How H-1B wage levels work

Before petitioning for an H-1B (or H-1B1 or E-3) worker, an employer files a labor condition application (LCA) with the Office of Foreign Labor Certification. On it the employer attests that it will pay at least the higher of the actual wage paid to similar workers and the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of employment, and states the job title, SOC occupation code, worksite and offered wage.

Prevailing wage levels

The prevailing wage is usually taken from the OES/OEWS survey at one of four levels, chosen by the employer according to the job's requirements: Level I (entry, about the 17th percentile), Level II (qualified, about the 34th), Level III (experienced, about the 50th) and Level IV (fully competent, about the 67th). Employers may instead cite an independent survey. The level is the employer's own statement on the form and is shown here exactly as filed; "not stated" means the field was blank.

Offered wage versus prevailing wage

The offered wage is what the employer commits to pay. This site annualises both wages from the rate and unit on the form and reports medians per employer and per occupation, with the occupation-wide median as the comparison. A higher share of Level I and II filings means the employer classified more of its positions as entry or qualified level; it says nothing by itself about compliance.

Statuses

OFLC certifies most LCAs within days; certified, certified-withdrawn (certified and later withdrawn by the employer), denied and withdrawn are the statuses in the file. An LCA is a filing, not a visa: many certified LCAs never lead to a petition, and one LCA can cover several positions. PERM applications, the labor certification step of employment-based green cards, are listed separately with their own statuses.

Reading the counts

Filings are attributed to the employer's state on the form, normally its headquarters, so a national employer's applications sit under one state even when the worksites are elsewhere; the employer page lists worksite states. The latest fiscal year is partial.