Best colleges for Physics in California
Program-level earnings — not school prestige — rank these. Among the California programs in the federal field-of-study file, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo leads: its Physics graduates earn a median $96,805 four years after finishing, against the field's $76,786 national median. (Scorecard field-of-study, 2026.)
| # | College | Grad earnings, 4 yrs | Vs field median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | $96,805 | +$20,019 |
| 2 | University of California-Irvine | $96,215 | +$19,429 |
| 3 | University of California-Berkeley | $96,043 | +$19,257 |
| 4 | University of California-San Diego | $95,018 | +$18,232 |
How big is the earnings gap between California Physics programs?
$1,787 separates the top and bottom of this list — $96,805 at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo against $95,018 at University of California-San Diego, four years after finishing. Same field, same state, same federal measure: where you study moves pay by that much.
Do California Physics graduates earn more than the national median?
The state's strongest program pays $20,019 above the $76,786 national median for the field. Program-level medians come from federal tax records of graduates who received aid, so they track actual pay rather than advertised salaries.