H-1B Prevailing Wages by State: How to Look Up Your Metro's Level I-IV Wage in Five Minutes
The same H-1B offer can sit at a different wage level one metro over, and DOL's free wage search shows you exactly where it lands in about five minutes.
Part of our guide to H-1B wage levels.
H-1B wages by state is the wrong unit, and the number you actually need is narrower and easier to find. The Department of Labor sets an H-1B prevailing wage for each occupation code in each metro or non-metro area, at four levels (I to IV), and publishes every combination free in its OFLC Wage Search. As of November 1, 2026, the current series is Wage Year 2026-27 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027), built on BLS May 2025 survey data. Pick that series, your occupation code, your worksite state and your area, and you will have your Level I-IV figures in about five minutes.
Status, as of 2026-11-01: wage-weighted H-1B selection (Level IV weighted four times, Level I once) has been in effect since 2026-02-27. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30), which would raise every level, is proposed only: NPRM published 2026-03-27, no final rule, none at OIRA. FY2028 H-1B registration is not announced.
H-1B wages by state: what actually varies
No state has one H-1B wage. DOL sets the prevailing wage for each Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code in each metropolitan or non-metropolitan area, at four wage levels, using Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey data. Two cities in the same state can carry different Level I-IV figures, and statewide data is a fallback used only when local estimates are missing.
Our explainer on how the H-1B prevailing wage is determined covers the inputs, and what DOL's Level I-IV wage levels mean covers how a job lands on a level. This page does one job: getting your metro's four figures out of DOL's own tool. They matter twice:
- Your pay floor (the LCA). DOL's Fact Sheet #62G says the employer must pay "the higher of the prevailing wage or the employer's actual wage." Here the level reflects the job's requirements (education, experience, skills) under DOL's prevailing wage guidance.
- Your lottery weight (the registration). USCIS's H-1B electronic registration page says registrants "must also provide the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the beneficiary's proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code in the area(s) of intended employment." Here the level comes from the salary. Under the weighted selection rule, in effect since 2026-02-27, a Level IV registration is entered in the selection pool four times and a Level I registration once.
Before you search: the four inputs you need
Gather these first. Most failed lookups come from one wrong input, not from the tool.
| Input | Where to get it | The usual trap |
|---|---|---|
| Data series (wage year) | The first dropdown; the current series is 7/2026 - 6/2027 | Leaving an older series selected |
| Collection | All Industries for most employers; ACWIA Higher Ed. for colleges and universities, their affiliated or related nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations | Guessing which one applies |
| Occupation (O*NET) code | Ask HR or the employer's immigration counsel; check it against O*NET OnLine | Searching by job title instead of duties |
| Worksite county | Your actual work address; the Census Bureau's Geocoder ("Find Geographies") returns the county | Using company headquarters or your school's city |
Inputs for the OFLC Wage Search, as of 2026-11-01.
If you are unsure which code your role maps to, our guide to SOC codes for H-1B and the FY2026 LCA data explains why two "Data Analyst" jobs can sit in different codes. The higher-education collection exists because DOL's rule at 20 CFR 656.40(e) counts only wages at those institutions and organizations when setting their employees' prevailing wage. Whether your employer qualifies is a question for its counsel.
How do I look up the prevailing wage for my job and city?
Use the OFLC Wage Search on DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG). You fill in the fields in order, submit, and get four wage levels for that occupation in that area. The form itself notes that "all fields are required for submission."
- Open the OFLC Wage Search on FLAG. DOL's prevailing wage resources page links to it and explains that the wages come from BLS OEWS data.
- Select a Data Series: choose 7/2026 - 6/2027. The dropdown also lists older series back to 7/2022 - 6/2023.
- Select a Collection: All Industries, unless counsel has told you ACWIA Higher Ed. applies.
- Enter the occupation code and title, for example 15-1252 Software Developers. If you are stuck, the form's "Don't know your Occupation Code?" link searches O*NET.
- Select the State/Territory where you will work, not where the employer is based.
- Select an Area Type: County/ Township if you know your worksite county, or BLS Areas to pick a metro by name (the form then asks for the county too).
- Select the Area and submit.
- Save the result as a PDF or screenshot with the date and data series visible. A figure without its wage year is useless once the next series starts in July.
