What Can You Do With a Physics Degree? 12 Jobs for Physics Majors, 1 Out-Pays a Master's

US colleges awarded 8,108 physics bachelor's degrees in 2024-25, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 1,500 total openings a year for physicists and astronomers combined. If you are asking what can you do with a physics degree, that gap is the first reality to face: most graduates never hold the title of physicist.

Instead, physics graduates enter engineering, software development, data science, research labs, high school classrooms, and a newer market of AI training roles where frontier labs pay hourly rates to evaluate physics derivations.

This guide is for physics students and graduates weighing their career options. Whether you are finishing a bachelor's, wrapping up a master's, or completing a doctorate, you can find active contract opportunities across the market on the Skillora AI training jobs aggregator.

Disclosure: Skillora earns a referral fee from micro1, Mercor and Alignerr if you sign up through our links and work on their platforms. It costs you nothing and does not change the rates quoted here, which come from the published listings. DataAnnotation pays us nothing.

The job your degree is named after needs a PhD

According to the BLS, a doctoral degree is the typical entry-level education for research and academic physicist positions. The BLS reported about 23,200 physicist jobs in 2025, with a median annual wage of $172,250 for physicists and $128,820 for astronomers.

Because academic and primary research slots are limited, only a fraction of degree holders ever reach those roles. An AIP study of PhD classes found that about 6% held a potentially permanent academic post one year after graduating.

Recent data from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) shows that 42% of new physics bachelor's degree recipients entered the workforce directly. The private sector employed the largest share of those graduates, followed by colleges and universities.

Engineering was the most common field of employment overall. Bachelor's graduates who entered private-sector STEM roles reported a median starting salary of $75,000. Those entering civilian government reported a median starting salary of $70,000.

Not all graduates land in technical settings immediately. AIP found that 19% of employed bachelor's graduates held part-time positions. Some graduates took non-STEM positions, including roles in food service, finance, administration, and manual labor.

A bachelor's in physics trains you in mathematical modeling, experimental methods, and quantitative problem solving. However, the title on the diploma does not translate directly into an industry role without choosing a target track.

Jobs for physics majors, sorted by one question

The central question that organizes jobs for physics majors is straightforward: does the position pay you to solve physics problems, or does it pay you to use the analytical tools you picked up while learning physics?

The AIP survey found that graduates who regularly solved technical problems at work earned more than those who rarely or never did. The market divides into three distinct tiers based on that distinction.

Tier one: Roles that pay you to do physics

These jobs keep you directly connected to physical principles, laboratory apparatus, or domain-level problem solving.

• Engineering: Engineering is the most common field of employment for physics graduates entering the workforce.
• Laboratory and research technician: Bachelor's holders usually qualify for technician and research assistant roles in engineering and computer science.
• Federal entry-level physicist: While private and academic research demands a doctorate, the BLS notes that federal entry-level physicist positions typically require a bachelor's degree in physics.
• High school physics teacher: Secondary education provides steady demand for physical science instruction, with BLS reporting a median annual wage of $72,040 for high school teachers.
• Medical physicist: This clinical track centers on radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging, but it requires graduate degrees from CAMPEP-accredited programs and residency training.
• AI training specialist: AI research labs hire physics degree holders to write, solve, and audit advanced technical problems to evaluate and train frontier machine learning models.

Tier two: Roles that pay for the toolkit and drop the physics

These positions repurpose your quantitative and computational skills to solve non-physics problems. They feature higher salaried ceilings, but you compete directly against graduates who studied those subjects exclusively.

• Software developer: Physics graduates with strong programming skills transition into software engineering, where the BLS reports a median annual wage of $135,980.
• Data scientist: The statistical mechanics and linear algebra covered in physics align closely with machine learning, where the BLS reports a median annual wage of $120,230.
• Quantitative finance: Trading desks, hedge funds, and risk groups hire physics graduates to model stochastic systems, price derivatives, and build algorithmic trading pipelines.

Tier three: Roles that pay for the credential

These positions value the technical literacy, analytical rigor, and communication skills signaled by a physics degree, rather than the explicit mathematical mechanics.

