State comparison

New Jersey vs Illinois

H-1B filing geography compared side-by-side. Volume, national share, top sponsoring employers and most-filed occupations. Built from the same DOL LCA data that drives every page on H1B Report.

Summary

Illinois and New Jersey represent two major U.S. hubs for H-1B sponsorship, yet they diverge significantly in filing volume and workforce composition. New Jersey leads with 534,212 total H-1B filings, while Illinois has filed 428,170 applications across all years on record. This difference reflects New Jersey's concentration of multinational tech, pharma, and finance employers in the Northeast Corridor, whereas Illinois draws H-1B talent across manufacturing, healthcare, and professional services spanning the Midwest.

Both states consistently rank among the top H-1B destinations nationally. New Jersey's higher filing count correlates with its proximity to major financial and tech centers, while Illinois maintains robust H-1B sponsorship tied to its diverse industrial base and large metro markets. Employers in either state typically sponsor roles in software engineering, finance, healthcare, and management consulting, though the specific occupational mix and prevailing wage thresholds can differ by region and sector.

Illinois vs New Jersey H-1B
H-1B filings by state comparison
H-1B sponsorship Illinois
H-1B sponsorship New Jersey
state H-1B trends

State A

New Jersey

NJRank #4

State B

Illinois

ILRank #5

Key metrics

National share is each state’s portion of total US H-1B filings.

Metric	New Jersey	Illinois
Total filings	534,212▲	428,170
National share %	5.72%▲	4.59%
Rank nationally	#4▲	#5
Top sponsor	COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS US CORP	INFOSYS LIMITED
Top sponsor share	3.3%	4.4%
Top occupation	Software Developers	Software Developers

Filings by fiscal year

Year-over-year H-1B demand in each state.

New Jersey

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	22,533
FY2011	23,613
FY2012	27,861
FY2013	29,795
FY2014	36,783
FY2015	47,664
FY2016	48,372
FY2017	42,571
FY2018	40,743
FY2019	4,478
FY2020	31,318
FY2021	41,952
FY2022	33,547
FY2023	34,837
FY2024	29,700
FY2025	29,182
FY2026	9,263

Illinois

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	17,542
FY2011	18,596
FY2012	22,351
FY2013	24,513
FY2014	27,412
FY2015	32,770
FY2016	35,186
FY2017	32,082
FY2018	31,959
FY2019	4,058
FY2020	27,702
FY2021	39,044
FY2022	29,930
FY2023	27,890
FY2024	23,732
FY2025	25,222
FY2026	8,181

Top 5 sponsors — New Jersey

1COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS US CORP11,1973.3%
2TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED9,7672.9%
3INFOSYS LIMITED9,2082.7%
4IBM India Private Limited7,8532.3%
5LARSEN & TOUBRO INFOTECH LIMITED6,3601.9%

Top 5 sponsors — Illinois

1INFOSYS LIMITED11,7364.4%
2TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED9,5403.5%
3CAPGEMINI AMERICA INC8,4213.1%
4COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS US CORP6,6402.5%
5Deloitte Consulting LLP5,0251.9%

Top 5 occupations — New Jersey

115-1252Software Developers152,510
215-1211Computer Systems Analysts80,953
315-1299Computer Occupations, All Other43,330
415-1251Computer Programmers28,543
515-1253Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers23,317

Top 5 occupations — Illinois

115-1252Software Developers111,510
215-1211Computer Systems Analysts48,852
315-1299Computer Occupations, All Other30,839
415-1251Computer Programmers21,463
515-1253Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers17,760

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