- #1
F=qE
- 68
- 10
Hey Physics Forums,
I have what might be a dumb question but I think it's one that a lot of professional physicists can answer. I also think it's one that a lot of people like me might be curious to know the answer. Context for me is I'm a graduate student trying to understand my future opportunities.
I have tried looking for this answer around the internet. I have no idea how much a physicist could expect to be compensated in a national laboratory setting like Livermore or Berkeley Lab. A naive google search for "livermore salary physicist" says $118k to $176k according to Glassdoor.com. Are these actually reasonable numbers? Because if I search instead of "berkeley laboratory salary physicist" I see values that are more in line with my previous impression that physicists in National Lab settings made half this... Berkeley lab from Glassdoor says around $60k. And since I know the internet can lie to me and mislead, I wanted to ask here to an audience of physicists. Why could there be this massive discrepancy between the two?
My second question is more specific to Livermore. I have worked at Berkeley lab so I know what that is like. What is life like working in Livermore? Do people commute from the rest of the bay area? There isn't quite a bart line all the way out there which makes it harder.
Thanks for the insights. If I am not allowed to ask about salary information, I'm sure someone will tell me and I will delete it. I'm not asking for anyone's specific information of course. Just general orders of magnitude...
I have what might be a dumb question but I think it's one that a lot of professional physicists can answer. I also think it's one that a lot of people like me might be curious to know the answer. Context for me is I'm a graduate student trying to understand my future opportunities.
I have tried looking for this answer around the internet. I have no idea how much a physicist could expect to be compensated in a national laboratory setting like Livermore or Berkeley Lab. A naive google search for "livermore salary physicist" says $118k to $176k according to Glassdoor.com. Are these actually reasonable numbers? Because if I search instead of "berkeley laboratory salary physicist" I see values that are more in line with my previous impression that physicists in National Lab settings made half this... Berkeley lab from Glassdoor says around $60k. And since I know the internet can lie to me and mislead, I wanted to ask here to an audience of physicists. Why could there be this massive discrepancy between the two?
My second question is more specific to Livermore. I have worked at Berkeley lab so I know what that is like. What is life like working in Livermore? Do people commute from the rest of the bay area? There isn't quite a bart line all the way out there which makes it harder.
Thanks for the insights. If I am not allowed to ask about salary information, I'm sure someone will tell me and I will delete it. I'm not asking for anyone's specific information of course. Just general orders of magnitude...