• Technical writing: Writers translate complex hardware specifications, scientific papers, and software documentation into clear language for engineers, clients, and regulators.
• Patent examination and patent law: Intellectual property firms hire physics graduates as technical specialists and patent agents to evaluate novel hardware, semiconductor, and optical inventions.
• Technical sales: Sales engineers and account managers represent scientific instrumentation, laser systems, vacuum hardware, and laboratory equipment to commercial and academic buyers.

AI training jobs for physics majors, by degree level

The AIP report found that 44% of employed physics bachelor's recipients already use AI tools at work. AI training firms hire degree holders to write test prompts, review generated step-by-step solutions, and catch subtle conceptual errors.

The surprising dynamic in AI training is that degree level matters less than demonstrated technical skill and programming fluency. The median private-sector STEM starting salary of $75,000 equals about $36 an hour across a standard 2,080-hour work year. The two listings below that do not require a graduate degree pay more per hour than that baseline, provided you can spot flawed logic, with clean code required for the micro1 track.

These roles are part-time, task-based contract positions, not salaried staff jobs. Hours fluctuate, and client projects end. However, they provide flexible technical income that directly uses your subject knowledge. You can browse more opportunities in the Skillora science directory.

With a bachelor's

• STEM Expert (MSc./PhD) on micro1: $60-120/hr. Despite the title, the listing states that a specific degree or number of years of experience is not strictly required if you demonstrate strong expertise. Physics is an approved domain. The role requires strong Python skills (NumPy, SciPy, SymPy, pandas, Jupyter) and experience using coding agents. Work involves solving domain problems, checking AI-generated solutions, and identifying flawed assumptions. It offers about 15 hours per week of fully remote, output-based contract work.
• Physicist on DataAnnotation: $75-125/hr. This role evaluates AI reasoning across classical mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum physics. Evaluators catch dimensional errors, misapplied approximations, and mathematical derivations that skip critical steps. DataAnnotation lists no formal degree requirement on the role page, and the work is flexible with no minimum required hours.

With a master's

• Physics Masters on Alignerr: $35-55/hr. Open to candidates currently pursuing or holding a master's degree in physics or applied physics. The work spans 10 to 40 hours per week from anywhere, designing problems in mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics, writing step-by-step solutions, and evaluating model benchmarks.
• STEM Researchers - MSc/PhD (Must own MacBook) on Mercor: $50-60/hr. Requires an active or completed master's degree or doctorate, with contractors working through real-world research workflows on their personal Mac hardware.
• Physics Expert on Mercor: $70-100/hr. Requires a graduate degree in physics with hands-on research experience. Contractors write original problems with reference solutions and audit model derivations for incorrect approximations, broken limiting cases, and missing units.

Notice that the bachelor's-accessible micro1 STEM Expert role pays $60 to $120 an hour, while Alignerr's master's-specific track pays $35 to $55 an hour. micro1 asks for Python and coding agents. Alignerr's listing asks for problem design and step-by-step written solutions.

Jobs for physics PhDs: where $100 to $200 an hour sits

Doctoral training commands the highest hourly rates in technical model evaluation. For comparison, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) FY2026 first-year postdoctoral stipend is $63,480, which works out to roughly $30.50 an hour. AI evaluation platforms pay substantially higher hourly rates to doctoral researchers who can verify frontier-level research problems.

Contractors at this level write complex test cases, check formal derivations, and benchmark models against advanced literature. You can explore our dedicated guide for physics PhDs or view specialized tracks on the Skillora PhD aggregator.

