H1B Report
Salary comparison

Software Developers vs Sales 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
Sales Engineers
SOC 41-9031Rank #36

Key metrics

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

MetricSoftware DevelopersSales Engineers
Median wage$102,000$100,000
P25 wage$84,000$77,584
P75 wage$130,000$126,818
Wage spread (P75 − P25)$46,000$49,234
Total filings2,765,22629,702
Wage samples2,760,33429,574
Rank#1#36

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
Sales Engineers
Time series: 17 points from FY2010 to FY2026
Time series
PeriodValue
FY2010$77k
FY2011$75k
FY2012$77k
FY2013$80k
FY2014$82k
FY2015$85k
FY2016$87k
FY2017$91k
FY2018$101k
FY2019$107k
FY2020$109k
FY2021$116k
FY2022$121k
FY2023$122k
FY2024$128k
FY2025$130k
FY2026$140k

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 — Sales Engineers

  • 1CA7,276$112,239
  • 2TX3,639$101,816
  • 3NY2,262$102,000
  • 4NJ1,926$94,279
  • 5IL1,220$97,466
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Software Developers vs Sales Engineers — H-1B Salary Comparison · H1B Report