Prevailing Wage for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other
The prevailing wage for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other (SOC 25-1069) is set by DOL using regional wage surveys and varies significantly by worksite city. DOL establishes four experience-based levels, from entry through fully competent, so the floor a sponsored position must meet depends on both location and the level assigned to the role.
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Level 1 covers entry-level postsecondary social sciences instructors who are new to teaching in a U.S. academic setting, typically working under faculty oversight, teaching standard courses with established syllabi, and holding a recently completed graduate degree.
Level 2 is the most common filing level for this occupation. It covers instructors with some independent teaching experience, a developed course portfolio, and an established record in their social sciences subfield, typically a few years past their terminal degree.
Level 3 applies to experienced faculty who teach advanced or graduate-level courses, lead research projects, mentor junior instructors, and have a documented publication or scholarship record that demonstrates independent expertise in their social sciences discipline.
Level 4 is reserved for senior faculty with a substantial research profile, departmental leadership responsibilities, recognized standing in their field, and a history of securing grants or directing programs within a postsecondary institution.
Prevailing Wage for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other by OES area
Each shape is a DOL OES area, the unit prevailing wage is published for.
What’s an OES area?
The Department of Labor publishes prevailing wages for geographic zones called OES areas. Every U.S. county belongs to exactly one, and the wage floor applies across the whole area. A worker in Oakland gets the San Francisco metro wage, not a separate Oakland wage.
Top 10 cities · Level 1
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See which U.S. employers are actively hiring for this role and sponsoring H-1B, OPT, and green card visas at or above the prevailing wage.
Search visa-sponsored jobsPrevailing Wage Guide for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other
Confirm your subfield maps to SOC 25-1069
Sociology, political science, and geography each have separate SOC codes with their own prevailing wage floors. If your offer letter lists one of those specific disciplines, the employer may file under the wrong code, which changes the wage floor that applies to your position.
Watch how California metro assignments work
Sacramento and Riverside consistently post the highest prevailing wages for this occupation nationally, far above San Francisco. The worksite city on the LCA, not your city of residence, determines which metro floor applies, so confirm the exact campus address before reviewing the offer.
Understand why adjunct titles rarely trigger prevailing wage
Many postsecondary social sciences roles are classified as part-time adjunct positions that fall outside H-1B sponsorship entirely. When an employer does sponsor, the full-time tenure-track or lecturer title should map to this SOC, not a lower-wage administrative category.
Find employers that have sponsored this occupation before
Migrate Mate shows which colleges and universities have historical visa sponsorship records for postsecondary social sciences teaching roles, so you can focus your search on institutions that have completed the process before rather than starting from scratch with sponsors unfamiliar to this occupational category.
Jobs for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other are hiring across the US. Find yours.
Find Jobs for this roleFrequently Asked Questions
How does DOL set the prevailing wage for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other?
DOL calculates prevailing wages using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics through employer surveys. For this occupation, those surveys capture actual wages paid by colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions in each metropolitan area. OFLC publishes the results as four wage levels that employers must meet or exceed when filing an LCA for a sponsored position.
What do the four wage levels mean and how do I identify which one applies to my offer?
DOL assigns levels based on experience and responsibility. Level 1 is entry-level with close supervision; Level 2 reflects qualified independent practice; Level 3 covers experienced workers with specialized expertise; Level 4 applies to senior roles with leadership scope. The employer selects the level when filing the LCA, but the selection must match the actual duties and experience required in the job description. If the assigned level seems low relative to the listed responsibilities, that is worth raising before you accept.
Why does the same role pay so differently from one city to another?
DOL calculates each metro's prevailing wage from BLS regional employer surveys conducted in that area, so wages reflect local labor market conditions. Colleges in high-cost California metros survey differently from institutions in Puerto Rico. The worksite address listed on the LCA, not your home address, determines which metro's floor applies. Dense academic markets with more institutional employers and higher cost of living produce higher survey medians and therefore higher prevailing wage floors.
What happens if an offer falls below the prevailing wage for a sponsored position?
An employer cannot certify an LCA with a wage below the applicable prevailing wage floor. USCIS will not approve an H-1B or similar petition if the LCA wage is deficient. If a wage offer is below the floor, the employer must either increase the offered salary to meet the prevailing wage before filing or the sponsorship cannot proceed. OFLC and USCIS both review wage compliance as part of the certification and adjudication process.
How do I find and verify the prevailing wage for Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other at a specific U.S. location?
The OFLC Wage Search tool allows you to look up the current prevailing wage for SOC 25-1069 by selecting the occupation code and entering the worksite metropolitan area. Enter the exact city or metropolitan area where the job will be performed, not where the employer is headquartered. Migrate Mate also shows which employers have sponsored postsecondary social sciences teaching roles historically, helping you identify institutions where this occupation has cleared the sponsorship process before.
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