Skip to main content

What Caterpillar certifies it pays.

Base-pay bands from 1,278 certified Department of Labor wage filings across every fiscal year on record, through FY2026. (The /pay index card counts FY2026 alone.) Filed under penalty of perjury — not self-reported.

Related record: Caterpillar’s full H-1B sponsor file

Base-salary bands by role

Software Developers

388 filings
p25 · $106Kmedian · $121Kp75 · $132K

Mechanical Engineers

266 filings
p25 · $96Kmedian · $100Kp75 · $114K

Electrical Engineers

212 filings
p25 · $93Kmedian · $100Kp75 · $110K

Data Scientists

81 filings
p25 · $92Kmedian · $102Kp75 · $118K

Software Developers, Systems Software

53 filings
p25 · $105Kmedian · $112Kp75 · $130K

Validation Engineers

46 filings
p25 · $93Kmedian · $97Kp75 · $117K

Software Developers, Applications

40 filings
p25 · $105Kmedian · $119Kp75 · $138K

Validation Engineers

28 filings
p25 · $91Kmedian · $105Kp75 · $127K

Median by state

IL997 filings$105K
TX100 filings$120K
AZ47 filings$105K
CA24 filings$138K
GA20 filings$111K
PA13 filings$118K
CO11 filings$121K
FL8 filings$122K

Median by seniority level

Level II · Qualified610 filings$99K
Level III · Experienced302 filings$115K
Level IV · Fully competent317 filings$128K

OES prevailing-wage levels from the filings — a defensible seniority proxy, not job ladders.

H-1B sponsorship profile

Caterpillar certifies 1,278 H-1B / E-3 wage filings through FY2026 — filing volume cooling. Below, how those offers compare to the legal prevailing-wage floor each role must clear.

Offered vs. prevailing floor
At floor

Median offer sits essentially at the required minimum.

Filings paid above the floor
36%

The rest are set exactly at the prevailing wage — legal, and common among high-volume filers.

Median offered · floor
$108K

vs. $100K prevailing-wage floor.

Seniority mix (OES wage level)

Level I · Entry0%
Level II · Qualified49%
Level III · Experienced24%
Level IV · Fully competent26%

Filing volume by fiscal year

FY22 336FY23 246FY24 296FY25 362FY26 38

Filed across 4 legal entities under this brand — largest: Caterpillar Inc. (973).

Every H-1B role carries a legally required prevailing-wage floor (the OES rate for that occupation, area, and level). The offered wage on the certified filing must meet or exceed it — so “% above floor” distinguishes employers who genuinely pay a premium from those who file at the minimum. Certified DOL disclosure data, offered base wage only; reusable under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.

Green-card sponsorship record

Caterpillar has 643 certified permanent-residency (PERM) applications on the federal record through FY2026 — filing volume rising. The question this answers: does this employer put workers on the path to a green card, or only on visas?

Certified PERM applications
643

All fiscal years on record · applications, not people

Denial share
2%

Of 654 decided applications (certified + denied)

Conversion posture
50 / 100

Certified green-card applications per 100 certified H-1B wage filings (643 vs 1,278) — filings and applications, not headcount

Certified by fiscal year
40
FY2021
4
FY2022
17
FY2023
16
FY2024
77
FY2025
12
FY2026 · to date
Most-sponsored occupations
Mechanical Engineers · 216Industrial Engineers · 81Software Developers, Systems Software · 75Electrical Engineers · 50Software Developers · 44Software Developers, Applications · 28

Source: DOL OFLC PERM (Form ETA-9089) disclosure data, decision-basis by federal fiscal year; the current fiscal year is partial by construction. PERM has no prevailing-wage field — this card reads sponsorship posture, not pay.

Two public records, side by side

What Caterpillar filed with state workforce agencies, next to what it filed with the U.S. Department of Labor in the same period. The record speaks for itself.

Record one · state WARN filings

Caterpillar filed 3 WARN notices in IL, KS, SC between Aug 9, 2024 and Jan 31, 2025, covering at least 169 workers per the published counts (source: official state WARN filings).

Record two · DOL Form ETA-9089 (PERM)

In the same period, DOL received 11 permanent-residency (PERM) applications from the employer that were later certified (source: DOL OFLC, Form ETA-9089 disclosure data).

DOL OFLC disclosure data

The PERM layoff question (Form ETA-9089, Section G) is scoped to the specific occupation and area of intended employment — it is not evidence of a company-wide layoff, and an application without the attestation is not a contradiction of a WARN notice. The two records are shown side by side without asserting any causal link. PERM disclosures lag receipt — applications received recently are largely still pending, so in-window certified counts are floors, not totals.

What this data is — and isn't

These bands come from certified H-1B Labor Condition Application disclosures — the base salary employers commit to on the record. They exclude equity, bonus, and benefits, and they cover only roles companies sponsor, which skews technical. Read them as a conservative, citable floor on what Caterpillar pays — not total compensation. Our sources.

Share this pay record

Have an offer from Caterpillar?

See exactly where your number sits in the certified band — free. Or get the full brief: company health, role risk, and the negotiation playbook, every claim cited. Ready in about ten minutes · seven-day refund.