H1B Report
Salary comparison

Social Science Research Assistants vs Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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

Key metrics

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

MetricSocial Science Research AssistantsSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Median wage$90,000$81,328
P25 wage$71,261$68,549
P75 wage$122,855$100,000
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$51,594$31,451
Total filings15,151367,097
Wage samples15,106366,392
Rank#59#4

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$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
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$75k
FY2011$70k
FY2012$68k
FY2013$68k
FY2014$69k
FY2015$70k
FY2016$71k
FY2017$74k
FY2018$82k
FY2019$85k
FY2020$88k
FY2021$94k
FY2022$97k
FY2023$98k
FY2024$100k
FY2025$103k
FY2026$110k

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

Top 5 hiring states — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

  • 1CA69,271$96,325
  • 2TX38,277$82,710
  • 3NJ23,266$72,030
  • 4WA19,761$87,942
  • 5IL17,732$74,818

Top 5 sponsors — Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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Social Science Research Assistants vs Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report