This rule is not in force. It is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued on 26 March 2026, published in the Federal Register on 27 March with a 60-day comment period. It may be revised or withdrawn, and nothing about current filings changes until a final rule takes effect. Everything below models a scenario.
What the rule changes
H-1B prevailing wages are set by percentile. Each of the four wage levels maps to a fixed point on the local wage distribution for the occupation, and the proposal moves all four of those points up. DOL’s reasoning is that Level I currently sits near the bottom of a distribution that includes workers without specialised degrees, which it argues fails the statutory requirement for levels commensurate with experience and education.
| Wage level | Now | Proposed | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 17th | 34th | +17 points |
| Level II | 34th | 52th | +18 points |
| Level III | 50th | 70th | +20 points |
| Level IV | 67th | 88th | +21 points |
One consequence is worth noting immediately: proposed Level I sits at the 34th percentile, which is precisely where DOL puts Level II today. In other words, if the rule finalises, the entry-level floor becomes today’s qualified-level wage. That equivalence lets the entry-level impact be read straight off published figures, with no estimation involved, which is what the table below does.
The same policy change, a 22% to 46% range of outcomes
Coverage of the proposal tends to quote a single number, usually around 30%. That average hides most of what matters. Here is the Level I floor for four commonly sponsored occupations across three major tech metros, sorted by how hard each is hit.
| Occupation and metro | Now | Rise |
|---|---|---|
Information Security Analysts San Jose | $106,080 | $48,880+46% |
Data Scientists San Jose | $123,531 | $50,773+41% |
Computer & IS Managers San Jose | $178,506 | $70,137+39% |
Data Scientists New York | $79,456 | $30,035+38% |
Data Scientists Seattle | $96,117 | $33,592+35% |
Computer & IS Managers Seattle | $154,440 | $43,950+28% |
Information Security Analysts New York | $94,016 | $26,270+28% |
Software Developers New York | $103,210 | $28,787+28% |
Software Developers Seattle | $117,749 | $31,491+27% |
Software Developers San Jose | $149,365 | $38,376+26% |
Computer & IS Managers New York | $148,450 | $37,606+25% |
Information Security Analysts Seattle | $108,826 | $23,462+22% |
Why identical percentiles produce different bills
Look at the top and bottom rows. Information Security Analysts face a 46% increase in San Jose and a 22% increase in Seattle. The percentile shift is identical. The difference is entirely in how spread out local pay is for that role.
San Jose, info security
$106,080 to $252,720
2.4x spread
Level I to Level IV. A 17-point percentile move covers a lot of dollars, so the floor jumps 46%.
Seattle, info security
$108,826 to $179,234
1.65x spread
Tightly banded pay. The same percentile move covers far less ground, so the floor rises only 22%.
Note that Seattle’s Level I is actually higher than San Jose’s for this occupation today, at $108,826 against $106,080. It is the dispersion above that floor, not the floor itself, that determines exposure. The practical implication runs against intuition: the rule bites hardest where specialist pay is most unequal, which tends to mean the markets with the largest concentrations of very senior specialists rather than the most expensive markets as such.
It also means generalist roles are relatively insulated. Software developer floors rise a consistent 26% to 28% across all three metros, because developer pay is comparatively tightly banded everywhere. Data science and management roles, where the gap between junior and principal is much wider, carry the steep increases.
Check a specific offer against both scenarios
Enter an occupation, worksite area, LCA level and wage to see the requirement today, which of the four levels the offer clears, and the shortfall if the proposed rule finalises. Manual entry covers any SOC code and metro beyond the built-in set.
A lower floor can still be the better offer
Prevailing wage is a gross figure, and gross figures are a poor guide to outcomes across state lines. Compare two offers that are almost identical on paper:
Seattle, Level II software developer
$149,240 gross$113,272 netWashington has no state income tax
San Jose, Level I software developer
$149,365 gross$103,328 netCalifornia state tax applies
The Seattle role is a level higher for $125 less gross, and leaves roughly $9,944 more in hand. Worth remembering when a lower prevailing wage area looks like a downgrade: it sets a lower floor, not necessarily a worse outcome. The no-tax versus high-tax states comparison covers the wider pattern, and it matters more for sponsored workers than most, because the worksite that sets your wage floor also sets your tax bill.
