H1B Report
Salary comparison

Economists 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
Economists
SOC 19-3011Rank #65
Occupation B
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1

Key metrics

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

MetricEconomistsSoftware Developers
Median wage$95,088$102,690
P25 wage$75,000$84,300
P75 wage$130,000$131,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$55,000$46,700
Total filings13,4162,843,747
Wage samples13,3602,838,792
Rank#65#1

Median wage by year

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

Economists
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$85k
FY2011$81k
FY2012$80k
FY2013$80k
FY2014$80k
FY2015$82k
FY2016$85k
FY2017$84k
FY2018$89k
FY2019$94k
FY2020$94k
FY2021$102k
FY2022$110k
FY2023$114k
FY2024$120k
FY2025$120k
FY2026$150k
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 — Economists

  • 1NY2,749$105,000
  • 2CA1,939$101,140
  • 3DC1,040$126,202
  • 4MA1,005$100,000
  • 5TX854$91,044

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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