Alternative careers
Related career paths that build on similar skills and experience
Why it fits
Fits computational physicists using algorithms, simulation, high-performance computing, and research methods.
Why it fits
Uses nuclear physics, radiation, modeling, instrumentation, safety, and technical analysis with engineering focus.
Why it fits
Fits optics and laser physicists using light-based systems, experiments, design constraints, and testing.
Why it fits
Directly reuses physics knowledge, research, experiments, explanation, mentoring, and curriculum design.
Occupation snapshot
What does this snowflake show?
What's this?
We rate jobs using four factors. These are:
- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions
These are some key things to think about when job hunting.
Risk & user votes
Calculated automation risk
Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.
More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.
Human strengths important in this job
These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.
Originality
Very importantWhy this matters
Decision-making and problem solving
Very importantWhy this matters
Active learning
Very importantWhy this matters
Social perceptiveness
Quite importantWhy this matters
Persuasion
Quite importantWhy this matters
Show 5 more strengths
Instructing
Quite importantWhy this matters
Coordinating others’ work
Quite importantWhy this matters
Communicating with people outside the organization
Quite importantWhy this matters
Developing objectives and strategies
Quite importantWhy this matters
Operations analysis
Quite importantWhy this matters
What users think
Based on 1,201 votes
Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 9% chance of automation.
What do you think the risk of automation is?
What is the likelihood that Physicists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?
Sentiment
Based on user votes over time
View sentiment trend
How opinions have changed over time
Pay & outlook
Wages
In 2024, the median annual wage for Physicists was $166,290 ($80 per hour).
The median annual wage for Physicists was 235.9% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.
View wage trend
Wages over time
Growth
The number of 'Physicists' job openings is expected to rise 4.0% by 2034
View employment trend
Total employment, and estimated job openings
Updated projections are due 09-2025.
Volume
As of 2024 there were 21,340 people employed as 'Physicists' within the United States.
This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country
Put another way, around 1 in 7 thousand people are employed as 'Physicists'.
People also viewed
Job description
Conduct research into physical phenomena, develop theories on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply physical laws and theories.
O*NET-SOC code: 19-2012.00
What people are saying (47)
If any junior reads this message, I can only wish you the best. While your work is irreplaceable by AI, your future will be filled with problems where AI cannot assist you. Good luck.
If anything, I can see some simulation aspects or redundant experimental procedures being automated in the near term. But parts that incorporate creative problem solving or the physical intuition needed in determining directions to take research are things that are pretty safeguarded to humans for a bit.
I think those "intuitions" are very difficult to map to general problem-solving algorithms.
We can have a discussion on whether it is possible in the next 200 years, sure, but 20 years? That's laughable. Given that only physicists are qualified to write, train, and optimize the algorithms that would be used to replace them, it will take a long, long, long time.
I suspect that we would need true machine sentience before we could actually start to talk about replacing theoretical and mathematical physicists.
Reply to comment