Entry-level Physicist salary in San Jose, CA

Based on 32 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level I in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Stanford, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Milpitas, Moffett Field.

Also listed as: Medical Physicist, Assistant Physicist

Median salary$90,600
Middle 50%$82k–$108.6k
vs. all levels here−37%comparison median $144,000
Filings32FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $79,182 and $148,512.
PercentileSalary
10th$80,000
25th$82,000
50th (median)$90,600
75th$108,625
90th$144,500

Salary by year

Median salary

$70k $90k $110k FY2020: median $101,500 (18 filings) FY2021: median $80,850 (19 filings) FY2022: median $85,160 (15 filings) FY2023: median $95,000 (19 filings) FY2024: median $79,852 (16 filings) FY2025: median $90,000 (26 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 18 filings FY20 FY2021: 19 filings FY21 FY2022: 15 filings FY22 FY2023: 19 filings FY23 FY2024: 16 filings FY24 FY2025: 26 filings FY25 FY2026: 6 filings FY26 26
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$101,500$75,000$114,50018
FY2021$80,850$75,000$85,25019
FY2022$85,160$81,925$107,95415
FY2023$95,000$80,425$123,80219
FY2024$79,852$78,640$100,00016
FY2025$90,000$82,000$105,62526
FY2026–––6

Cost of living

San Jose's median entry-level Physicist salary of $90,600 is worth about $82,000 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Jose = 110.4).

Compared with all workers here

All Physicists in the San Jose, CA area earned a median of $173,450 in May 2025 (440 employed). The H-1B median here is $90,600, 48% lower.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Employers filing at this level

EmployerMedianFilings
The Leland Stanford, Jr University$83,68021
Western Digital Technologiestoo few4
SETI Institutetoo few3
Bay Area Environmental Research Institutetoo few2

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

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $90,600 32
Mid-level · Level II $160,332 22
Senior · Level III too few 2
Expert · Level IV – 0

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$90,60032
Mid-level · Level II$156,083$160,33222

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.