Each year, about 85,000 H-1Bs are allotted through the USCIS lottery system. By a wide margin, the top occupation of H-1B holders work in the software field in some capacity, the two most common job titles being software engineer and software developer. But there are other sub-disciplines within the field (e.g. programmers, QA analysts) that for all intents and purposes, are included within software. For the purpose of this data report, we've included all positions with the word "software" in their job title.
In our second deep dive into H-1B data, we investigate those specifically in the software field, looking at their salaries, employers, locations, and other data. We also investigate the other engineering disciplines that top tech companies recruit and sponsor for H-1B. To get your own insights into this data, visit visalist.com, developed by Legalpad in partnership with Polymer, whose AI automatically creates a smart and dynamic interface from spreadsheet data.
Salaries
Nearly 41% of H-1B software engineers have a salary between $75,000 – $100,000 and 39% have a salary between $100,000 – $150,000, from 113,000 H-1B applications between 2018-2020. According to Glassdoor, in a report from 256,924 software engineer salaries, the average software engineer in the United States makes ~$92,000, meaning international talent in the U.S. takes home about the same as their American-born peers.
Top Employers
The top software engineer employers are tech giants Google (5643), Amazon (4132), and Microsoft (3638) with the numbers dropping off significantly after those three companies. All in all, there are many other companies that employ a high number of software engineers on H-1B. With the top 20 companies employing nearly 30,000 software engineers over the last three years.
Comparing Big Tech
While Facebook (1095) and Apple (567) employ less software engineers, their average salary is higher than their competitors at Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. A high percentage of those engineers make $150,000 or more – Facebook (76%) and Apple (60%).
Other Engineering Disciplines
Of course, software engineers aren't the only engineers hired on H-1B. There are several other disciplines within engineering hired by top tech companies, with the following disciplines leading the way for some top tech companies.
Regardless of your area of discipline, tech companies across the country hire international talent and provide sponsorship for their H-1B. It's just a matter of finding the right fit for you!
