H1B Report
Salary comparison

Software Developers vs Civil Engineers

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
Software Developers
SOC 15-1252Rank #1
Occupation B
Civil Engineers
SOC 17-2051Rank #21

Key metrics

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

MetricSoftware DevelopersCivil Engineers
Median wage$102,000$75,000
P25 wage$84,000$64,064
P75 wage$130,000$91,478
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$46,000$27,414
Total filings2,765,22673,095
Wage samples2,760,33472,403
Rank#1#21

Median wage by year

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

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$143k
Civil Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$65k
FY2011$66k
FY2012$67k
FY2013$70k
FY2014$69k
FY2015$67k
FY2016$68k
FY2017$69k
FY2018$72k
FY2019$72k
FY2020$75k
FY2021$80k
FY2022$83k
FY2023$87k
FY2024$88k
FY2025$90k
FY2026$101k

Top 5 hiring states — Software Developers

  • 1CA571,349$130,000
  • 2TX328,305$98,910
  • 3WA175,348$135,000
  • 4NJ152,178$100,000
  • 5NY127,190$110,460

Top 5 hiring states — Civil Engineers

  • 1TX10,131$78,000
  • 2CA10,054$85,997
  • 3NY5,528$76,107
  • 4MI4,916$71,752
  • 5FL3,547$70,000
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Software Developers vs Civil Engineers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report