H1B Report
Salary comparison

Data Scientists vs Materials Engineers

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
Data Scientists
SOC 15-2051Rank #5
Occupation B
Materials Engineers
SOC 17-2131Rank #66

Key metrics

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

MetricData ScientistsMaterials Engineers
Median wage$102,700$91,470
P25 wage$80,000$76,918
P75 wage$135,000$112,986
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$55,000$36,068
Total filings340,79912,778
Wage samples340,10612,727
Rank#5#66

Median wage by year

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

Data Scientists
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$70k
FY2011$71k
FY2012$71k
FY2013$74k
FY2014$75k
FY2015$76k
FY2016$78k
FY2017$85k
FY2018$91k
FY2019$95k
FY2020$102k
FY2021$111k
FY2022$115k
FY2023$119k
FY2024$118k
FY2025$121k
FY2026$130k
Materials Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$75k
FY2011$75k
FY2012$76k
FY2013$78k
FY2014$78k
FY2015$80k
FY2016$80k
FY2017$80k
FY2018$84k
FY2019$86k
FY2020$85k
FY2021$91k
FY2022$96k
FY2023$97k
FY2024$110k
FY2025$110k
FY2026$124k

Top 5 hiring states — Data Scientists

  • 1CA68,055$127,000
  • 2NY36,985$120,000
  • 3TX34,597$97,739
  • 4WA24,843$129,709
  • 5NJ17,688$95,000

Top 5 hiring states — Materials Engineers

  • 1CA2,612$107,298
  • 2OR1,711$120,640
  • 3MI996$84,032
  • 4TX954$90,000
  • 5NY779$80,699
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Data Scientists vs Materials Engineers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report