
Expert · Level IV$130,998$194,82016

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.