H1B Report
Salary comparison

Chemical Engineers vs Software Developers

Side-by-side H-1B prevailing-wage comparison using the same DOL LCA data that drives every page on H1B Report. Quartiles, hiring geography, top sponsors and yearly wage drift.

Occupation A
Chemical Engineers
SOC 17-2041Rank #50
Occupation B
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1

Key metrics

Wage figures are offered annual wage; volume is total LCA count.

MetricChemical EngineersSoftware Developers
Median wage$88,000$102,690
P25 wage$75,000$84,300
P75 wage$103,189$131,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$28,189$46,700
Total filings19,2022,843,747
Wage samples19,1262,838,792
Rank#50#1

Median wage by year

Year-over-year drift of the typical offered wage.

Chemical Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$76k
FY2011$78k
FY2012$80k
FY2013$85k
FY2014$91k
FY2015$81k
FY2016$78k
FY2017$80k
FY2018$82k
FY2019$84k
FY2020$87k
FY2021$93k
FY2022$99k
FY2023$107k
FY2024$102k
FY2025$99k
FY2026$106k
Software Developers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$80k
FY2011$80k
FY2012$81k
FY2013$82k
FY2014$82k
FY2015$82k
FY2016$84k
FY2017$90k
FY2018$93k
FY2019$96k
FY2020$103k
FY2021$112k
FY2022$115k
FY2023$120k
FY2024$124k
FY2025$133k
FY2026$140k

Top 5 hiring states — Chemical Engineers

  • 1OR3,942$93,392
  • 2CA3,314$107,000
  • 3TX2,084$84,802
  • 4MA757$89,794
  • 5AZ718$88,317

Top 5 hiring states — Software Developers

  • 1CA589,072$130,894
  • 2TX340,929$99,861
  • 3WA183,730$136,800
  • 4NJ155,389$100,000
  • 5NY131,510$112,700

Top 5 sponsors — Chemical Engineers

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