H1B Report
Salary comparison

Social Science Research Assistants 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
Social Science Research Assistants
SOC 19-4061Rank #59
Occupation B
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1

Key metrics

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

MetricSocial Science Research AssistantsSoftware Developers
Median wage$91,668$102,690
P25 wage$71,600$84,300
P75 wage$125,000$131,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$53,400$46,700
Total filings15,6982,843,747
Wage samples15,6532,838,792
Rank#59#1

Median wage by year

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

Social Science Research Assistants
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$72k
FY2011$71k
FY2012$69k
FY2013$73k
FY2014$72k
FY2015$74k
FY2016$76k
FY2017$80k
FY2018$83k
FY2019$85k
FY2020$90k
FY2021$97k
FY2022$115k
FY2023$122k
FY2024$130k
FY2025$130k
FY2026$143k
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 — Social Science Research Assistants

  • 1NY3,837$102,814
  • 2CA2,741$90,000
  • 3TX1,169$95,264
  • 4IL1,157$85,000
  • 5DC831$81,041

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