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$87,600$102,000
P25 wage$74,776$84,000
P75 wage$102,100$130,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$27,324$46,000
Total filings18,7042,765,226
Wage samples18,6292,760,334
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$112k
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$143k

Top 5 hiring states — Chemical Engineers

  • 1OR3,929$93,392
  • 2CA3,232$106,568
  • 3TX2,007$84,344
  • 4MA737$89,190
  • 5AZ705$88,317

Top 5 hiring states — Software Developers

  • 1CA571,349$130,000
  • 2TX328,305$98,910
  • 3WA175,348$135,000
  • 4NJ152,178$100,000
  • 5NY127,190$110,460

Top 5 sponsors — Chemical Engineers

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Chemical Engineers vs Software Developers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report