How to use H-1B salary filings to see what an employer pays

If you want to know what a specific company pays for a specific job in a specific city, the Department of Labor's H-1B filings are one of the few places an employer has to write a number down in public. This guide shows you how to pull a named employer's filed wages from DOL's labor condition application (LCA) data, how to read the wage fields correctly, and how far you can lean on them in a pay conversation.

The short version: the newest DOL file as of late October 2026 is fiscal year 2026, third quarter, covering decisions from October 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. It lists the wage each employer said it would pay, job by job and worksite by worksite. It does not tell you what anyone was actually paid.

Quick reference

One term you will see a lot: a percentile shows where a wage sits in the local spread. The 17th percentile means roughly 17 out of every 100 workers in that job and area earn less; the 50th is the middle, or median.

What a labor condition application is and why the wages are public

Before a US employer can file an H-1B petition with USCIS, it has to get a certified LCA from the Department of Labor. On that form the employer names the job, the occupation code, where the work happens, and the wage it will pay. It also attests that it will pay at least the higher of two numbers: the "actual wage" it pays similar staff, or the "prevailing wage" for that occupation in that area. That rule sits in 20 CFR 655.731.

DOL's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) publishes the data from these forms as public disclosure files, which also cover H-1B1 and E-3 filings made on the same form.

A few timing rules matter for how you read the data. According to DOL's 2026 proposed rule in the Federal Register, an employer may not file an LCA more than six months before the job's start date, and DOL must certify it within seven working days unless it is incomplete or obviously inaccurate. Only after that does the employer file the actual petition with USCIS. Employers can also get an LCA before or after the H-1B registration lottery.

An LCA is a filing, not a hire. A certified LCA means DOL accepted the paperwork. It does not prove USCIS approved a petition, that the worker won the lottery, that the person accepted, or that anyone started work at that wage.

Where to download DOL's LCA disclosure data

Everything lives on the OFLC Performance Data page.

1. Open the page and choose the Disclosure Data tab.
2. Find the row for LCA Programs (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3) under the newest fiscal year.
3. Download the main disclosure file (named along the lines of LCA_Disclosure_Data_FY2026_Q3.xlsx), the worksites file, and the record layout PDF for the same quarter.
4. Keep the record layout open. It is DOL's own dictionary for every column.

Which file is the latest

Check the date before you use anything. OFLC's Foreign Labor Certification announcements posted the FY2026 Q3 release on August 14, 2026. It covers final determinations issued from October 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

The federal fiscal year runs October to September, and the files are cumulative year to date. The Q3 file already includes Q1 and Q2 decisions, so you do not need to stack them. The full-year FY2026 file had not been posted as of this article's date. For comparison, the full-year FY2025 file was announced on December 19, 2025, so a similar gap is possible this year. Check the announcements page rather than assuming.

The files are large. If Excel struggles, filter by employer first and copy those rows to a new sheet.

Searching by employer, job title and worksite

Step 1: Filter to the filings that count

• CASE_STATUS: keep "Certified". The layout also lists "Certified-Withdrawn", "Denied" and "Withdrawn". A withdrawn filing tells you even less about real pay.
• VISA_CLASS: keep "H-1B" unless you specifically want E-3 or H-1B1 rows.
• FULL_TIME_POSITION: keep "Y" if you are comparing against a full-time offer.

Step 2: Find the employer under every name it uses

Companies file under their legal name, which may not match the brand. Search EMPLOYER_NAME with a partial match, then check TRADE_NAME_DBA for the brand name. Once you have found one correct row, note the EMPLOYER_FEIN (the company's federal tax ID) and filter on that. It catches spelling variants and keeps out unrelated companies with similar names.

Step 3: Match the job, not just the title

Employer job titles can be internal codes or very generic, so use two columns together:

• JOB_TITLE: the employer's own title, useful for matching your offer letter.
• SOC_CODE and SOC_TITLE: the standard federal occupation code. This is what the prevailing wage is based on, and it is the better way to compare across companies.

If your title returns few rows, widen to the SOC code and drop titles that are clearly more senior or junior.

