All occupations · #39 of 1,410 by volume

Validation Engineers

SOC 17-2112.02, in the architecture and engineering major group. 1,603 PERM filings in DOL's current disclosure window, 1,541 certified and 14 denied.

Median wage

$104,000

all PERM $103,272

Filings

1,603

#39 of 1,410

Approval

99.1%

field 96.8%

Median days

476

1 faster than the field

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

Median offered wage

$104,000above 70%

$18k $500k

Approval rate

99.1%ahead of 85%

49% 100%

Median days to decision

476 daysahead of 50%

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 Validation Engineers, certified offers

5th to 95th
25th to 75th
Median
10th and 90th

FY2024

$103,126 median · 225 certified cases
FY2025

$106,000 median · 769 certified cases
FY2026

$102,190 median · 544 certified cases

$100k$150k

10th: $81,557; +7.1% since FY2024
Median: $102,190; -0.9% since FY2024
90th: $143,874; -0.9% since FY2024
95th: $155,994; -4.8% since FY2024

These years are not measuring the same group of filings. The count moves by 3.4 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.

Offered wage percentiles by fiscal year, with the number of certified cases behind each row.
Fiscal year	Cases	5th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	95th
FY2024	225	$74,813	$76,170	$88,000	$103,126	$125,000	$145,120	$163,803
FY2025	769	$75,000	$82,638	$89,398	$106,000	$123,963	$143,874	$160,000
FY2026	544	$74,984	$81,557	$89,398	$102,190	$124,030	$143,874	$155,994

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 2 states filing enough of this occupation to publish a ladder

5th to 95th
25th to 75th
Median
10th and 90th

CA

$129,355 median · 413 certified cases
NJ

$90,000 median · 302 certified cases

$100k$150k

Offered wage percentiles by state, with the number of certified cases behind each row.
State	Cases	5th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	95th
CA	413	$76,170	$90,459	$105,000	$129,355	$145,000	$165,000	$178,500
NJ	302	$75,816	$87,422	$87,442	$90,000	$106,000	$121,659	$124,030

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

INTELLECTT, INC 82 filings · 100.0% approved
VAStek Inc. 57 filings · 100.0% approved
Fusion Life Sciences Technologies, LLC 40 filings · 100.0% approved
TESLA, INC. 40 filings · 100.0% approved
Intel Corporation 39 filings · 100.0% approved
Medtronic, Inc. 39 filings · 100.0% approved

The employers with the most applications under this code. 297 of 1,603 filings, 19% of the total.

Firms filing it

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP 271 filings · 100.0% approved
LAW OFFICE OF THOMAS V ALLEN, PLLC 135 filings · 100.0% approved
Reddy & Neumann P.C. 59 filings · 100.0% approved
Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP 57 filings · 100.0% approved
Tafapolsky & Smith LLP 50 filings · 100.0% approved
Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. 47 filings · 100.0% approved

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 619 of 1,603 filings, 39% of the total.

Where the jobs are

California 434
New Jersey 305
Michigan 130
Texas 119
Massachusetts 78
Minnesota 54

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 1,120 of 1,603 filings.

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 39 of 1,410 by volume: 38 filed at least as many filings, and 1,371 filed no more.

Just above: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers 1,797 filings
Just below: Network and Computer Systems Administrators 1,571 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. 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