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Best Physics Schools by Graduate Salary & ROI (2026)

75 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Physics, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Physics graduate earns $46,482/yr across 75 schools.

What do Physics graduates do? See career paths and salaries →

Why a Utah School Outranks MIT and Caltech

Brigham Young University's #1 spot is a masterclass in return on investment. With an exceptional 36.5x ROI, BYU pairs high graduate earnings ($68,664/yr) with remarkably low tuition. This financial performance is likely bolstered by a powerful, tight-knit global alumni network that creates direct hiring pipelines, and a curriculum that produces disciplined graduates for industries that value both technical skill and strong ethics.

The Public Powerhouse Advantage

The fact that 18 of the top 20 programs are public universities is not an accident; it's the core story of this ranking. State-funded research institutions, particularly in California (6 of the top 20), offer access to world-class faculty and labs at a fraction of the cost of private elites. This model creates a direct talent pipeline into regional industries—like California's tech and aerospace sectors—giving students a massive head start on career earnings and a faster path to a positive ROI.

The Prestige Trap: Why MIT Ranks #18

Seeing MIT far down the list is shocking, but it reveals a crucial truth about undergraduate value. While MIT's physics program is legendary, its staggering 4-year tuition of $240,624 leads to a meager 4.2x ROI, the lowest in the top 20. The data is clear: for an undergraduate physics degree, you can achieve a significantly better financial return from top public universities like Cal Poly Pomona (24.0x ROI) without sacrificing career outcomes.

AI Won't Steal Your Job, It Will Be Your Lab Partner

The 56% AI task exposure across all physics programs isn't a death sentence; it's a job description update. Routine work like running standard simulations and analyzing massive datasets will be handled by AI. This frees you up for the tasks that require human ingenuity: designing novel experiments, asking creative questions, and making judgment calls on AI-generated results. Your future value isn't in doing the calculations, but in knowing which calculations to do.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$46,482/yr

Avg DW Score

50/100

AI Risk

Very High

56% task exposure

All Physics Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private nonprofit	74 73–76	$68,664/yr	36.5x
2	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	70 68–72	$64,045/yr	24.0x
3	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	70 68–71	$62,749/yr	17.7x
4	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA · Public	70 68–71	$56,018/yr	25.0x
5	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	69 67–70	$53,597/yr	16.4x
6	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD · Public	69 67–70	$54,548/yr	19.3x
7	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	69 67–70	$54,428/yr	20.9x
8	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	66 64–68	$60,495/yr	13.6x
9	University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public	65 65–67	$46,094/yr	29.4x
10	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	65 63–67	$53,504/yr	14.6x
11	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY · Public	64 63–65	$44,562/yr	19.3x
12	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	64 62–65	$58,061/yr	11.7x
13	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	63 65–64	$41,737/yr	21.2x
14	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	62 63–63	$42,057/yr	27.3x
15	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	62 61–64	$48,951/yr	12.8x
16	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Public	62 60–64	$70,150/yr	23.3x
17	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	61 64–62	$39,825/yr	21.0x
18	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · Private nonprofit	60 58–61	$54,773/yr	4.2x
19	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	60 58–61	$53,019/yr	10.0x
20	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public	59 57–61	$55,826/yr	20.9x
21	Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA · Public	59 57–60	$62,478/yr	16.4x
22	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	59 57–60	$51,019/yr	10.3x
23	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY · Private nonprofit	59 58–61	$60,348/yr	3.5x
24	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	59 57–60	$62,647/yr	16.4x
25	University of Wisconsin-River Falls River Falls, WI · Public	59 57–61	$62,196/yr	17.1x
26	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · Public	58 56–60	$57,114/yr	17.6x
27	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	58 56–59	$54,350/yr	9.1x
28	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	58 60–60	$41,474/yr	15.4x
29	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	58 60–60	$41,474/yr	15.5x
30	Southern Arkansas University Main Campus Magnolia, AR · Public	57 55–58	$58,870/yr	14.0x
31	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	55 53–56	$48,908/yr	15.7x
32	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	55 61–56	$36,832/yr	18.7x
33	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	54 52–56	$57,435/yr	11.1x
34	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	51 53–53	$41,874/yr	9.6x
35	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	51 49–52	$53,329/yr	9.2x
36	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	50 49–52	$51,927/yr	9.1x
37	Boise State University Boise, ID · Public	50 50–51	$45,813/yr	12.0x
38	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	50 49–52	$47,670/yr	10.8x
39	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ · Public	50 56–51	$36,435/yr	12.5x
40	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	50 57–50	$34,611/yr	16.0x
41	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	50 56–51	$36,878/yr	14.6x
42	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	49 47–51	$52,741/yr	7.2x
43	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ · Public	49 56–50	$35,689/yr	11.9x
44	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	49 56–50	$35,689/yr	11.8x
45	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ · Public	49 56–50	$35,689/yr	12.3x
46	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	48 47–50	$50,219/yr	7.5x
47	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	48 48–49	$43,740/yr	11.3x
48	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	48 46–49	$48,169/yr	7.9x
49	Whitworth University Spokane, WA · Private nonprofit	48 46–49	$65,316/yr	2.2x
50	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	48 47–50	$48,169/yr	8.6x
51	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public	47 45–48	$48,324/yr	6.3x
52	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit	47 45–48	$68,215/yr	1.6x
53	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA · Public	45 44–46	$46,641/yr	4.7x
54	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	43 53–44	$30,503/yr	14.3x
55	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	43 44–44	$43,144/yr	6.6x
56	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	43 52–44	$33,400/yr	10.7x
57	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private nonprofit	42 40–43	$50,933/yr	0.9x
58	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA · Public	41 50–42	$31,001/yr	15.9x
59	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	41 40–43	$49,399/yr	1.0x
60	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY · Private nonprofit	41 40–42	$48,374/yr	1.1x
61	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	40 45–41	$38,748/yr	9.4x
62	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ · Public	39 42–40	$39,740/yr	5.7x
63	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA · Public	39 42–40	$39,804/yr	5.0x
64	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public	37 43–38	$36,328/yr	9.1x
65	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	36 41–37	$37,859/yr	5.5x
66	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO · Public	32 40–33	$34,373/yr	6.2x
67	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	28 38–29	$30,203/yr	6.6x
68	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	28 37–29	$32,341/yr	3.6x
69	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	28 37–29	$32,341/yr	3.6x
70	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	28 37–29	$32,341/yr	3.6x
71	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT · Public	28 37–29	$32,341/yr	3.6x
72	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	27 36–28	$32,341/yr	3.0x
73	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ · Public	27 37–28	$30,503/yr	—
74	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	23 25–24	$19,977/yr	2.5x
75	New York University New York, NY · Private nonprofit	20 27–21	$24,802/yr	0.0x

Scores calculated using College Scorecard, BLS, and AI task-exposure data. See full methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Physics?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score, Brigham Young University ranks #1 for Physics with a score of 74/100 and graduate earnings of $68,664/yr.

How much do Physics graduates earn?

Across 75 schools, Physics graduates earn an average of $46,482/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $70,150/yr.

Is Physics a good major for AI resistance?

Physics has an average AI task exposure of 56%, rated "Very High". This field has significant AI exposure. Check individual program pages for scenario analysis.