Step 4: Narrow to the place you would work

Filter on WORKSITE_CITY, WORKSITE_COUNTY or WORKSITE_STATE. The main file records the first worksite only. Filings with more than one location list the rest in the separate worksites file, which you can match on CASE_NUMBER.

Also look at SECONDARY_ENTITY. A "Y" means the worker will be placed at another company's site, and SECONDARY_ENTITY_BUSINESS_NAME tells you which one. Wages for staff placed at a client may not reflect what the employer pays its in-house teams.

Step 5: Put every wage on the same footing

Wages come in different units. Check WAGE_UNIT_OF_PAY, which can be hour, week, bi-weekly, month or year, and convert everything to annual before you compare. For an hourly rate, multiply by the hours in a full-time year; whatever assumption you pick, use it for every row.

Then count your rows. TOTAL_WORKER_POSITIONS shows how many workers one filing covers, so a row can stand for several people, or for none if no one was hired. Three rows is a hint, not a pay band.

Reading the wage fields: offered wage vs prevailing wage

These are the columns that matter, as DOL's LCA record layout defines them.

The offered wage is the employer's number

The offered wage, or range, is what the company committed to pay that H-1B worker. The regulation requires it to be at least the higher of the prevailing wage and the actual wage paid to similar employees. So if a company pays its own staff more than the market, the filed wage should reflect that higher internal rate, not just the market floor.

When there is a range, the "from" figure is the commitment. The "to" figure is a ceiling the employer stated, not a promise. If the "to" field is empty, treat the "from" figure as a single rate.

The prevailing wage is the market floor

The prevailing wage is DOL's benchmark for the occupation in that area. For most filings it comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, published through OFLC's wage data files. The current OFLC wage year runs from July 2026 to June 2027, posted July 1, 2026. Every filing in the FY2026 Q3 file was decided before that table took effect, so those rows rely on the July 2025 to June 2026 table or another source. Check the PW_OES_YEAR field when you compare rows from different years.

The gap between the two is the interesting part. An offered wage well above the prevailing wage suggests the employer pays above the local market. One that sits exactly on the prevailing wage only tells you the employer filed at the floor.

What the four wage levels mean

DOL's Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance, revised in November 2009 and still the guidance DOL points to, sorts jobs into four levels by comparing the job's requirements with what is typical for the occupation:

• Level I (entry): beginners with a basic understanding of the work, doing routine tasks under close supervision. Internships, research fellows and trainee roles point here.
• Level II (qualified): people with a good grasp of the occupation, doing moderately complex work with limited judgment.
• Level III (experienced): people with special skills or knowledge who use real judgment and may coordinate or supervise others. DOL notes that words like "lead" or "senior" in a title often point here.
• Level IV (fully competent): people experienced enough to plan and run their own work, use advanced skills on complex problems, get only technical guidance, and usually manage or supervise.

Every determination starts at Level I and moves up as the employer's education, experience and skill requirements rise above what is normal for that occupation.

In pay terms, DOL's March 2026 proposed rule describes today's levels as sitting at roughly the 17th, 34th, 50th and 67th percentiles of the OEWS wage spread for the occupation and area. So a Level I prevailing wage is well below the middle of the local market, and Level IV is above it.

The proposal was published on March 27, 2026, with comments due by May 26, 2026. It was a proposal, not a final rule, when this article was written. If it is finalized, prevailing wages in filings made after it takes effect would rise, and comparisons across that date would need care. Track it on our pay trends page and in the Federal Register.

Example: reading one company's filings

This is a hypothetical example to show the method, not data from a real employer.

Say you have an offer for a data scientist role in Chicago at a mid-sized software company. You filter the FY2026 Q3 file to the company's FEIN, "Certified", H-1B, full-time, and the SOC code for data scientists, with a Chicago worksite.

You get a handful of rows with titles close to yours. Some list Level II; others show N/A in PW_WAGE_LEVEL because the employer used a private survey. You annualize each "from" wage and find they cluster in a band, all above their prevailing wages.

What you can say: this employer filed to pay people in this occupation in Chicago at least this much in the past year. What you cannot say: that this is its pay band, or that your offer should match the top row.

