10 Industries With the Most H-1B Sponsorship Jobs in 2026
The ten industries with the most H-1B sponsorship jobs, ranked on USCIS petition data. Includes the new-job share and denial rate for every sector
H-1B sponsorship jobs are concentrated in ten industries, and one of them accounts for nearly half of every approved petition. Professional, scientific, and technical services employers won 76,786 approved H-1B petitions in the first half of fiscal year 2026, or 45.7% of the U.S. total. The next nine industries split most of what's left.
Figures cover approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2026 through the second quarter, the most recent data published in the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, as of July 2026. Across all industries, USCIS approved 168,205 H-1B petitions in this period, filed by 36,631 employers.
1. Professional, scientific, and technical services
- 76,786 approved petitions
- 45.7% of all H-1B petitions
- 30,091 new jobs
Professional, scientific, and technical services is the largest H-1B industry in the United States by a wide margin, and it leads on new hiring too, with 57% of every new H-1B job in the country. It's also the broadest, with 16,059 separate employers filing petitions.
IT consulting firms, systems integrators, computer systems design houses, engineering firms, and accounting practices all sit inside this sector.
Of its petitions, 39% are new jobs, one of the highest shares among the large sectors. Its denial rate is 3.2%, slightly above the 2.9% national average.
What this means for you: if you work in software, data, or engineering services, start here. Roughly one in every two H-1B jobs in the country is in this sector, and no other industry is close on volume or new hiring. Migrate Mate lists tech companies that sponsor H-1B visas with their filing history.
2. Manufacturing
- 19,917 approved petitions
- 11.8% of all H-1B petitions
- 5,431 new jobs
Manufacturing ranks second on total petitions and second on new jobs, filed across 4,072 employers. It covers electronics, semiconductors, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals, and automotive.
Only 27% of its petitions are new jobs, below professional services and educational services. Its denial rate is 2.4%, below the national average.
What this means for you: hardware, semiconductor, and mechanical engineering backgrounds fit here, and the low denial rate is a real advantage. Expect fewer openings than the total implies, because most of this sector's volume is renewals.
3. Information
- 16,218 approved petitions
- 9.6% of all H-1B petitions
- 2,491 new jobs
The Information sector covers software publishers, data processing and hosting, telecommunications, and media, across 2,092 employers.
Just 15% of its petitions are new jobs, the second-lowest share in the top ten. Software companies hold onto H-1B workers rather than filing fresh petitions.
The offsetting number is mobility. Change-of-employer petitions make up 31% of this sector's volume, the highest of any industry on the list, which means workers move between employers here more than anywhere else.
What this means for you: breaking in is hard and moving around once you're in is easier than in any other sector. If you assumed "tech" means Information, check sector 1 first. Most technology sponsorship is classified under professional services.
4. Finance and insurance
- 14,910 approved petitions
- 8.9% of all H-1B petitions
- 2,015 new jobs
Finance and insurance ranks fourth on volume and sixth on new jobs, across 2,196 employers. Only 14% of its petitions are new employment, the second-lowest share in the top ten after holding companies.
Its denial rate is 2.2%, among the lowest on the list. Change-of-employer petitions run at 20%, above average.
What this means for you: banks sponsor heavily but mostly renew people they already have. The roles skew quantitative, toward risk, analytics, and engineering rather than client-facing finance. Migrate Mate lists finance companies and banks that sponsor H-1B visas separately.
5. Educational services
- 9,828 approved petitions
- 5.8% of all H-1B petitions
- 3,790 new jobs.
Educational services is the biggest climber on this list. It ranks fifth on total petitions and third on new jobs, because 39% of its petitions are new employment, tied with professional services for the highest share among the large sectors. Universities, colleges, and school districts filed across 1,857 employers.
Change-of-employer petitions are just 7% of its volume, the lowest of any industry here. People come into this sector and stay.
What this means for you: if you're coming off a graduate program, this sector opens more new doors relative to its size than almost anything else on the list. Research, teaching, and postdoctoral roles carry the volume, and pay in education runs well below the H-1B average.
6. Retail trade
- 8,843 approved petitions
- 5.3% of all H-1B petitions
- 1,470 new jobs.
Retail trade in H-1B terms means e-commerce, not store floors. The sponsored roles are overwhelmingly technical, and the sector is concentrated, with just 930 employers accounting for 8,843 petitions.
