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Mechanical Engineers, R&D: H-1B salaries

Standard Occupational Classification 17-2144. 925 labor condition applications; median offered base salary $84,227, middle half $66,000–$102,052.

Applications (LCAs)925

Median offered salary$84,227

Middle half of salaries$66,000–$102,052

10th–90th percentile$57,868–$126,248

By wage level

Wage level	LCAs	Median salary
Level I (entry)	283	$65,000
Level II (qualified)	223	$90,638
Level III (experienced)	221	$95,800
Level IV (fully competent)	76	$115,179

The Department of Labor sets four prevailing wage levels for each occupation and area, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). The employer picks the level that matches the job's requirements.

Employers

Employer	LCAs	Median salary
Ut-Battelle, LLC (oak Ridge National Laboratory)	81	$118,800
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	62	$75,000
UChicago Argonne LLC	50	$90,063
Wichita State University	41	$70,000
Battelle Memorial Institute	38	$99,298
Southwest Research Institute	38	$95,897
The Trustees of Princeton University	34	$85,000
Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC	32	$92,150
University of Michigan	32	$62,838
Georgia Institute of Technology	30	$90,000
Brookhaven National Laboratory	24	$135,000
Transportation Research Center, Inc.	21	$90,000
Leland Stanford Jr. Univ/SLAC National Accelerator Lab	20	$127,000
The University of Texas at Austin	19	$93,925
University of Connecticut	17	$61,088
Purdue University	16	$60,000
Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC	16	$138,000
University of California, Berkeley	14	$74,425
Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station	12	$61,012
Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC	11	$99,102
The Ohio State University	10	$72,000
University of Maryland College Park	10	$71,608
University of Illinois	9	$57,117
Iowa State University of Science and Technology	9	$60,178
Johns Hopkins University	9	$65,640
Oregon State University	9	$72,120
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC	8	$100,800
University of Minnesota	7	$56,485
The Florida State University	7	$65,000
Carnegie Mellon University	7	$56,004
General Hospital Corporation	7	$57,075
Arizona State University	7	$59,987
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University	6	$79,354
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	6	$60,500
Stanford University/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory	6	$118,850
Clemson University	6	$70,173
Univ of WI System	6	$55,646
University of Wisconsin System	6	$60,828
Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC	6	$95,100
Michigan Technological University	5	$59,411
Michigan State University	5	$109,527
California Institute of Technology	5	$111,100
University of Colorado	5	$67,607
The George Washington University	5	$77,000
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	5	$55,500
Louisiana State University and A&M College	4	$54,250
University of California, Davis	4	$82,022
VTT, LLC	4	$84,318
The Research Foundation for SUNY Polytechnic Institute	4	$165,100
University of Notre Dame du Lac	4	$59,592

Cities

Job titles

By fiscal year

Fiscal year	LCAs	Median salary
FY2023	259	$78,831
FY2024	228	$84,153
FY2025	263	$81,730
FY2026	175	$95,285

Salaries are the lower end of the wage offered on each application, converted to a yearly amount; statistics use certified full-time applications only. An LCA is not a visa approval and one LCA can cover several positions. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC LCA Disclosure Data, fiscal years 2023–2026 (latest decision Jun 30, 2026).