One of the key things that is important for an H1B Visa approval and compliance is to have proper wages paid to the H1B worker. The minimum wage or salary for H1B workers is defined and set by the ‘Wage Levels.’ A job’s wage levels depend on factors like experience, area, Standard Occupational Classification(SOC) Code, and location.
In this article, we review all the details of Wage Levels, how they are determined, and the importance of the same in H1B Labor Condition Application(LCA) for approval from USCIS.
Before we get into the wage levels, let’s understand why there is a concept of minimum wage on H1B LCA.
Why do we have a minimum wage requirement for H1B LCA?
The reason for having a minimum wage for H1B workers, including the concept of wage levels by experience, is to make sure H1B workers are paid on par with the US workers and not exploited by employers as cheap labor. Also, the employers must provide similar working conditions to the foreign workers on H1B visas as they provide to their fellow US workers. The US Department of Labor puts these requirements in place to ensure that foreign workers are not exploited unfairly.
To meet these requirements, H1B employers must submit details such as listed below in the H1B LCA:
- The position’s Wage Level (determined based on the experience required for the job position).
- The location of the H1B Job.
- The Job title of the H1B Job.
Also, other information about the job is submitted for compliance as part of the Labor Condition Application ( LCA ) to the US Dept of Labor.
Background of Prevailing Wage Levels
The concept of Wage levels was first introduced in October 1997, when they introduced two skill levels:
- Level I for beginning-level employees
- Level II for fully competent employees.
While only these two levels worked well for some time, there were many issues in determining the wage for management roles and advanced judgment-based skills.
The concept of four wage levels for H1B LCAs was introduced in 2004 under the “H1B Visa Reform Act of 2004”. That’s how the H1B prevailing wage levels came into existence.
Now that you know the background, let’s look at the details.
What are H1B Wage Levels?
H1B Wage Level or H1B prevailing wage is the minimum wage a typical US worker earns in a particular area for a particular job with a particular experience. The H1B wage levels are defined so that H1B workers are paid the prevailing wage based on education, experience, and location, similar to US workers.
H1B Wage Levels are defined by the US Department of Labor (DOL). They are based on the prevailing wage data collected under the Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Program, which is based on location, job title, experience, and a few other criteria.
Employers need to fill in the wage level data as part of the H1B LCA as part of the Labor Condition Application Process.
How are H1B Wage Levels defined? How many?
The US Department of Labor has divided the H1B Wage Levels into four, which are based on the OES program. They are named as follows:
- Wage Level I
- Wage Level II
- Wage Level II
- Wage Level IV
Below is the screenshot of how the wage level field look on an H1B LCA. Employers must select one of the wage levels when submitting the LCA to the US DOL FLAG system for the LCA submission.
Each of the above wage levels is defined to reflect the experience of an H1B worker that is represented as a percentile. If you are unfamiliar with the term, ‘Percentile’ is not ‘Percentage’. Check Percentile Wikipedia to know more.
Below are the definitions of H1B wage levels and their percentiles.
- H1B Wage Level 1 (Entry): This wage level is for entry-level H1B workers with a basic understanding of the job. This wage level corresponds to the 17th Percentile.
- H1B Wage Level 2 (Qualified): This wage level is for qualified workers with education and experience who can perform moderate tasks with limited judgment. This wage level corresponds to the 34th percentile.
- H1B Wage Level 3 (Experienced): This wage level is for experienced workers who have deeper experience attained with education and experience. This level of work requires judgment and may also manage people. This wage level corresponds to the 50th percentile
- H1B Wage Level 4 (Fully Competent): This wage level is the most expert level of workers who can do complex tasks and can exercise a lot of judgment in their activities. It may include management responsibilities, too. This wage level corresponds to the 67th percentile.