What this means in practice
If you are on an H-1B now
Nothing changes yet, and existing approvals are not retroactively affected by a proposal. The question worth answering is where your current wage sits relative to today's Level II figure for your occupation and worksite, since that is the plausible future entry floor.
If you are being sponsored soon
Check the level your employer intends to certify, not just the salary. A Level I certification at a wage that only just clears today's floor is the most exposed position if a final rule lands mid-process.
If you sponsor people
Model exposure by occupation and worksite rather than applying one percentage. A firm hiring specialists in a high-dispersion metro faces a materially different bill from one hiring developers across several markets, and the averages in press coverage will mislead in both directions.
For everyone
The comment period is the point at which methodology can still be influenced. That is more useful than budgeting for a number that is not yet fixed.
This is market and pay analysis, not immigration or legal advice. Confirm any wage figure at flag.dol.gov/wage-data/wage-search and take advice on your own case.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly did DOL propose in March 2026?
On 26 March 2026 the Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published in the Federal Register on 27 March with a 60-day comment period, that would change how prevailing wages are calculated for the H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 and PERM programmes. All four wage levels would move up the local wage distribution: Level I from the 17th percentile to the 34th, 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. DOL's argument is that the 2005 methodology set Level I near the bottom of a distribution that includes workers without specialised degrees, and so does not meet the statutory requirement for levels commensurate with experience and education.
Is the rule in force?
No. It is a proposal, not a final rule. It carries a 60-day comment period and may be revised substantially or withdrawn. Nothing about current filings changes until a final rule is published with an effective date. Treat the figures here as planning context for a scenario, not as a requirement you must already meet.
How much would entry-level wages actually have to rise?
It varies far more than the headline suggests. Across the twelve occupation and metro combinations we modelled, the Level I floor rises between 22% and 46%, or between $23,462 and $70,137 in cash. Information Security Analysts in San Jose see the steepest proportional jump at 46%, while the same occupation in Seattle rises only 22%. The percentile change is identical in both cases; the outcome is not.
Why is the increase so uneven if the percentile change is the same everywhere?
Because it depends on how spread out local wages are for that occupation. Moving from the 17th to the 34th percentile covers a small dollar distance in a market where pay for a role is tightly clustered, and a large one where pay is widely dispersed. San Jose information security pay runs from about $106,000 at Level I to $253,000 at Level IV, a spread of roughly 2.4 times. Seattle's equivalent spread is about 1.65 times. Same policy change, very different bill, and the rule therefore bites hardest exactly where specialist pay is most unequal.
Which roles are most exposed?
Specialist and management roles in high-dispersion metros, not the ones people usually expect. Generic software developer roles see the mildest proportional impact of the four occupations we modelled, between 26% and 28% everywhere, because developer pay is relatively tightly banded. Data science and information security in San Jose, and management roles generally, carry the steepest increases. In dollar terms the largest single jump is Computer and Information Systems Managers in San Jose, at $70,137.
Does a lower prevailing wage metro actually leave you worse off?
Not necessarily, because state tax cuts across it. A Seattle Level II software developer offer of $149,240 nets about $113,272 in Washington, which has no state income tax. A San Jose Level I offer of $149,365, a near-identical gross, nets about $103,328 in California. The Seattle role is a level higher for the same money and leaves roughly $9,944 more in hand. Prevailing wage is a gross floor, and the metro that sets a lower floor is sometimes the better net outcome.
What should employers be doing now?
Modelling exposure by occupation and worksite rather than assuming a uniform percentage. Because the impact tracks local wage dispersion, a company with concentrated hiring in one high-dispersion metro for specialist roles faces a very different bill from one hiring developers across several markets. The comment period is also the point at which the methodology can still be influenced, which matters more than preparing for a figure that is not yet fixed.
How does this compare with sponsorship elsewhere?
The UK went in a similar direction earlier and settled at a broadly comparable place. Its Skilled Worker route requires the higher of a £41,700 cash floor and 100% of an occupation-specific going rate, which for software roles means £54,700. The US system is more granular, since it varies by metro as well as occupation, and more volatile, because it is re-based annually from survey data. The proposed change would make the US floor for entry-level specialist roles high by international comparison rather than low.
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