H-1B salary guideSOC 15-2051Rank #5Updated Jun 2026

Data Scientists

H-1B prevailing-wage data for Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051). Based on 340,799 Labor Condition Applications filed with the US Department of Labor.

Median wage

$130,000

P50 · FY2026

P25 wage

$102,000

lower quartile · FY2026

P75 wage

$163,322

upper quartile · FY2026

Filings

10,886

Rank #5 · FY2026

Summary

Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) is one of the largest H-1B occupations, with 340,799 filings since tracking began. In FY2026, 10,886 H-1B petitions were filed for Data Scientists, with a median wage of $130,000 and an interquartile range of $102,000–$163,322.

H-1B Data Scientists follow a clear wage progression across Department of Labor skill levels. Level I positions (entry-level) have a median of $81,328 and range from $70,000 to $98,155. Level II roles jump to $105,000 median ($89,690–$130,000). Level III positions reach $133,000 median ($110,864–$160,000), while Level IV (expert) roles command $152,978 median and up to $185,000. Across all filings, the overall median sits at $102,700, with 25th percentile at $80,000 and 75th percentile at $135,000.

California leads hiring with 68,055 filings and a median wage of $127,000, followed by New York (36,985 filings, $120,000 median) and Texas (34,597 filings, $97,739 median). Washington and New Jersey round out the top five. Top employers include Amazon.com (both Washington and Virginia locations), Wipro Limited, Microsoft Corporation, and Capital One Services, LLC.

Data Scientists H-1B salary
H-1B Data Scientists wage levels
Data Scientist prevailing wage
H-1B Data Scientists by state
Data Scientists H-1B employers
Data Scientist H-1B sponsorship

Wage by DOL prevailing-wage level

P25 / P50 / P75 of offered annual wage at each PW_WAGE_LEVEL. Level I = entry, Level IV = expert — the I-to-IV gap is the career runway.

Level	N	P25	Median	P75
Level I	33,001	$70,000	$81,328	$98,155
Level II	98,846	$89,690	$105,000	$130,000
Level III	45,941	$110,864	$133,000	$160,000
Level IV	34,864	$129,666	$152,978	$185,000

Wage by level (P25 / median / P75)
Level	P25	Median	P75
Level I	$70,000	$81,328	$98,155
Level II	$89,690	$105,000	$130,000
Level III	$110,864	$133,000	$160,000
Level IV	$129,666	$152,978	$185,000

Top hiring states

Worksite states with the most filings for this SOC, with the local median wage.

#	State	Filings	Median
1	CA	68,055	$127,000
2	NY	36,985	$120,000
3	TX	34,597	$97,739
4	WA	24,843	$129,709
5	NJ	17,688	$95,000
6	IL	16,391	$92,000
7	MA	14,456	$100,000
8	VA	12,155	$93,933
9	GA	10,624	$92,976
10	NC	8,394	$100,000

68,055

36,985

34,597

24,843

17,688

16,391

14,456

12,155

10,624

8,394

Top sponsoring employers

Who actually files most for this role.

#	Employer	Filings
1	AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC (WA)	4,935
2	AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC (VA)	4,931
3	WIPRO LIMITED	4,085
4	Microsoft Corporation	3,561
5	Capital One Services, LLC	2,416
6	WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.	2,378
7	Meta Platforms, Inc	1,867
8	Amazon Web Services, Inc.	1,834
9	CAPGEMINI AMERICA INC	1,641
10	Capital One, National Association	1,527

AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC (WA)

4,935

AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC (VA)

4,931

WIPRO LIMITED

4,085

Microsoft Corporation

3,561

Capital One Services, LLC

2,416

WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.

2,378

Meta Platforms, Inc

1,867

Amazon Web Services, Inc.

1,834

CAPGEMINI AMERICA INC

1,641

Capital One, National Asso…

1,527

Median wage by fiscal year

How the typical offered wage for this SOC has drifted across fiscal years.

Time series
Period	Value
FY2010	$70k
FY2011	$71k
FY2012	$71k
FY2013	$74k
FY2014	$75k
FY2015	$76k
FY2016	$78k
FY2017	$85k
FY2018	$91k
FY2019	$95k
FY2020	$102k
FY2021	$111k
FY2022	$115k
FY2023	$119k
FY2024	$118k
FY2025	$121k
FY2026	$130k

Compare Data Scientists with another occupation

Side-by-side view of KPIs, outcomes, top breakdowns and yearly trend.

Popular comparisons

Software Developers Computer Systems Analysts Computer Occupations, All Other Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer Programmers Management Analysts

Explore by rank

Pre-built leaderboards for the most-asked questions.

Top H-1B occupations Highest-paying H-1B jobs All rankings

Understand the data

Definitions and methodology behind these H-1B figures.

How the prevailing wage works DOL wage levels I–IV, explained Common H-1B salary questions How this data is built