Occupation salary profile

Mathematicians

SOC 15-2021 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Conduct research in fundamental mathematics or in application of mathematical techniques to science, management, and other fields. Solve problems in various fields using mathematical methods.

National median · BLS
$126,710
▲ +4.13% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$118,726
▲ +6.86% YoY · 203 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$129,260
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
2,030
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Mathematicians

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 203 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$69,240$65,040
25th$88,570$89,625
Median (50th)$126,710$118,726
75th$157,020$156,412
90th — top pay$195,190$222,806
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $118,726 for Mathematicians — 6.3% below the BLS national median of $126,710.

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Mathematicians

BLS projects employment of mathematicians to grow 0.6% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 100 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
2,200 → 2,200
+0 jobs
Projected change
+0.6%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
100
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $118,726
Change vs prior year +6.86%
After inflation (CPI-U) +3.62%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 40 19.7% $61,875 $85,500 $96,013
Level II 76 37.4% $87,516 $100,000 $139,000
Level III 45 22.2% $118,726 $128,264 $180,000
Level IV 36 17.7% $149,151 $180,000 $252,583
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Mathematicians

The 2 most-filed job titles inside SOC 15-2021, from 203 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Quantitative Analytics Specialist 25 12.32% $100,000 $122,262 $139,000 +17.73%
Research Scientist 20 9.85% $168,000 $245,588 $258,524 +20.77%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Mathematicians

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Mathematics5.0
  • Critical Thinking4.1
  • Active Learning4.0
  • Complex Problem Solving4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.8
  • Science3.6
  • Writing3.6
  • Active Listening3.4
  • Learning Strategies3.3
Top knowledge areas
  • Mathematics4.8
  • Education and Training3.7
  • Computers and Electronics3.5
  • English Language3.3
  • Physics3.0
  • Engineering and Technology2.9
  • Communications and Media2.1
  • Administration and Management2.0
Software and technology used
Atlassian JIRACC#C++Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwarePythonRThe MathWorks MATLABChatbot softwarePerforce softwareVersion control softwareAdobe PhotoshopApple macOSBashCascading style sheets CSSExtensible markup language XMLHypertext markup language HTML

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database 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.

About the job

What mathematicians do

  • Mentor others on mathematical techniques.
  • Maintain knowledge in the field by reading professional journals, talking with other mathematicians, and attending professional conferences.
  • Develop new principles and new relationships between existing mathematical principles to advance mathematical science.
  • Disseminate research by writing reports, publishing papers, or presenting at professional conferences.
  • Assemble sets of assumptions, and explore the consequences of each set.
  • Perform computations and apply methods of numerical analysis to data.
  • Address the relationships of quantities, magnitudes, and forms through the use of numbers and symbols.
  • Conduct research to extend mathematical knowledge in traditional areas, such as algebra, geometry, probability, and logic.
Also called
Computational ScientistCryptographerMathematicianResearch ScientistAgent-Based ModelerComputational MathematicianCryptographic Vulnerability AnalystResearch Computing SpecialistResearcher
More job titles for this occupation (8)
AlgebraistApplied MathematicianCipher ExpertCryptanalystEngineering MathematicianGame MathematicianGeometricianMath Researcher (Mathematics Researcher)

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.