Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 17-2141, #61 of 1,410 by filings
Mechanical Engineers
- Biggest sponsor
- RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE, LLC · 4% of its filings
- Busiest state
- CA · 27% 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
$104,000
all PERM $103,272
Filings
1,004
#61 of 1,410
Approval
98.0%
field 96.8%
Median days
386
91 faster 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
$104,000above 70%
Approval rate
98.0%ahead of 67%
Median days to decision
386 daysahead of 86%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. 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
- RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE, LLC 41 filings · 100.0% approved
- CUMMINS INC. 40 filings · 100.0% approved
- APPLE INC. 37 filings · 100.0% approved
- TESLA, INC. 27 filings
- APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. 24 filings
- Intellectt Inc. 17 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 186 of 1,004 filings, 19% of the total.
Firms filing it
- FRAGOMEN, DEL REY, BERNSEN LOEWY, LLP 270 filings · 99.3% approved
- Tafapolsky Smith LLP 35 filings · 100.0% approved
- LAW OFFICE OF THOMAS V. ALLEN, PLLC 28 filings
- Mehlman Jacobs LLP 27 filings
- Berry Appleman Leiden LLP 21 filings
- Nixon Peabody LLP 19 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 400 of 1,004 filings, 40% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- California 269
- Michigan 203
- Texas 76
- Indiana 45
- New Jersey 44
- Ohio 38
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 675 of 1,004 filings.
Where the work is
- Cupertino, CA 38
- Auburn Hills, MI 35
- Columbus, IN 32
- Irvine, CA 32
- Houston, TX 30
- Troy, MI 28
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 195 of 1,004 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
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 5,774
- China 1,339
- Mexico 654
- Canada 621
- Brazil 513
- South Korea 402
Worker's education
- Master's 6,313
- Bachelor's 4,491
- Doctorate 577
- Other 198
- None 157
- Associate's 63
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 8,459
- L-1 1,479
- TN 572
- F-1 534
- E-2 243
- NOT IN USA 91
Schools
- MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 295
- WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY 276
- CLEMSON UNIVERSITY 249
- PURDUE UNIVERSITY 187
- THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 155
- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 149
Fields of study
- MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 7,258
- AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING 319
- AEROSPACE ENGINEERING 264
- INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING 248
- ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 186
- ENGINEERING 176
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
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIAuburn Hills, Troy
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CACupertino
- Columbus, INColumbus
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAIrvine
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TXHouston
- 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 | ||||
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $109,470 | $84,864 | $100,672 | $116,459 | $132,267 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $168,030 | $117,998 | $141,835 | $165,693 | $189,530 |
| Columbus, IN | $127,700 | $90,896 | $105,893 | $120,890 | $135,886 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $123,900 | $82,618 | $103,168 | $123,739 | $144,290 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $125,350 | $86,029 | $109,408 | $132,808 | $156,187 |
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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, 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 | $84,864 | $100,672 | $116,459 | $132,267 |
| 2025-26 | $77,792 | $93,642 | $109,512 | $125,362 |
| 2024-25 | $72,467 | $87,589 | $102,731 | $117,853 |
| 2023-24 | $70,158 | $84,302 | $98,426 | $112,570 |
| 2022-23 | $67,829 | $81,203 | $94,598 | $107,973 |
| 2021-22 | $69,784 | $84,032 | $98,259 | $112,507 |
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 61 of 1,410 by volume: 60 filed at least as many filings, and 1,349 filed no more.
- Just above
- Computer and Information Systems Managers 1,099 filings
- Just below
- HelpersProduction Workers 1,002 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.
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. 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 1,004 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 1,004 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 RIVIAN AUTOMOTIVE, LLC. 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