Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 19-1012.00, #240 of 1,410 by filings
Food Scientists and Technologists
- Biggest sponsor
- Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Inc. · 11% of its filings
- Busiest state
- CA · 17% of its filings
- Major group
- Life, physical and social science · SOC 19
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
This rate is level with the field
Over 150 decided filings, this rate can't be told apart from the field in either direction.
Why
The 95% interval runs up to a 10.2% denial rate, which still covers the 3.20% the field as a whole records.
Median wage
$90,728
all PERM $103,272
Filings
158
#240 of 1,410
Approval
94.7%
field 96.8%
Median days
492
15 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$90,728above 64%
Approval rate
94.7%ahead of 36%
Median days to decision
492 daysahead of 5%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2025
$88,096 median · 56 certified cases
FY2026
$94,058 median · 81 certified cases
- 10th
- $47,403
- -23.3% since FY2025
- Median
- $94,058
- +6.8% since FY2025
- 90th
- $125,000
- +3.3% since FY2025
- 95th
- $145,059
- +15.3% since FY2025
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.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 56 | $53,851 | $61,834 | $73,898 | $88,096 | $106,681 | $120,968 | $125,799 |
| FY2026 | 81 | $47,403 | $47,403 | $55,000 | $94,058 | $113,214 | $125,000 | $145,059 |
A median answers whether pay moved. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Inc. 18 filings
- Kerry Inc. 4 filings
- Tate & Lyle Solutions USA, LLC 4 filings
- FRITO LAY INC. 3 filings
- Glanbia Nutritionals, Inc. 3 filings
- Rana Meal Solutions LLC 3 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 35 of 158 filings, 22% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP 25 filings
- Davis Immigration Lawyers PLLC 17 filings
- Corporate Immigration Partners, P.C. 5 filings
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. 5 filings
- Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. 4 filings
- Varnum LLP 4 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 60 of 158 filings, 38% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- California 27
- South Dakota 18
- New Jersey 14
- Illinois 11
- New York 11
- Texas 10
How this is counted
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 91 of 158 filings.
Where the work is
- Milbank, SD 18
- East Hanover, NJ 4
- Hoffman Estates, IL 4
- Bartlett, IL 3
- Battle Creek, MI 3
- Beloit, WI 3
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 35 of 158 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 18 cases
Argus Leader
- 9 cases
The Star-Ledger
- 8 cases
The New York Times
- 7 cases
Chicago Sun-Times
- 6 cases
Los Angeles Times
- 5 cases
Star Tribune
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 142 cases
Job search websites
- 130 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 76 cases
The employer's website
- 35 cases
Campus placement offices
- 32 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 21 cases
Trade or professional organizations
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.0%
30 to 59 days
- 20%
60 to 89 days
- 25%
90 to 119 days
- 19%
120 to 149 days
- 34%
150 to 180 days
- 1.3%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States13,060 jobs
- East South Dakota nonmetropolitan areaMilbank
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-INHoffman Estates, Bartlett
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJEast Hanover
- Battle Creek, MIBattle Creek
- Janesville-Beloit, WIBeloit
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $88,720 | ||||
| East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $70,020 | $45,344 | $62,421 | $79,518 | $96,595 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $100,390 | $69,722 | $88,795 | $107,890 | $126,963 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $104,200 | $71,074 | $90,542 | $109,990 | $129,459 |
| Battle Creek, MI | — | $56,659 | $69,971 | $83,304 | $96,616 |
| Janesville-Beloit, WI | — | $57,970 | $73,986 | $90,002 | $106,018 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $45,344 | $62,421 | $79,518 | $96,595 |
| 2025-26 | $59,592 | $69,222 | $78,832 | $88,462 |
| 2024-25 | $57,054 | $66,893 | $76,710 | $86,549 |
| 2023-24 | $47,403 | $56,722 | $66,040 | $75,358 |
| 2022-23 | $45,531 | $54,434 | $63,315 | $72,218 |
| 2021-22 | $45,531 | $54,496 | $63,482 | $72,446 |
What the job is
Use chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and other sciences to study the principles underlying the processing and deterioration of foods; analyze food content to determine levels of vitamins, fat, sugar, and protein; discover new food sources; research ways to make processed foods safe, palatable, and healthful; and apply food science knowledge to determine best ways to process, package, preserve, store, and distribute food.
- Preparation
- Considerable Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 4
- DOL's education basis
- Bachelor's degree
- Wage year 2026-27, on DOL's Appendix A list
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +6.2%
- About 1,000 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
- Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
- Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
- Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
- Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
- Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
The education workers in it report
- 9%
Post-Secondary Certificate
- 82%
Bachelor's Degree
Titles people use for it
Food and Drug Research Scientist, Food Scientist, Food Technologist, Research Chef, Corporate Food Scientist, Food Engineer, Food Safety Regulatory Manager, Formulator.
Related jobs: Food Science Technicians, Animal Scientists, Chemists, Agricultural Technicians, Microbiologists, Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 240 of 1,410 by volume: 239 filed at least as many filings, and 1,170 filed no more.
- Just above
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Pro 158 filings
- Just below
- Aerospace Engineers 157 filings
Other life, physical and social science roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
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.
- #233 Chemists 166 filings · 6 denied
- #222 Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 184 filings · 2 denied
- #280 Economists 119 filings · 1 denied
- #195 Bioinformatics Scientists 221 filings · 4 denied
- #190 Biochemists and Biophysicists 229 filings · 1 denied
- #183 Molecular and Cellular Biologists 236 filings · none denied
The same job on H-1B
2,881 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $82,451 a year; the middle half ran $66,000 to $103,000. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median 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. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 19-1012.00. 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 all 158 wages 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, so nothing here is a property of Food Scientists and Technologists. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 158 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Inc.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
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.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it