How To Become A Nuclear Physicist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nuclear physicist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Nicholas Mauro

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a nuclear physicist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.31 an hour? That's $67,213 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 2,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Nuclear Physicist?

Nicholas Mauro

Assistant Professor of Physics, Saint Norbert College

My advice to someone beginning their career is that although we have a challenging time in front of us, they should be feeling optimistic about their future. I know this seems impossible when we are struggling, as a nation, to contain the pandemic and craft a strategy to combat the short- and long-term effects. However, this is what I would say to a recent physics graduate: American success has always depended on, and benefited from, physical science talent. Physics students have historically been among the most employable graduates. The extensive preparation in a physics program enables our students to pursue interests in a wide variety of industries and find success. We shouldn't sugar coat it, early-career physicists have experienced very real and acute disruptions and face a degree of long-lasting uncertainty. The real challenges we present to our students make them highly adaptable and help them be competitive in the job marketplace.

ScoreNuclear PhysicistUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $67,213

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.5

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 7.90%

Black or African American 0.83%

Hispanic or Latino 6.65%

Unknown 3.33%

White 80.64%

Gender

female 23.81%

male 76.19%

Age - 47.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47.5

Stress Level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a nuclear physicist

Explore nuclear physicist education requirements

Most common nuclear physicist degrees

Bachelor's

52.6 %

Master's

36.8 %

Doctorate

10.5 %

Start to develop specific nuclear physicist skills

Skills	Percentages
Nuclear Medicine	39.02%
DOE	15.30%
Gamma Cameras	14.63%
DOD	13.97%
MATLAB	13.68%

Complete relevant nuclear physicist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nuclear physicists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a nuclear physicist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nuclear physicist resumes.

Research nuclear physicist duties and responsibilities

Participate in successful ACR accreditations.
Develop training PowerPoint materials to teach core elements to soldiers using web-base and SharePoint applications.perform site assistance visits to subordinates.
Service on review panels for projects at DARPA and NSF.

Prepare your nuclear physicist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nuclear physicist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a nuclear physicist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Nuclear Physicist Resume templates

Build a professional Nuclear Physicist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Nuclear Physicist resume.

Apply for nuclear physicist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a nuclear physicist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do nuclear physicists rate their job?