What Does a Data Engineer Earn on H-1B? (Salary Guide)

If you are weighing a data engineering offer that needs H-1B sponsorship, the first surprise is that the U.S. Department of Labor has no occupation code called "Data Engineer." Employers must map the job to the closest Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code when they file a Labor Condition Application (LCA), and different companies map it differently. That single fact shapes every wage number you will see.

This guide explains where data engineering roles actually land in the disclosure data, what those roles report as wages, and how to read the figures without drawing the wrong conclusion.

There is no "Data Engineer" SOC — here is where it lands

When a company files an LCA, it picks one SOC code and one prevailing-wage level. Because "Data Engineer" is a market job title rather than a government category, the same title gets filed under several codes depending on how the employer frames the work.

The most common home for the title is Database Architects (SOC 15-1243) — the code for designing and building the data structures and pipelines an organization runs on. Employers that emphasize the software-heavy side of the job may instead file under Software Developers (15-1252), and those framing it as analytics-and-modeling work may use Data Scientists (15-2051).

That means there is no single "data engineer wage." There are three reasonable proxies, and the right one depends on the specific job description on the petition.

What Database Architects report

Database Architects (15-1243) is the closest and most-used match. Across all years in the disclosure data, the role shows a median offered wage of $96,500, with a 25th-percentile figure of $75,000 and a 75th-percentile figure of $125,000 — spread across 39,482 filings. That interquartile range is the practical takeaway: two data-engineer-style offers can differ by $50,000 and both be entirely normal, because they sit at different experience levels, metro areas, and wage tiers.

Geography drives a large share of that spread. California alone accounts for 5,259 Database Architect filings, and its median offered wage of $118,331 sits well above the national median for the same code. A role filed in a lower-cost metro can be perfectly competitive at a much lower number, because the DOL prevailing wage is tied to the specific work location.

Frequent sponsors under this code skew toward IT-services and consulting firms — Capgemini (555 filings), Cognizant (271), and IBM (119) among them. If you are benchmarking an offer, the sponsor's typical filing pattern matters as much as the code.

How wage level moves the number

The single biggest lever on a reported wage is the DOL wage level — a I-to-IV ladder that reflects experience and responsibility, not company generosity. Level I is entry-level; Level IV is a senior specialist. The ladder below shows how pay steps up across levels for Database Architects:

The lesson for a data engineer: before comparing your offer to a headline median, find out which level your petition uses. A Level II offer will naturally read lower than a Level IV median, and neither number is "wrong."

The adjacent codes: Data Scientists and Software Developers

If your role is filed as something other than Database Architects, the benchmarks shift. Data Scientists (15-2051) report a higher median offered wage of $102,700 across a much larger pool — 340,799 filings — reflecting how heavily employers have leaned on that code during the AI-and-analytics hiring wave. Software Developers (15-1252) report a median of roughly $102,000.

Both proxies land above the Database Architect median. That is not because a data engineer is "underpaid" when filed as an architect — it is a reminder that the code shapes the number. The chart below shows how a range of occupations rank on reported wages, which is a useful way to place any single offer in context:

For a fuller sense of how a technical role's reported wages have moved over time, the national median wage trend for Data Scientists shows the general direction of travel in the field:

How to read these numbers without getting misled

H-1B disclosure data is powerful, but only if you read it precisely. A few guardrails apply to every figure above.

• An LCA is not a visa. The LCA is the wage-and-working-conditions attestation an employer files with the DOL before petitioning USCIS. A filing means an employer stated an intent to hire at a given wage — not that a visa was granted.
• Certification rate is not approval rate. The DOL certifying an LCA says nothing about whether USCIS later approved the actual H-1B petition. They are separate agencies and separate decisions.
• Withdrawn is not denied. Employers withdraw LCAs for ordinary reasons — a role gets refilled, restructured, or relocated. A withdrawal is not a rejection.
• Offered wage is not take-home pay. The figure on an LCA is the gross wage the employer attests to pay. It is not adjusted for taxes, benefits, bonuses, or equity, so it will not match a paycheck.
• The most recent year is partial. FY2026 currently reflects only about two quarters of reported filings, so counts for that year will look artificially low until more data lands.

Putting it together

To benchmark a data engineering offer that needs sponsorship:

1. Find the SOC code on the petition. Database Architects (15-1243) is the most common; Software Developers or Data Scientists are the main alternatives.
2. Match the wage level. Compare against the P25/median/P75 for your level, not the overall median.
3. Anchor on the work location. A California role and a lower-cost-metro role can differ by tens of thousands of dollars and both be reasonable.
4. Check the sponsor's pattern. Some employers consistently file at or near the median; others sit toward the lower tiers.

Used this way, the disclosure data becomes a reality check rather than a single "right" number. A data engineer's H-1B wage is a range, and knowing the code and level tells you where in that range your offer actually sits. You can dig into any of these roles further on the Software Developers and Data Scientists occupation pages, or compare sponsors directly.