How to read the results: wage levels, Geo Level and the flags
The results show your SOC code and title, then four rows, Level I to Level IV, each with an hourly and a yearly figure. The tool's footnote explains the yearly number: "Yearly wages are calculated based on 2080.0 work hours per year and rounded to the nearest dollar." Two other parts of the screen tell you how local the figure really is and whether it is complete.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Geo Level 1 | Estimate from the actual metro (MSA) or balance-of-state area you picked | Use as is |
| Geo Level 2 | No releasable estimate for your area, so your area plus contiguous areas was used | Note it; ask counsel if the figure looks off |
| Geo Level 3 | No local or neighboring estimate, so statewide data was used | The only case where "by state" is literally true |
| Geo Level 4 | No state estimate, so the national average was used | Ask counsel whether a formal determination makes sense |
| High Wage | The actual estimate is at or above $115/hour ($239,200/year), but OEWS cannot estimate it | OFLC issues $115.00/hour ($239,200/year) as the prevailing wage |
| Annual Wage | Workers in this occupation do not generally work 2,080 hours a year, so only annual rates are shown | Compare your annual offer, not an hourly figure |
| No Wage, No Leveled Wage or No ACWIA | DOL lacks the estimate (for No Leveled Wage, the mean wage is reported) | The employer may request a prevailing wage determination on Form ETA-9141 |
OFLC Wage Search result labels, Wage Year 2026-27, as of 2026-11-01.
The $115-an-hour rule comes from DOL's Technical Release Notes for Wage Year 2026-27, which also confirm the data's age: "This data is based on BLS's May 2025 wage estimates." If the results show separate "Non-R&D Wages" and "R&D Wages" buttons, do not pick one yourself; that is counsel's call.
Worked example: one occupation, three metros
Say it is November 2026 and you are on STEM OPT. An employer offers you a role it codes as 15-1252 Software Developers and says your seat could be in San Jose, New York City or Phoenix. FY2028 registration is not announced (USCIS must give at least 30 days' notice; March 2027 is only an expectation), so this is a good time to understand your numbers.
| Run | State/Territory | Area type and area | What you write down |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | County/ Township, then Santa Clara County | Level I-IV yearly figures, Geo Level, any flag |
| 2 | New York | County/ Township, then New York County (Manhattan) | Same four figures, Geo Level, any flag |
| 3 | Arizona | County/ Township, then Maricopa County | Same four figures, Geo Level, any flag |
Same SOC code, same data series (7/2026 - 6/2027), same collection; only the place changes.
Then put your offered salary next to each row and find the highest level it equals or exceeds. That level can differ by metro for the identical offer: where local pay runs higher, every level's figure is usually higher too, so the same salary sits lower on that ladder. We print no dollar figures on purpose; they change every July and the tool is the source of truth. If the seat could move after filing, see moving to a new state with the same H-1B employer.
Which wage level would my offer be in another metro?
Repeat the search with the other metro's area and compare your offer against its four figures. The highest level your offer meets is the answer for that place. The weighted selection rule's registration text settles the edge cases:
| Situation | Level the registration uses |
|---|---|
| One worksite | The highest OEWS level the offered wage equals or exceeds in that area |
| More than one worksite | The lowest level the wage meets across those locations |
| Salary stated as a range | The level the lowest wage in the range meets |
| Wage below Level I, based on a legitimate non-OEWS source | Level I |
| No current OEWS data for the position | The level that matches the job's requirements under DOL guidance |
Registration wage-level rules, weighted selection final rule (published 2025-12-29, in effect since 2026-02-27).
DHS said the multi-site rule "removes a potential incentive to inflate wage levels through strategic location or position choices." Use this lookup to understand an offer, not to engineer one. The LCA must describe the actual job at the actual place of work, and DOL enforces that: its H-1B debarment list, "effective as of October 1, 2026," names six willful violators. Never suggest a different title, metro or level to an employer to reach a better lottery weight; if the employer has not settled where you will sit, its counsel resolves that before anything is filed. For metro choices made for real career reasons, see which metros push H-1B roles to a higher wage level.
Is California's prevailing wage the same as the H-1B prevailing wage?
No. Searches for "california prevailing wage" or "prevailing wage in New York" usually lead to public-works rates for construction crafts. California's Department of Industrial Relations says "All workers employed on public works projects must be paid the prevailing wage," and its Director publishes those rates in the general prevailing wage determinations. None of that sets your H-1B pay, which comes only from the OFLC Wage Search.
| System | Who it covers | How the rate is set | Where to look |
|---|---|---|---|
| OFLC foreign-labor wage | PERM, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3, among others | SOC code, area and Level I-IV, from BLS OEWS | OFLC Wage Search |
| Davis-Bacon (federal) | Contractors on covered federally funded or assisted construction, who must pay "no less than the locally prevailing wages" | DOL wage determinations, available on SAM.gov | DOL Davis-Bacon page |
| California public works | Workers employed on California public works projects | Set by the DIR Director, by type of work and location | California DIR |
| New York public work | Workers on New York public work projects | NYS DOL publishes the annual schedule; in New York City, the City Comptroller sets the rates | NYS DOL, NYC Comptroller |
Four different "prevailing wage" systems, as of 2026-11-01.
