Cola Wars: Which Soda Giant Employs The Most H-1B Labor?

Texas’s biggest soda brands have all brought in foreign workers under the federal H-1B visa program, but, unlike some large corporations, they have generally paid them above prevailing wages, according to an investigation by The Dallas Express.

The Dallas Express examined 10 years of H-1B visa filings from 2015 through June 30, 2025, using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) H-1B Data Hub and the H-1B Salary Database that catalogs data from the Department of Labor.

The records show Coca-Cola and affiliated entities employed 55 H-1B workers, Pepsi entities employed 49, and Dr Pepper/Seven Up entities employed 26. These hires often occurred in the same period that Texas experienced post-pandemic tech layoffs in 2023 and 2024.

While some national employers have been accused of using the visa program to pay toward the bottom of the federally permissible wage range, the positions reviewed for Texas-based soda companies generally offered pay above or near the mean county wages for similar roles, according to the Department of Labor’s prevailing wage data.

The Breakdown

• DX review covers 2015 through June 2025 using USCIS and wage data

• Nationwide, Coca-Cola hired the most, followed by Pepsi, and then Dr Pepper/Seven Up

• Salaries for reviewed positions were at or above the county mean wages

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  Hiring coincided with 2023-24 tech layoffs in Texas

• Complex corporate structures sometimes obscured brand totals

The Dallas Express cross-referenced selected soda company H-1B job filings in Texas with prevailing wage data from the Department of Labor’s wage tool. Where no exact match was available in the wage tool, the Occupational Outlook Handbook’s median wage figures were used. In each reviewed case, the offered wage was at or above the corresponding market rate.

Here are some representative samples:

H-1B Job Filings vs. Department of Labor Mean Wages

H-1B Job Filing Using National Median Wage Data

These numbers differ from some industry practices. The Department for Professional Employees (DPE), an AFL-CIO affiliate, asserts in its 2025 fact sheet that “Employers can and do underpay H-1B workers,” citing FY 2019 data showing 60% of positions were paid at the two lowest wage levels. The group also says companies use control over visa status to pressure workers into longer hours and fewer benefits.

The Dallas Express has observed data on other companies, such as Westlake-based Charles Schwab, that appears to corroborate DPE’s fact sheet.

Supporters of the program counter that the issue is not misuse but a skills gap. Former Republican Presidential candidate and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy argued that U.S. youth culture undervalues academic excellence, posting on X in 2024, his thoughts:

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

It is interesting to note that Keurig Green Mountain, which acquired Dr Pepper in 2018, has employed 53 H-1B workers since that year; however, filings in the H-1B Salary Database and the USCIS Data Hub appear to indicate that the entities act separately for immigration purposes.

Compared with other Texas brands, Dr Pepper’s approach sits between Buc-ee’s, which has no H-1B filings in recent years, and Whataburger, which began modest foreign tech hiring after its 2019 sale to a Chicago firm.

All three soda companies’ reviewed salaries were at or above market averages, unlike some sectors where H-1B pay is near the federal minimum.