H1B Report
Salary comparison

Data Scientists vs Social Science Research Assistants

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
Social Science Research Assistants
SOC 19-4061Rank #59

Key metrics

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

MetricData ScientistsSocial Science Research Assistants
Median wage$102,700$90,000
P25 wage$80,000$71,261
P75 wage$135,000$122,855
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$55,000$51,594
Total filings340,79915,151
Wage samples340,10615,106
Rank#5#59

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
Social Science Research Assistants
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$72k
FY2011$71k
FY2012$69k
FY2013$73k
FY2014$73k
FY2015$74k
FY2016$76k
FY2017$80k
FY2018$83k
FY2019$85k
FY2020$90k
FY2021$97k
FY2022$115k
FY2023$122k
FY2024$130k
FY2025$130k
FY2026$142k

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 — Social Science Research Assistants

  • 1NY3,662$101,254
  • 2CA2,656$90,000
  • 3TX1,128$95,000
  • 4IL1,108$83,751
  • 5DC802$80,151
Swap an entity
Replace either occupation above without losing the comparison. 2-way for now; 3+ comparison coming soon.
Data Scientists vs Social Science Research Assistants — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report