If we have to summarize in a simple table, it looks like the following:
| Prevailing Wage Level | H1B LCA Wage Percentile |
| Wage Level I | 17th percentile |
| Wage Level II | 34th percentile |
| Wage Level III | 50th percentile |
| Wage Level IV | 67th percentile |
Determining H1B Prevailing Wage Levels
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has official guidance on how the prevailing wage levels are set and what data is used for the same. Read Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance for complete information on the process of setting the wage levels and other key information that is relevant for minimum wage.
Prevailing Wage Requirement for H1B Visa Petition, LCA
It is the H1B employer’s responsibility to make sure the H1B worker is paid on par with the prevailing wage or minimum wage defined for the H1B job position, similar to a US worker working in a similar job. H1B workers cannot be paid below the minimum wage for the position offered in that area. It is based on various factors related to the job position offered like experience, geographic location, and education.
The minimum wage-related information for various job positions is available at the US Dept of Labor(DOL) OFLC Wage Search website. It is the online wage library for H1B workers to know the minimum wage for a position. The US DOL OFLC Wage Search website is the official source of prevailing wage information managed by the US Department of Labor(DOL), Office of Foreign Labor Certification. In the past, the wage levels info was available at www.FLCDataCetner.com, but it was decommissioned in the middle of 2024.
How to check H1B Prevailing Wage Levels for LCA?
We will look at two options to check Prevailing Wage Levels for H1B LCAs, one is at US DOL OFLC Wage Search website and the other option is using www.H1BGrader.com website that uses the same official US DOL OFLC Wage Search website data. The H1BGrader.com website has better UI and you can even check history as well.
Check H1B Prevailing Wage Levels for a Job, Location, History
Below is a step by step guide to find the H1B prevailing wage for a position in an area.
Step 1 : Navigate to H1BGrader.com Prevailing Wage Search Page
Step 2 : Enter the Occupation or JobTitle or SOC Code and Area Name. You can start typing and you will get suggestions. Select the relevant one as shown in the below screenshot and hit the search button after selection.
Step 3 : You will see the search results of the H1B Prevailing Wage Levels with a base salary that has to be paid to H1B worker for a particular wage level in that area. It looks like below.
You can even check the history of prevailing wages for H1B based on wage levels for the last 5 years. For that, you need to go to History of H1B Prevailing Wages and follow the same steps as above. It looks like below.
Now, let’s look at how you can check the prevailing wage on the official US Department of Labor website.
How to find H1B Wage Levels using OFLC Wage Search
Below is the step-by-step guide to finding the minimum wage (prevailing wage) for an H1B job position using the US Dept of Labor(DOL) OFLC Wage Search website.
Step 1 – Navigate to US DOL OFLC Web page : Navigate to the web page OFLC Wage Search on DOL Website
Step 2 – Select Data Series, Collection, Occupation Title, State/ Territory: Once you are on the page, you must select and complete the below fields and click on the submit button at the bottom.
- Data Series: Select the Latest year. If you want past year, select that year.
- Select a Collection: You must select All Industries. If you are looking for Education Data, then you select the ACWIA Higher Ed.
- Enter in Occupation(O*NET Code) and Title: In this field, you can start typing the occupation title or enter the O*NET Code, if you know it. You will get suggestions and select the relevant one.
- State: You must select the relevant US State or Territory from dropdown.
- Select Area Type: You have option to select County. town ship or the BLS Area, you can select either of them and fill the relevant details. Depending on what you select, you may have to select the county as well again. Please fill in that details.
Below is a screenshot of how the form looks like after you complete all the above listed information to get the prevailing wage.
Step 3 – View the Details of Wage Levels : Once you select above options and hit the search, you will get prevailing wage levels information. It will list all the wage levels and the minimum wage for that wage level in both hourly and Yearly information. See the below screenshot on how the results look:
One of the key things you need to ask your employer or know is the wage level that is being submitted for your position in the H1B LCA. It is critical for your H1B position and approval with DOL and USCIS. Also, you need to ask the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) code that they plan to use for the position. You will be able to see that info as well in the results.