Using the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub

The USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub answers a different question: does this employer actually get H-1B petitions approved, and how many?

You can search by fiscal year, employer name, city, state, ZIP code and industry (NAICS) code. Results show counts of initial and continuing approvals and denials. "Initial" generally means new employment; "continuing" covers extensions for people already working.

It has no wage data. Use it as a reality check on the LCA file:

• Lots of LCAs, few approvals? Many filings may never have become hires, so lean less on the wages.
• Steady approvals year after year? The LCA wages are more likely to reflect real, filled jobs.
• Name mismatches: USCIS shows one spelling per employer and only part of its tax ID, so check it against the FEIN in the DOL file.

The hub reflects USCIS's first decision on each petition; later outcomes such as appeals are not included. Check the hub page for the latest fiscal year and quarter it covers before quoting any count.

What this data does not show

The LCA wage is a narrow number.

• Bonuses and equity. The filing is a wage rate. Stock grants, sign-on bonuses and most performance bonuses are not broken out. Under 20 CFR 655.731, a future bonus can count toward the required wage only if its payment is assured, not contingent on something like company profits. So a target bonus usually sits outside the filed number entirely.
• Benefits. The employer must offer H-1B workers benefits on the same basis as US workers, but the file does not describe them.
• Non-H-1B staff. US citizens and green card holders do not appear. Neither do people on other visas. The file is a slice of the workforce, weighted toward the occupations and employers that use these visa programs.
• Real pay after hire. Raises, promotions and pay cuts are not tracked.
• Whether anyone was hired. As covered above, certified does not mean filled.
• Level, by itself. PW_WAGE_LEVEL shows the level of the prevailing wage used, which reflects the job's stated requirements. It is not a company job grade.

LCA data gives you a floor for one group of workers, not the company's pay band. Pair it with the company's own posted pay ranges where state pay transparency laws require them, and with BLS occupation data. Our company pay section covers those other sources.

Using the results in a negotiation

Filed wages are the employer's own numbers, submitted to the federal government. Use them as evidence of what the company will pay for the work, not proof of what you are owed.

Before the conversation

• Build a small table: job title, SOC code, worksite, annual offered wage, prevailing wage, wage level, decision date.
• Drop rows that are clearly a different level or city.
• Note the count. Several recent filings for the same role carry more weight than a single one.
• Work out where your offer sits: below the lowest filed wage, inside the cluster, or above it.

What to say

Example script if your offer is below the filed cluster:

"Thanks for the offer. I've looked at public Department of Labor filings for this title in this city, and the company's filed wages for similar roles over the past year sit above what you've offered. Is there room to bring the base closer to that range?"

Example script if your offer is inside the cluster:

"The base is in line with what I'd expect from public filings for this role here. Given my experience with [specific skill], I'd like to be toward the upper end. Could we look at the base or a sign-on bonus to close the gap?"

Keep it calm and factual. Do not accuse the employer of underpaying anyone, and do not quote a single row as if it were company policy.

If you are on an H-1B yourself

Employers must keep wage documentation for each LCA available for public examination, and the disclosure data includes a PUBLIC_DISCLOSURE field showing whether that information is kept at the place of business, the place of employment, or both. You can compare your pay with the wage on your own LCA.

If you believe you are being paid less than the required wage, that is a legal question, not a negotiation. DOL's Wage and Hour Division handles H-1B wage complaints, and an immigration attorney can advise on how a complaint might affect your status. Get advice before you act.

Trends worth knowing

DHS finalized a rule in December 2025 that weights the cap lottery by offered wage level, and a presidential proclamation on September 19, 2025 directed DOL to revise prevailing wage levels, which led to the March 2026 proposal. Both could shift the levels you see in newer files, so compare like with like. For more on asking for more at review time, see our negotiation guides.

What to do next

• Check the OFLC announcements page for the newest release before you download, and re-run your search when the full-year FY2026 file appears.
• Save your filtered rows with the file name and decision dates, so you can show where each number came from.
• Be honest about sample size: a handful of rows is a nudge, dozens of rows start to look like a range.
• Lead any pay conversation with your own skills and results, and use the filings as backup, not as your whole case.