• Physics Expert (PhD / Postdoc) on micro1: $100-200/hr. This remote, worldwide listing is micro1's widest physics track. It asks for a PhD in physics or advanced-stage PhD candidacy, with active research experience with 2 to 5 recent publications listed on arXiv or via DOI. The contract requires an 8 to 10 week commitment at about 10 hours per week, with work involving LaTeX, SymPy, Python, and Jupyter across subfields from cosmology to condensed matter.
• Physics Expert PhD (Statistical Physics / Quantum Information / Condensed Matter) on micro1: $100-200/hr. Requires specific mastery of niche research concepts, including the Nishimori line, toric-code thresholds, Kramers-Wannier duality, quenched disorder averaging, and 4-state Potts model numerics. Contractors work 5 to 10+ hours per week as Solvers, Auditors, or Adjudicators.
• Physics Expert PhD (AMO / Optical Properties of Materials) on micro1: $100-200/hr. Focuses on advanced optics and atomic physics, requiring structure calculations for Yb-171/Yb-174 and identification of sigma versus pi transitions.
• Research Scientist - Computer Science & Computational Physics on micro1: $100-400/hr. Open to late-stage PhDs, postdocs, or researchers within five years of their doctorate with a strong publication record. Contractors deploy frontier AI models to attempt proofs, design algorithms, or run simulations, then systematically verify the results.
• Mercor PhD Physicist Tracks: $80-110/hr. Mercor operates nine distinct subfield tracks, including condensed matter, AMO, fluid dynamics, and quantum information. The work builds on CritPt (arXiv:2509.26574), a public benchmark of research-level physics problems.
• Physicist, PhD on Alignerr: $90-120/hr. The listing asks for PhD-level physicists to evaluate, critique and help build the training data that teaches AI to reason through hard problems.
• Physicist Talent Network on Mercor: $60-80/hr. An open application for physicists for future contract opportunities.

Physics graduates outside the US, including India

Hiring geography depends strictly on the platform running the project.

Platform listings on micro1 state they are open to candidates worldwide, and their regional posting data explicitly includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Japan, and Malaysia. Alignerr notes that its Physics Masters role can be performed from anywhere. DataAnnotation lists no geographical restrictions on its public role page.

By contrast, Mercor restricts its physics roles to candidates based in the US, Canada, the UK, and select European countries. India is not eligible for Mercor's current physics tracks.

Immigration rules apply to non-citizens living inside the US. F-1 students residing in the US need CPT or OPT authorization before doing off-campus work, including this kind of contract work. A listing stating it hires "worldwide" refers to its geographic talent sourcing, not an exemption from US immigration laws. Mercor's Physics Expert listing excludes H-1B and STEM OPT candidates.

How to get through the screen

Most technical evaluation platforms screen applicants through automated evaluations or AI-driven interviews. For example, micro1's STEM Expert listing describes an AI interview of about 30 minutes.

To pass these evaluations, focus on demonstrating clear analytical habits rather than rushing to a final numerical answer.

1. State your domain focus early: State your primary subfield or strongest upper-division coursework immediately. Align your answers with mechanics, statistical physics, electromagnetism, or quantum theory.
2. State all assumptions upfront: Explain whether you are treating a system as non-relativistic, assuming an ideal gas, neglecting friction, or working in the weak-field limit. micro1's PhD listing asks experts to detail all assumptions and approximations, so show that habit in the screen.
3. Name the governing principles: Explicitly state the underlying law before writing formulas. Name Gauss's law, the Euler-Lagrange equations, or Liouville's theorem directly.
4. Audit units and boundary conditions aloud: Check dimensional consistency on both sides of your equations. Demonstrate what happens to your solution as variables approach zero or infinity. Catching an impossible limiting case proves your technical depth.

Review our breakdown of AI training platform screenings to understand how platforms evaluate candidates. You can also run a trial interview on Skillora's mock interview tool before starting a live application.

The short version

• Most physics bachelor's holders do not work as physicists; private-sector engineering, software, and data science absorb the largest share.
• Technical problem solving drives compensation, with starting private-sector STEM salaries showing a median of $75,000, or about $36 an hour.
• AI training offers immediate contract work, with bachelor's-level coding tracks paying $60 to $120 an hour and PhD specialist listings paying $100 to $200 an hour.
• micro1 hires globally, including applicants in India, while Mercor restricts placement to North America and parts of Europe.
• You can compare live hourly rates and platform requirements across all active roles on the Skillora AI training jobs board.

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