Where can you find your current wage level in H1B LCA?
You can find your current H1B Wage Level by looking at your H1B Labor Condition Application(LCA). It has all the information related to your H1B position. You can ask your employer to share a copy of the H1B LCA. They are supposed to share with you a copy of your LCA.
To see the wage level info, you need to look at Section F, which tell the information of the Wage Level, Wage offered in that area and the Wage database year. See below screenshot of a Sample Form 9025 (LCA) that is generated by US Department of Labor FLAG system.
If you know the LCA number, you can search for your LCA online on websites like H1BGrader.com LCA Search, to view the LCA details. They get the data from the US Dept of Labor H1B LCA disclosure page. You can also go to the DOL Performance Data Disclosure Page, download the Excel files, and search for your case number. The problem is that, the files are in hundreds of megabytes and not easily usable.
It is important to have the right wage level selected as cases with Computer Programmer Level 1 wages are not considered specialty occupations and do not qualify for H1B Visa as per the New Policy Memorandum in April 2017
USCIS would look at the H1B application as a whole and as part of that, they would ensure that H1B worker is paid as per the prevailing wage. If there is any discrepancy, USCIS can report the wage violation for the employer to DOL or ask the employer why not paid on par with others. They may also not approve the H1B petition submitted.
Your employer is mandated to pay as per the wages and salary listed on the LCA. If they are not paying so, you can raise a complaint with the Department of Labor by filling out the WH-4 Form. Before you report, it is better to raise it with the employer and ask them to pay back wages or pay as per LCA. If they do not say so, then you can raise a request with WH4 form on DOL website
Yes, it can. The prevailing wage is based on wage surveys conducted by OES and it is published every year. When they publish the wage data, you need to watch closely for changes. You can check H1B Prevailing Wages History to find the history of H1B wage data that is curated by H1Bgrader. You always need to use the most recent Prevailing wage as they mention on the FLCDataCenter website when you file new LCA.
We do not know at this point yet. The Trump administration plans to make significant changes to the immigration system and focus might also be on the H1B program. Similar to last time, they may try to change the wage levels. We need to wait and see for more info.
Below is the complete list of previous changes and news related to the H1B Wage Levels. These give you a context of how things progressed over the past few years.
H1B Lottery to be based on Wage Levels Rule Cancelled
During the first term of the Trump Administration, a rule was proposed to change the H1B Lottery process to be based on Wage Levels. As part of that process, in 2021, DHS published a final rule in the Federal Register that changes the H1B Visa Lottery Selection process from random selection to be based on H1B Wage Levels. Later, a lawsuit was filed on this, and eventually, this was canceled by the court.
Eventually, during the Biden Administration, in December 2021, USCIS published a note indicating the withdrawal of the final rule. So, there are no changes to the H1B Lottery process, it will still continue to be based on random selection. Check full details at Check H1B Wage Levels for Lottery article.
Changes to Wage Levels Proposed & Cancelled by Court
During the first term of the Trump Administration, in October 2020, there was an Interim Final Rule published by DOL to change the H1B, PERM prevailing wage levels to 45th, 62nd, 78th, and 95th percentile for Wage Level 1 to Wage Level 4.
Later, in December 2020, two courts issued orders to cancel the changes to wage levels as DOL did not follow proper notice and comment period for the same. Eventually, DOL issued announcement cancelling the H1B, PERM Wage Levels Changes.
Did we miss anything? Your thoughts?
Hi RB Team,
Here is my scenario, I have been working for Client X as a contractor through an LLC company (consultancy) for almost 7+ years with an LCA of $86K, $88K and $96K over the years and increasing gradually. I lost my contract job with the client X and found a new job with a different client Y with the same employer, however my current LCA will be around $75K per year. My question is, does this impact me in any way with my future employment with the lower LCA? I’ve been on Level-II until today. Please let me know if I can continue with Client Y or should I look for a higher package which is equal or more than $96K? Thanks in Advance.