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2024 Best Physics Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
3,224 Physics Degrees Awarded
$41,268 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in physics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #68 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Physics Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,224 degrees in physics during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Physics School

Best Physics Schools in California The physics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Physics rankings. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Physics Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Physics
Master's Degrees in Physics
Doctor's Degrees in Physics

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Physics Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Physics in California

The schools below may not offer all types of physics degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top California Schools in Physics

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
85 Physics Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in physics. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 85 physics students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in physics from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
123 Physics Degrees Awarded
14.6% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in physics has to check out University of California - Los Angeles. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 123 physics students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the physics program earn an average of $42,865 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Los Angeles

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
199 Physics Degrees Awarded
$49,863 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in physics needs to take a look at University of California - Santa Barbara. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 199 physics students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the physics degree program at University of California - Santa Barbara make $8,595 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Santa Barbara

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
197 Physics Degrees Awarded
$59,702 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in physics needs to look into University of California - Berkeley. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 197 physics students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the physics major at University of California - Berkeley get $18,434 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Berkeley

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
82 Physics Degrees Awarded
$41,524 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were approximately 82 physics students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the physics program report average early career wages of $41,524.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - San Diego

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
122 Physics Degrees Awarded
29.5% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were roughly 121.99999999999999 physics students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the physics program report average early career wages of $33,381.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Irvine

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In CA
52 Physics Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #31 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Caltech is a great school overall.

There were roughly 52 physics students who graduated with this degree at Caltech in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in physics from California Institute of Technology

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
90 Physics Degrees Awarded
16.7% Growth in Graduates

UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were about 90 physics students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the physics program earn around $25,226 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Davis

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
95 Physics Degrees Awarded
32.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were approximately 95 physics students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the physics program report average early career income of $36,552.

More information about a degree in physics from University of California - Santa Cruz

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Physics Degrees Awarded
$43,640 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 48 physics students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the physics program at California State University - Long Beach get $2,372 more than the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in physics from California State University - Long Beach

Best Physics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Physics Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 392
Oregon 266 187
Nevada 192 50
Hawaii 164 10
Alaska 119 4

View All Rankings >

One of 8 majors within the Physical Sciences area of study, Physics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Physics Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Physics 3,094
Other Physics 125
Theoretical & Mathematical Physics 4
Atomic/Molecular Physics 1

View All Physics Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Physics

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 3,316
Geological & Earth Sciences 994
General Physical Sciences 362
Astronomy & Astrophysics 252
Materials Sciences 136
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 82
Other Physical Science 15

View All Physics Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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