H-1B Wage Levels: How Your Salary Floor Is Set

An H-1B offer has a legal minimum built into it. Before an employer can file for your visa, the U.S. Department of Labor requires the salary to meet a wage floor set for your specific occupation and work location. That floor is defined by a wage level, and the level assigned to your role shapes both what you can be paid and, under the current rules, your odds in the annual cap selection.

This guide explains the four H-1B wage levels, how the floor is calculated, how to check the level on your own offer, and a proposed rule that could move all four levels higher.

What an H-1B wage level is

For the H-1B visa, the Department of Labor sorts every H-1B salary into one of four wage levels. Each level maps to a point in the local pay range for your occupation, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

As of July 2026, the four levels sit at approximately the 17th, 34th, 50th, and 67th percentiles for your job and metro area. These thresholds have been in place for more than twenty years.

Level 1 covers entry-level work and Level 4 covers fully competent, senior work. The higher your level, the higher the minimum salary the employer has to offer before the government will certify the filing.

How your salary floor is set

The wage floor on your offer is the higher of two numbers: the prevailing wage for your role and location at your assigned level, or the actual wage the employer already pays other workers doing similar work at the same site.

Whichever is larger becomes the required wage, and the employer certifies it on the Labor Condition Application filed with the Department of Labor.

This is a floor, not a market rate. An offer that lands exactly on the prevailing wage number was priced to clear the legal bar, not to match what the role pays on the open market. Employers competing for talent routinely file above it. If your number sits right at the floor, that is a signal to ask why.

What decides your wage level

Your wage level comes from the duties and requirements of the job, not from how much experience you personally bring. The Department of Labor looks at the education, experience, supervision, and judgment the role calls for, then assigns a level:

• Level 1 is entry-level work performed under close supervision.
• Level 2 is qualified work involving some independent judgment.
• Level 3 is experienced work performed independently.
• Level 4 is fully competent work that often includes managing or directing others.

Because the level tracks the role rather than the résumé, a senior title filed at Level 1 is a mismatch worth raising. If the job involves people management or independent decision-making, it should not be sitting at the bottom level.

A low level on a senior role can mean the employer priced the position to the legal minimum, and that is a fair thing to question before you accept.

How to check your H-1B wage level

Your wage level is stated on the Labor Condition Application your employer files, so the most direct route is to ask the recruiter or immigration coordinator which level they plan to file at. You can also check the number yourself before you interview.

Look up the prevailing wage for your occupation and metro area using the Department of Labor's OFLC wage search tool, which returns all four level figures for your role and location. Compare those figures against the salary on your offer to see which level it maps to. For background on how the four tiers are calculated, the Department of Labor also publishes its prevailing wage program guidance.

What your wage level means for your offer

Once you know your level, you can read the offer more clearly. Moving up a level often does more for your salary than a flat-dollar negotiation, because each level jumps to a higher percentile of the local pay range rather than adding a fixed amount. A role reclassified from Level 1 to Level 2 resets the floor to a materially higher point in the distribution.

Two questions are reasonable to ask in writing before you sign:

1. Which wage level the employer plans to file at, and
2. Which occupational code (SOC) they are using for your role.

Both are stated on the Labor Condition Application, both drive the floor, and both are set before the petition goes in. Knowing them turns a vague "can you do better?" into a specific, grounded ask.

Your wage level now affects your cap odds too

Wage level no longer just sets your pay. Under the current H-1B cap selection process, higher wage levels are weighted more favorably in the annual selection, so a role filed at a higher level can improve your chances of being chosen. That ties your salary classification directly to whether your petition gets a shot at all.

A proposed 2026 rule could raise every level

On March 27, 2026, the Department of Labor published a proposed rule that would significantly raise all four wage levels. Under the proposal, Level 1 would move from the 17th to the 34th percentile, Level 2 to roughly the 52nd, Level 3 to roughly the 70th, and Level 4 from the 67th to the 88th. The Department estimates the change would raise the average certified wage by about $14,000 per year.

As of July 2026, this is a proposal, not law. The public comment period closed on May 26, 2026, and the Department has not issued a final rule or an effective date. Until a final rule takes effect, the current percentiles still govern your filing, and the change would apply only to new applications filed on or after its effective date, not to petitions already approved.

You can track the status on the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification page.

Putting your wage level to work

Your wage level is the single number that sets the floor on an H-1B offer, and it now also shapes your odds of selection. Before you accept, confirm the level and SOC code, check the salary against the current prevailing wage for your role and location, and factor in the proposed increase if you are filing into a future cycle. A number sitting right at the floor, or a senior role filed at Level 1, is worth a direct question to the employer.

When you are ready to find roles, Migrate Mate lists U.S. employers with verified sponsorship history drawn from government disclosure data, and lets you contact hiring managers directly instead of waiting on a referral. That turns wage-level research into a shortlist of employers you can approach with a clear view of what a fair offer looks like.

Frequently asked questions