Salary comparison

Mechanical Engineers vs Computer and Information Systems Managers

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.

Summary

Computer and Information Systems Managers (SOC 11-3021) and Mechanical Engineers (SOC 17-2141) are both common H-1B occupations, but differ significantly in sponsorship volume and compensation.

Computer and Information Systems Managers dominate H-1B filings with 89,718 LCAs compared to 54,681 for Mechanical Engineers—a gap of 35,037 positions. This reflects strong employer demand for tech management roles. On wages, the gap widens further: the median prevailing wage for Managers is $165,000 versus $95,200 for Engineers, a difference of nearly $70,000 annually. At the 75th percentile, Managers reach $200,000 while Engineers peak at $124,800.

Mechanical Engineers do offer more modest entry-level wages (25th percentile: $80,000 vs $136,000 for Managers), making them accessible to earlier-career professionals. However, Computer Managers command higher salaries across all wage tiers and attract significantly more H-1B sponsorship, reflecting the tech sector's outsized demand for management talent.

Computer Managers vs Mechanical Engineers H-1B
H-1B occupation comparison
Computer Managers H-1B filings
Mechanical Engineers prevailing wage
H-1B salary by job title

Occupation A

Mechanical Engineers

SOC 17-2141Rank #10

Occupation B

Computer and Information Systems Managers

SOC 11-3021Rank #6

Key metrics

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

Metric	Mechanical Engineers	Computer and Information Systems Managers
Median wage	$95,200	$165,000▲
P25 wage	$80,000	$136,000▲
P75 wage	$124,800	$200,000▲
Wage spread (P75 − P25)	$44,800	$64,000
Total filings	54,681	89,718▲
Wage samples	54,596	89,598
Rank	#10	#6▲

Median wage by year

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

Mechanical Engineers

Computer and Information Systems Managers

Top 5 hiring states — Mechanical Engineers

1CA13,608$134,198
2MI6,895$88,350
3TX5,117$100,000
4OH2,461$82,742
5IL2,334$83,200

Top 5 hiring states — Computer and Information Systems Managers

1CA20,629$192,000
2NY14,429$171,000
3WA8,909$176,694
4TX8,745$157,216
5NJ4,836$160,555

Top 5 sponsors — Mechanical Engineers

1Apple Inc.558
2Tesla, Inc.553
3Cummins Inc.471
4L&T Technology Services Limited323
5COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS US CORP230

Top 5 sponsors — Computer and Information Systems Managers

Swap an entity

Replace either occupation above without losing the comparison. 2-way for now; 3+ comparison coming soon.

Swap A: Mechanical Engineers

Software Developers Computer Occupations, All Other Data Scientists Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

Swap B: Computer and Information Systems Managers

Software Developers Computer Occupations, All Other Data Scientists Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

Or browse the full occupation index.

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