Start with the answer
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary pay in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Physics Teachers, Postsecondary is $172,510 per year in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. It is $105,810 per year in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA is 63.0% above Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 25-1054 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 440 wage and salary jobs in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and 80 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings