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PERM Tracker

All occupations · #6 of 1,410 by volume

Data Scientists

SOC 15-2051.00, in the computer and mathematical major group. 6,928 PERM filings in DOL's current disclosure window, 6,494 certified and 53 denied.

Median wage

$136,885

all PERM $103,272

Filings

6,928

#6 of 1,410

Approval

99.2%

field 96.8%

Median days

472

5 faster than the field

Fig 01 Position in the field 535 occupations with 30+ decided

Median offered wage

$136,885above 87%

$18k $500k

Approval rate

99.2%ahead of 86%

49% 100%

Median days to decision

472 daysahead of 59%

323d 536d
Each bar counts occupations at that value. PERM runs two labour markets through one process, which is why the wage axis is two humps rather than a bell. The line marks this one. DOL PERM disclosure files
Fig 02 The wage ladder, year by year Data Scientists, certified offers
  • 5th to 95th
  • 25th to 75th
  • Median
  • 10th and 90th

  1. FY2024

    $139,464 median · 1,319 certified cases

  2. FY2025

    $136,260 median · 2,635 certified cases

  3. FY2026

    $135,843 median · 2,532 certified cases

$100k$150k$200k
10th
$93,309
-4.5% since FY2024
Median
$135,843
-2.6% since FY2024
90th
$187,196
+1.2% since FY2024
95th
$201,585
-1.6% since FY2024

Each row is that fiscal year's certified filings, counted on their own. A percentile is over the year, so a year with far fewer cases behind it is a thinner measurement than one with more.

A median answers whether pay moved. The whole ladder answers which part of it moved, and those are not the same question: a distribution can hold its middle while its top stretches away. DOL PERM disclosure files, certified cases only
Fig 03 The same job, state by state 6 states filing enough of this occupation to publish a ladder
  • 5th to 95th
  • 25th to 75th
  • Median
  • 10th and 90th

  1. CA

    $160,272 median · 1,900 certified cases

  2. NY

    $153,462 median · 760 certified cases

  3. WA

    $152,070 median · 565 certified cases

  4. TX

    $130,270 median · 563 certified cases

  5. IL

    $122,470 median · 353 certified cases

  6. MA

    $139,464 median · 280 certified cases

$100k$150k$200k
One SOC code, one federal process, and a wage range that moves with the state. A state is included only when it files enough certified cases of this occupation to support seven percentiles; the rest are left out rather than drawn thin. DOL PERM disclosure files, certified cases only

Who files this job

The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, and the states the work sits in.

Sponsors filing it

  1. Microsoft Corporation 328 filings · 100.0% approved
  2. WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC. 202 filings · 100.0% approved
  3. LinkedIn Corporation 113 filings · 100.0% approved
  4. ByteDance Inc. 111 filings · 100.0% approved
  5. Uber Technologies, Inc. 110 filings · 99.1% approved
  6. Adobe Inc. 77 filings · 98.7% approved

The employers with the most applications under this code. 941 of 6,928 filings, 14% of the total.

Firms filing it

  1. FRAGOMEN, DEL REY, BERNSEN & LOEWY, LLP 1,450 filings · 99.8% approved
  2. Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP 818 filings · 99.7% approved
  3. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. 377 filings · 99.7% approved
  4. Corporate Immigration Partners, P.C. 343 filings · 98.2% approved
  5. Vialto Partners LLP 315 filings · 99.0% approved
  6. Erickson Immigration Group 293 filings · 100.0% approved

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 3,596 of 6,928 filings, 52% of the total.

Where the jobs are

  • California 2,069
  • New York 798
  • Texas 604
  • Washington 600
  • Illinois 380
  • Massachusetts 304

The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 4,755 of 6,928 filings.

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 6 of 1,410 by volume: 5 filed at least as many filings, and 1,404 filed no more.

Just above
Fast Food and Counter Workers 7,871 filings
Just below
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers 6,215 filings

Other computer and mathematical roles

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.

Reading the wage

This is the median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to.

What these numbers don't say

The code is the identity
Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
A median isn’t an offer
It's the middle of every wage committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
Approval isn’t about the occupation
The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending
Every case in DOL's disclosure files carries a decision date, so a case still waiting is in none of these counts. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.

The window these figures cover

DOL's FY2026 Q3 and FY2025 Q4 and New Form FY2024 Q4 and FY2024 Q4 PERM disclosure files, unioned and de-duplicated by case number: 373,939 cases. Every case in them carries a decision, so nothing here counts what’s still pending. How each figure is built, and what it can and can't answer, is set out in the methodology.

Weighing an offer?

Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.

Setting one?

All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.

Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

Employers and firms: Derived from the disclosure corpus · data through Aug 26, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly ingest