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$103,480$92,000
P25 wage$80,142$77,355
P75 wage$135,000$115,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$54,858$37,645
Total filings357,93213,303
Wage samples357,23413,251
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$122k
Materials Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$74k
FY2011$75k
FY2012$76k
FY2013$78k
FY2014$78k
FY2015$80k
FY2016$80k
FY2017$81k
FY2018$84k
FY2019$86k
FY2020$85k
FY2021$91k
FY2022$96k
FY2023$97k
FY2024$110k
FY2025$110k
FY2026$124k

Top 5 hiring states — Data Scientists

  • 1CA70,879$128,000
  • 2NY38,475$120,000
  • 3TX37,207$97,800
  • 4WA26,143$130,000
  • 5NJ18,597$95,680

Top 5 hiring states — Materials Engineers

  • 1CA2,728$109,533
  • 2OR1,818$120,640
  • 3MI1,008$84,032
  • 4TX992$91,998
  • 5NY791$81,037
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