Research Scientist II H-1B wages

Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026. Most are classified as Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221).

Employers filed 178 wage applications for Research Scientist II jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 50 employers. The median offered wage was $103,525, 14.6% above the government's prevailing wage for the job. Amazon.com Services LLC filed the most (31, median $166,300).

Filings: 178
Positions covered: 312
Employers: 50
Median offered: $103,525
Median prevailing wage: $85,781
Filings since FY2020: 1,135
Median offer change since FY2020: −32%

Research Scientist II, all employers178 filings, July 2025 to June 2026

$103,525Median wage employers told the government they would pay

$76,830 to $160,000Where the middle half of the filings fall

$85,781Prevailing wage: the legal minimum for these jobs

Offered wage since 2020

The median wage offered for Research Scientist II jobs fell 32%, from $142,050 in fiscal 2020 to $97,000 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 13.3% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2025, with 187 filings.

Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wageFilings per year

Fiscal years run October to September. Fiscal 2026 is still running: these figures cover October 2025 to June 2026.

Research Scientist II by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Filings	Median offered	vs year before	Median prevailing	vs prevailing
2026 (Oct to Jun)	127	$97,000	−15.7%	$85,781	+13.3%
2025	187	$115,000	+2.4%	$97,760	+18.3%
2024	178	$112,350	−3.9%	$89,128	+16.9%
2023	165	$116,970	−2.5%	$90,917	+13.4%
2022	183	$120,000	+14.3%	$101,587	+13.2%
2021	128	$105,000	−26.1%	$95,638	+3.9%
2020	167	$142,050	n/a	$99,601	+18.9%

Employers that file for this title

Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage

Employer	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Amazon.com Services LLC	31	$166,300	+18.4%
Georgia Institute of Technology	17	$75,460	+17.5%
Iowa State University of Science and Technology	16	$64,500	+18.4%
Amazon Development Center U.S., Inc.	14	$161,950	+17.0%
Health Research, Inc.	8	$85,781	+1.2%
Amazon Web Services, Inc.	8	$162,200	+19.6%
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.	6	$91,978	at the minimum
Colorado State University	6	$91,345	+6.6%
Max Planck Florida Corporation	6	$84,352	+58.4%
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.	5	$102,148	+0.1%
The Broad Institute, Inc.	5	$112,452	+21.5%
Basis Research Institute	4	$170,000	+24.4%
University of New Mexico	4	$56,504	at the minimum
Charles River Laboratories Ashland, LLC	3	$113,190	+32.3%
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	3	$75,000	+16.2%
The University of Texas at Dallas	3	$71,751	+10.1%
Kelly Services, Inc.	2	$109,158	+23.1%
Rakuten USA, Inc.	2	$164,815	+36.4%
Mim Software Inc.	2	$136,300	+4.2%
Seattle Children'S Hospital	2	$67,975	+2.4%
Axon Enterprise, Inc.	2	$144,750	+32.3%
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Inc.	1	$92,622	+91.3%
i3 Pharmaceuticals, LLC	1	$65,000	+13.9%
The Research Foundation for SUNY Albany	1	$79,316	+11.4%
New York State	1	$82,326	at the minimum

Showing the 25 employers with the most filings of 50. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.

Where Research Scientist II jobs are filed

Worksite	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Atlanta, GA	17	$75,460	+17.5%
Seattle, WA	17	$138,300	+10.0%
Ames, IA	16	$64,500	+18.4%
Pasadena, CA	13	$160,000	+11.9%
New York, NY	12	$173,150	+23.7%
Cambridge, MA	11	$110,000	+13.3%
Albany, NY	10	$84,681	+1.2%
Bellevue, WA	6	$160,678	+10.9%
Fort Collins, CO	6	$91,345	+6.6%
Jupiter, FL	6	$84,352	+58.4%
Albuquerque, NM	4	$56,504	at the minimum
Richardson, TX	4	$74,036	+7.7%
Ashland, OH	3	$113,190	+32.3%
Rapid City, SD	3	$75,000	+16.2%
San Francisco, CA	3	$185,000	+22.2%
Santa Clara, CA	3	$205,400	+2.8%
Skokie, IL	3	$102,000	+0.1%
Sunnyvale, CA	3	$169,600	+6.1%
Austin, TX	2	$136,987	+30.7%
Chicago, IL	2	$162,200	+53.3%
Cleveland, OH	2	$136,300	+4.2%
Houston, TX	2	$104,572	+23.3%
Irving, TX	2	$166,300	+115.4%
Los Angeles, CA	2	$150,850	+47.1%
Milwaukee, WI	2	$71,138	+15.9%

Seniority of the jobs filed

Level I, entry38%

Level II, qualified38%

Level III, experienced18%

Level IV, fully competent6%

The government assigns each job one of four wage levels. A higher level means a higher legal minimum.

What these numbers are

They are wages employers attested to on Labor Condition Applications (Form ETA-9035), not paychecks. Bonuses and stock are not included.
A filing is not a visa or a hire. One filing can cover several positions, and some are later withdrawn. Wage figures use certified filings only.
The prevailing wage is the minimum the employer must pay for that job in that area, set from government wage surveys.
3 filings are for part-time work. Hourly wages are shown as full-time equivalents (2,080 hours a year).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.