Tennessee has the 26th-highest median salary for H-1B workers, according to a new report.
Manifest, an immigration law firm, released a report examining the wages of H-1B visa workers in each state.
The H-1B visa program is a federal program that allows companies to hire foreigners “as workers in specialty occupations.”
Each year, 85,000 of these visas are given out to foreigners. The Manifest report noted through the first three quarters of fiscal year 2025, 406,348 H-1B visas have been approved, including renewals.
Tennessee’s median salary for these workers was $104,723, the report said.
According to the report, the states with the highest median salaries for H-1B workers were California ($167,534), Washington ($157,600), and Oregon ($138,086).
The states at the bottom of the ranking were South Dakota ($69,100), North Dakota ($72,500), and Alaska ($76,078).
Over the last 15 years, the number of H-1B visa approvals has skyrocketed. In 2010, America approved nearly 200,000 H-1B visas, the report stated. This marks a 103 percent increase in the number of H-1B visas issued in America.
Through the first three quarters of fiscal year 2025, H-1B applications have an approval rate of 97.9 percent, the report said. The lowest approval rate for these applications over the last 15 years occurred in 2018, when 84.5 percent were approved.
Tennessee, so far through fiscal year 2025, has approved 4,997 H-1B workers. A total of 609 companies in the state have sponsored these foreign workers. The approval rating for these applications has been 98.5 percent, according to government data.
The top five companies in Tennessee that are sponsoring foreign workers through the H-1B program are FedEx, Cummins Inc., UBS Business Solutions, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and UT-Battelle LLC.
FedEx has sponsored 434 workers, while Cummins Inc. and UBS Business Solutions has sponsored 415 workers and 348 workers, respectively.
St. Judge Children’s Research Hospital has supported 235 workers, and UT-Battelle LLC has supported 214 workers.
The report said the median salary for H-1B workers in the Nashville metro area was $110,939, with salaries ranging from $92,040 to $137,578.
Tennessee’s second-largest city, Memphis, the metro area had a median salary of $99,840, with salaries ranging from $84,071 to $121,475, the report found.
In the fiscal year 2024, 71 percent of H-1B visas went to Indians and 11.7 percent to Chinese people.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