Only 17% of its petitions are new jobs. Its denial rate is 1.9%, the second-lowest in the top ten.
What this means for you: treat this as a technology sector with a retail label. The jobs are engineering, supply chain analytics, and data roles at large online retailers, and there aren't many employers to target.
7. Health care and social assistance
- 6,159 approved petitions
- 3.7% of all H-1B petitions
- 2,049 new jobs.
Health care ranks seventh on volume and fifth on new jobs, with 33% of its petitions going to new employment. It has 2,700 employers filing, more than Information or Finance despite far lower volume, which means a lot of small hospitals and practices each sponsoring a handful of people.
Its denial rate is 4.3%, the highest in the top ten and about 1.5 times the national average.
What this means for you: this sector opens new roles at a higher rate than its size suggests, and it's the most fragmented, so employer-by-employer searching matters more here. Budget for the higher denial rate. Migrate Mate lists healthcare companies that sponsor H-1B visas with their filing history.
8. Wholesale trade
- 2,291 approved petitions
- 1.4% of all H-1B petitions
- 970 new jobs
Wholesale trade covers distribution, industrial supply, and business-to-business trade, spread across 1,150 employers.
It has the highest new-jobs share on the entire list at 42%, but the absolute numbers are small.
What this means for you: worth a look if your background fits distribution or supply chain.
9. Administrative and support services
- 2,063 approved petitions
- 1.2% of all H-1B petitions
- 836 new jobs
Staffing and outsourcing firms sit in this sector, across 564 employers. It has the second-highest new-jobs share at 41%, and a 4.3% denial rate, tied for the highest in the top ten.
What this means for you: if a recruiter contacts you about a role here, ask which company will be the W-2 employer filing the petition. The staffing firm and the workplace are often different organizations, and only the actual employer can file.
10. Management of companies and enterprises
- 1,798 approved petitions
- 1.1% of all H-1B petitions
- 150 new jobs
This sector is corporate holding structures rather than operating businesses, and it's tiny, with 150 employers filing. Just 8% of its petitions are new jobs, by far the lowest share on the list.
Its denial rate is 1.3%, the lowest in the top ten, which fits a population of internal transfers at large established companies.
What this means for you: low priority for an active job search. The sponsorship here follows people already inside the company.
Find H-1B visa sponsorship jobs
This list tells you where the sponsors are. It doesn't tell you which ones are hiring right now. Migrate Mate is built for that step. It's a job board for international professionals, listing active U.S. openings at employers with a history of sponsoring work visas, with new roles added daily.
Filter by visa type across 12 categories, by location, and by industry across tech, finance, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, retail, logistics, and more.
Company profiles show sponsorship history next to active openings, company size, and location, so you can check whether an employer has sponsored before.
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Find your next roleFrequently asked questions
Which industry sponsors the most H-1B workers?
Professional, scientific, and technical services. It accounted for 76,786 approved H-1B petitions in the first half of fiscal year 2026, or 45.7% of the national total. IT consulting, computer systems design, and engineering services employers make up most of that volume, and the sector also leads on new hiring with 30,091 new H-1B jobs. Migrate Mate's job board filters openings by industry, and its company profiles show each employer's sponsorship history.
Do you need sponsorship if you already have an H-1B?
Yes, if you change employers. An H-1B is tied to the employer who petitioned for you, so a new employer has to file a new petition. USCIS approved 28,709 change-of-employer petitions in the first half of fiscal year 2026, about 17% of all H-1B approvals in that period.
Is an H-1B transfer considered sponsorship?
Yes. A transfer is a new petition filed by the new employer, and job applications asking whether you require sponsorship are asking about exactly this. Answer yes even if you currently hold a valid H-1B with another company.
Do you have to work in tech to get H-1B sponsorship?
No, but the odds favor it heavily. Computer-related occupations made up 65% of approved H-1B petitions in the most recent published occupational breakdown, and architecture and engineering added another 9.5%. Education, administration, medicine, and the sciences account for most of the rest, so non-technical sponsorship exists but competes for a much smaller share. Migrate Mate lists sponsoring employers across healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, retail, and logistics as well as tech.
How do I find companies that sponsor H-1B visas?
Check whether an employer has filed H-1B petitions before. Migrate Mate's job board lists active openings at employers with a history of sponsoring work visas, with sponsorship history on each company profile. USCIS publishes free petition counts by employer in its H-1B Employer Data Hub, though it lags a quarter behind and won't show who's hiring now.
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