The Sponsor File

Data Scientist — H-1B filed wages

32,392 certified filings · FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3)

Reported wages are what employers filed with the Department of Labor — not actual take-home pay. One LCA is not one job.

Median filed wage

DOL LCA · FY2025
$138,715
n = 6,339filings with a wage

FY2025 median, from the 6,339 filings that reported a wage (of 32,392 certified filings in total) across all employers and levels. DOL LCA · FY2025

Fiscal yearFiled wageWage sample (n)
FY2026 (through Q3)$135,874
median of 5,312
5,312
FY2025$138,715
median of 6,339
6,339
FY2024$136,477
median of 5,559
5,559
FY2023$130,208
median of 4,830
4,830
FY2022$127,088
median of 5,869
5,869
FY2021$121,000
median of 4,458
4,458

How these wages are computed · All cities · All job titles

Source U.S. Department of Labor — OFLC LCA disclosure files (ETA-9035) · Coverage FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3) ·Updated 2026-08-28 · Basis certified filings only, median not average

By level — this is the number that actually applies to you

DOL LCA · FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3)

Staff Data Scientist filings (n = 792) have a median 44% above the 17,256 filings with no level stated. A single figure for “Data Scientist” averages those together, which overstates the junior end and understates the senior end. We never merge them.

Level as filedFiled wageWage sample (n)
Intern
2 filings — too few for a median
2
Junior$90,000
median of 123
123
Associate$99,772
median of 600
600
(unstated)$120,000
median of 17,256
17,256
Senior$148,335
median of 6,805
6,805
Lead$151,809
median of 1,016
1,016
Staff$172,919
median of 792
792
Principal$153,100
median of 843
843
Distinguished
6 filings — too few for a median
6
Fellow$102,783
median of 46
46
Level 1$108,300
median of 1,109
1,109
Level 2$136,675
median of 2,623
2,623
Level 3$144,075
median of 1,047
1,047
Level 4$142,650
median of 92
92
Level 5
7 filings — too few for a median
7

“Level as filed” is taken from the job title on the filing itself — we do not infer a level that the employer did not write down. Rows below 10filings show the count only; a median from a handful of filings is not a market rate. “(unstated)” means the title carried no level, not that the role is junior.

Source U.S. Department of Labor — OFLC LCA disclosure files (ETA-9035, level read from the job title as filed) ·Coverage FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3) · Updated 2026-08-28 ·Basis certified filings only; medians, not averages

Employers filing the most Data Scientist roles

top 23 by volume
EmployerFiled wageWage sample (n)
Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.$156,853
median of 1,625
1,625
Microsoft Corporation$163,881
median of 886
886
Google LLC$178,200
median of 551
551
Aetna Resources LLC$140,000
median of 453
453
Apple Inc.$170,373
median of 427
427
Meta$160,000
median of 351
351
Intel Corporation$101,010
median of 335
335
PayPal, Inc.$155,000
median of 285
285
Caremark LLC$145,282
median of 284
284
Amazon$159,200
median of 245
245
Intuit Inc.$159,695
median of 238
238
Visa U.S.A. Inc.$126,277
median of 217
217
LinkedIn Corporation$143,874
median of 213
213
IBM$153,783
median of 162
162
Discover Products Inc.$123,000
median of 162
162
Boston Consulting Group$132,000
median of 155
155
Lyft, Inc.$158,878
median of 150
150
Insurance Services Office, Inc$105,000
median of 145
145
Oracle America, Inc.$125,944
median of 141
141
Home Depot Management Company LLC$130,000
median of 141
141
McKinsey & Company, Inc. United States$169,850
median of 136
136
Pinterest, Inc.$148,699
median of 121
121
Uber Technologies, Inc.$145,000
median of 119
119

Ranked by number of filings, not by pay and not by quality. This is not a “best employers” list. 6,059 employers in total filed for this role; the 23 above are those with the most filings. Those with at least 10 certified filings have their own page; the rest are counted here but do not.

Source U.S. Department of Labor — OFLC LCA disclosure files (ETA-9035) · Coverage FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3) ·Updated 2026-08-28 ·Basis filings counted across the whole coverage period, not one year

What this page does not cover

We build a page only for roles we can classify with confidence. The filings we do not classify are mostly three things: employer-internal job codes (“Manager JC50”), generic words that would make a useless page (“Analyst”, “Associate”), and spellings that appear only a handful of times. None of those can be grouped reliably —so we do not guess. To see every role at one company, use its employer page.

For the record: 866,533 of 3,034,814 certified filings (28.6%) reduce to one of our 29 role pages. That percentage on its own would mislead — the remainder is not a missing 71% of the job market, it is mostly text that cannot become a page.

Source U.S. Department of Labor — OFLC LCA disclosure files (ETA-9035) · Coverage FY2021–FY2026 (through Q3) ·Updated 2026-08-28 ·Basis certified filings with a job title, across the whole coverage period