H1B Report
Salary comparison

Data Scientists 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
Data Scientists
SOC 15-2051Rank #5
Occupation B
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1

Key metrics

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

MetricData ScientistsSoftware Developers
Median wage$103,480$102,690
P25 wage$80,142$84,300
P75 wage$135,000$131,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$54,858$46,700
Total filings357,9322,843,747
Wage samples357,2342,838,792
Rank#5#1

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
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$140k

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 — Software Developers

  • 1CA589,072$130,894
  • 2TX340,929$99,861
  • 3WA183,730$136,800
  • 4NJ155,389$100,000
  • 5NY131,510$112,700
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