H-1B Prevailing Wage Checker

Two inputs decide it: the job's Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and the worksite location. The Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification publishes wage figures on its FLAG wage search, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. New figures take effect each July, so the current set covers the 2026-27 wage year, from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Your employer then assigns one of four wage levels on the Labor Condition Application, and the prevailing wage is the figure for that occupation, area and level.

They describe the seniority of the job, not the seniority of the person filling it. Level I is entry-level work under close supervision, set at the 17th percentile of local wages for the occupation. Level II is qualified work under moderate supervision at the 34th percentile. Level III is experienced work involving independent judgement at the 50th percentile, the median. Level IV is fully competent senior or lead work at the 67th percentile, the only level above the median.

No. The employer must pay the higher of the prevailing wage and the actual wage, which is what it already pays its own similarly employed workers with comparable duties and experience. If colleagues in the same role are paid above the prevailing wage, the actual wage becomes the binding figure. That test depends on internal pay data no public tool can see, so it is the employer's obligation to document.

It is not in force. On 26 March 2026 DOL issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published in the Federal Register on 27 March with a 60-day comment period, that would raise all four wage levels: Level I from the 17th to the 34th percentile, Level II from the 34th to the 52nd, Level III from the 50th to the 70th, and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th. Entry-level requirements would rise by roughly a quarter to a third. It may still be revised or dropped, so treat the projections here as planning context rather than a current requirement.

Because proposed Level I sits at the same 34th percentile DOL currently assigns to Level II, today's published Level II wage is the closest proxy for a future Level I floor. On that basis a Level I software developer floor would rise from $152,797 to about $187,075 in San Jose, from $111,613 to about $143,104 in Seattle, and from $109,845 to about $137,717 in New York. That is a rise of 22% to 28%.

The place where the work is actually performed sets the wage area, not your employer's headquarters. A remote role worked from a lower-wage metro is assessed against that metro's figures. This matters both ways: moving to a higher-wage area can raise the applicable prevailing wage above what the employer certified, which is a change the employer may need to address on the LCA.

The obligation is measured on guaranteed wages. Bonuses, RSUs and sign-on payments are not counted in the way people often assume, so a total compensation figure well above the prevailing wage does not settle the question if base salary falls short. Check the base wage stated on the LCA rather than the package total.

Always at the official source: flag.dol.gov/wage-data/wage-search, using the SOC code and the worksite county. This tool carries a convenience sample of the most commonly sponsored technology occupations in three metros, with manual entry for anything else, and it is not a substitute for the official determination or for immigration advice.