H1B Report
Salary comparison

Computer Hardware Engineers vs Computer Programmers

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
Computer Hardware Engineers
SOC 17-2061Rank #57
Occupation B
Computer Programmers
SOC 15-1251Rank #6

Key metrics

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

MetricComputer Hardware EngineersComputer Programmers
Median wage$124,800$68,848
P25 wage$92,162$61,000
P75 wage$158,000$80,184
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$65,838$19,184
Total filings16,919313,856
Wage samples16,901312,556
Rank#57#6

Median wage by year

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

Computer Hardware Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$81k
FY2011$79k
FY2012$80k
FY2013$89k
FY2014$90k
FY2015$94k
FY2016$100k
FY2017$104k
FY2018$115k
FY2019$120k
FY2020$133k
FY2021$140k
FY2022$150k
FY2023$153k
FY2024$160k
FY2025$162k
FY2026$167k
Computer Programmers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$60k
FY2011$62k
FY2012$62k
FY2013$63k
FY2014$65k
FY2015$67k
FY2016$68k
FY2017$69k
FY2018$74k
FY2019$77k
FY2020$78k
FY2021$85k
FY2022$87k
FY2023$86k
FY2024$94k
FY2025$94k
FY2026$98k

Top 5 hiring states — Computer Hardware Engineers

  • 1CA10,009$135,000
  • 2TX1,074$122,700
  • 3WA1,066$141,900
  • 4NC645$103,572
  • 5MA553$116,528

Top 5 hiring states — Computer Programmers

  • 1TX38,662$69,200
  • 2CA38,151$75,000
  • 3NJ29,022$70,251
  • 4IL21,834$66,100
  • 5NY16,102$70,735

Top 5 sponsors — Computer Hardware Engineers

Top 5 sponsors — Computer Programmers

Swap an entity
Replace either occupation above without losing the comparison. 2-way for now; 3+ comparison coming soon.