Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 17-2141.00, #17 of 1,410 by filings
Mechanical Engineers
- Biggest sponsor
- Cummins Inc. · 3% of its filings
- Busiest state
- CA · 22% of its filings
- Major group
- Architecture and engineering · SOC 17
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$104,832
all PERM $103,272
Filings
2,992
#17 of 1,410
Approval
97.8%
field 96.8%
Median days
480
3 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
$104,832above 71%
Approval rate
97.8%ahead of 63%
Median days to decision
480 daysahead of 39%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2024
$99,431 median · 110 certified cases
FY2025
$104,970 median · 1,540 certified cases
FY2026
$105,004 median · 1,152 certified cases
- 10th
- $74,000
- +2.9% since FY2024
- Median
- $105,004
- +5.6% since FY2024
- 90th
- $142,756
- -1.2% since FY2024
- 95th
- $160,035
- +6.9% since FY2024
These years are not measuring the same group of filings. The count moves by 14.0 times between the largest year and the smallest, so a change in the ladder is at least partly a change in which employers filed rather than a change in what the work pays. Read the shape, not the difference.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 110 | $65,168 | $71,940 | $80,601 | $99,431 | $121,978 | $144,550 | $149,760 |
| FY2025 | 1,540 | $65,985 | $73,581 | $88,464 | $104,970 | $125,092 | $145,502 | $162,050 |
| FY2026 | 1,152 | $67,838 | $74,000 | $88,670 | $105,004 | $125,798 | $142,756 | $160,035 |
A median answers whether pay moved. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
CA
$135,000 median · 610 certified cases
MI
$100,275 median · 371 certified cases
| State | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 610 | $89,298 | $93,389 | $116,714 | $135,000 | $156,000 | $167,100 | $181,397 |
| MI | 371 | $71,193 | $75,400 | $86,760 | $100,275 | $112,570 | $119,788 | $130,000 |
One SOC code, one federal process, and a wage range that moves with the state. 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
- Cummins Inc. 77 filings · 98.7% approved
- ASML US, LP 69 filings · 100.0% approved
- RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE, LLC 56 filings · 100.0% approved
- KLA Corporation 53 filings · 100.0% approved
- TESLA, INC. 47 filings · 100.0% approved
- Lucid USA, Inc. 39 filings · 100.0% approved
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 341 of 2,992 filings, 11% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy, LLP 621 filings · 98.3% approved
- Corporate Immigration Partners, P.C. 117 filings · 99.1% approved
- Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP 86 filings · 100.0% approved
- Tafapolsky & Smith LLP 86 filings · 100.0% approved
- Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. 70 filings · 97.1% approved
- EY Law LLP 52 filings · 100.0% approved
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 1,032 of 2,992 filings, 34% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- California 652
- Michigan 399
- Texas 256
- Illinois 140
- Arizona 124
- New Jersey 121
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 1,692 of 2,992 filings.
Where the work is
- Columbus, IN 78
- Phoenix, AZ 75
- Houston, TX 70
- Santa Clara, CA 64
- Troy, MI 61
- Fremont, CA 54
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 402 of 2,992 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
- 292 cases
Detroit Free Press
- 257 cases
The Mercury News
- 121 cases
San Francisco Chronicle
- 110 cases
The Arizona Republic
- 105 cases
Houston Chronicle
- 98 cases
The Indianapolis Star
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
- 2,582 cases
Job search websites
- 2,197 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 1,340 cases
The employer's website
- 785 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 657 cases
Employee referral programs
- 570 cases
Campus placement offices
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
- 0.1%
30 to 59 days
- 27%
60 to 89 days
- 27%
90 to 119 days
- 21%
120 to 149 days
- 25%
150 to 180 days
- 0.4%
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.
Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023
From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.
Country of citizenship
- India 24
- China 10
- Mexico 4
- Canada 2
- Turkey 2
- Australia 1
Worker's education
- Master's 32
- Bachelor's 24
- Other 2
- Doctorate 1
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 43
- F-1 5
- L-1 3
- TN 2
- B-2 1
- E-2 1
Schools
- CLEMSON UNIVERSITY 2
- SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 2
- WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE 2
- AKITA UNIVERSITY 1
- AKSARAY UNIVERSITESI 1
- ANNA UNIVERSITY 1
Fields of study
- MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 39
- AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING 3
- MECHANICAL AEROSPACE ENGINEERING 2
- AEROSPACE ENGINEERING 1
- AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING 1
- BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING BE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1
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 States296,810 jobs
- Columbus, INColumbus
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZPhoenix
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TXHouston
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CASanta Clara
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MITroy
- 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 | $104,110 | ||||
| Columbus, IN | $127,700 | $90,896 | $105,893 | $120,890 | $135,886 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $100,980 | $74,298 | $90,854 | $107,390 | $123,947 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $125,350 | $86,029 | $109,408 | $132,808 | $156,187 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $168,030 | $117,998 | $141,835 | $165,693 | $189,530 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $109,470 | $84,864 | $100,672 | $116,459 | $132,267 |
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 Columbus, IN, 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 | $90,896 | $105,893 | $120,890 | $135,886 |
| 2025-26 | $92,581 | $106,891 | $121,181 | $135,491 |
| 2024-25 | $89,960 | $103,438 | $116,938 | $130,416 |
| 2023-24 | $83,491 | $96,304 | $109,117 | $121,930 |
| 2022-23 | $62,150 | $76,107 | $90,043 | $104,000 |
| 2021-22 | $61,859 | $78,520 | $95,181 | $111,842 |
What the job is
Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment such as centralized heat, gas, water, and steam systems.
- 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
- +11.2%
- About 17,800 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
- Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports.
- Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, or maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems or processes to meet requirements.
- Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design, performance specifications, or environmental regulations.
- Confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information.
- Investigate equipment failures or difficulties to diagnose faulty operation and recommend remedial actions.
- Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
The education workers in it report
- 9%
Post-Secondary Certificate
- 8%
Some College Courses
- 29%
Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 52%
Bachelor's Degree
Titles people use for it
Design Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Product Engineer, Project Engineer, Application Engineer, Equipment Engineer, Mechanical Design Engineer, Mechanical Designer.
O*NET also describes Fuel Cell Engineers and Automotive Engineers under this SOC code.
Related jobs: Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Electrical Engineers, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Mechatronics Engineers, Industrial Engineers, Electronics Engineers, Except Computer.
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 17 of 1,410 by volume: 16 filed at least as many filings, and 1,393 filed no more.
- Just above
- Helpers--Production Workers 3,399 filings
- Just below
- Home Health Aides 2,894 filings
Other architecture and engineering 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.
- #14 Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 3,555 filings · 57 denied
- #27 Electrical Engineers 2,460 filings · 31 denied
- #32 Civil Engineers 2,185 filings · 55 denied
- #33 Industrial Engineers 2,174 filings · 60 denied
- #39 Validation Engineers 1,603 filings · 14 denied
- #46 Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 1,367 filings · 21 denied
The same job on H-1B
64,551 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $96,304 a year; the middle half ran $81,493 to $120,000. 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 17-2141.00. 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 2,992 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 Mechanical Engineers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 2,992 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 Cummins 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