One never substitutes for another. If California or New York is where you want to work, a list of H-1B employers in California or in New York is a better next step than a rate sheet.
State hiring pauses are not wage changes. Florida paused new H-1B hires at 12 public universities from 2026-03-02 until at least 2027-01-05 (renewals unaffected), and Texas froze new H-1B petitions at state agencies and public universities from 2026-01-27 to 2027-05-31 unless the Texas Workforce Commission permits one. Both are in effect as of 2026-11-01; neither touches the wage tables or private employers.
Is DOL raising H-1B prevailing wages?
Not yet. DOL's rule "Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States" (RIN 1205-AC30) is proposed: the NPRM was published 2026-03-27, and as of 2026-11-01 there is no final rule and none at OIRA. Every lookup today uses the current tables.
| Wage level | What the NPRM proposes (not in effect) |
|---|---|
| Level I | From the 17th to the 34th percentile |
| Level II | Up to the 52nd percentile |
| Level III | Up to the 70th percentile |
| Level IV | From the 67th to the 88th percentile |
RIN 1205-AC30, status as of 2026-11-01: proposed; first-year cost estimated at about $1.46 billion.
You may have read that a final wage rule went to the White House on 2026-09-14. That mixes up two rules: the item OIRA received that day was DOL's PERM labor-market-test NPRM (RIN 1205-AC29), which concluded review on 2026-10-23 and has not been published. If the wage rule were finalized as proposed, our reading is that the same SOC code and area would show higher figures at every level, so the same offer could land on a lower level. Our breakdown of the proposed prevailing wage increase covers who it would reach.
Common mistakes
- Searching "by state" and stopping there. Statewide data appears only as a Geo Level 3 fallback; your figure is set by your area.
- Using headquarters instead of the worksite. A Seattle employer seating you in Phoenix uses Phoenix figures.
- Leaving last year's series selected. Check that the Data Series reads 7/2026 - 6/2027 before you trust a number.
- Guessing the collection or the code. ACWIA Higher Ed. figures do not apply to an ordinary private employer, and the code follows duties, not the job title.
- Mixing up public-works and H-1B wages. California DIR, New York public-work and Davis-Bacon rates are different systems.
- Treating the proposal as law. The 34th-percentile Level I figure is in an NPRM, not in today's tables.
- Gaming the level. A title, metro or level picked to improve lottery weight rather than to describe the real job is an LCA integrity problem, not a strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Is the H-1B prevailing wage different by state?
Yes, but the real unit is smaller than a state. DOL sets the H-1B prevailing wage for each occupation code in each metro or non-metro area, at four levels, from BLS OEWS survey data. Statewide data is only a fallback when local estimates are missing, so two cities in one state can have different figures. The current series covers July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
How do I look up the prevailing wage for my job and city?
Use DOL's free OFLC Wage Search on the FLAG website. Select the 7/2026 - 6/2027 data series, the All Industries collection (unless your employer's counsel says ACWIA Higher Ed. applies), your occupation code, the state of your worksite, an area type and your area. The results show Level I to Level IV wages, hourly and yearly, with yearly figures based on 2,080 hours.
Is California's prevailing wage the same as the H-1B prevailing wage?
No. California's prevailing wage, set by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, applies to workers on public works projects. Federal Davis-Bacon rates cover federally funded or assisted construction. The H-1B prevailing wage is a separate DOL foreign-labor figure based on occupation code, area and wage level, found in the OFLC Wage Search.
Which wage level would my offer be in another metro?
Run the OFLC Wage Search again with the other metro's area and find the highest of the four levels your offered salary equals or exceeds, which is what H-1B registration asks for. If you will work in more than one location, the registration uses the lowest level your salary meets across them. Your employer's immigration counsel makes the official determination.
Is DOL raising H-1B prevailing wages?
Not yet. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30) is a proposal published 2026-03-27 that would raise Level I from the 17th to the 34th percentile and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th. As of November 1, 2026 there is no final rule and none under White House review, so today's wage tables still apply.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Prevailing Wage Information and Resources
- DOL OFLC, OFLC Wage Search on FLAG
- DOL OFLC, Technical Release Notes, OEWS Update, Wage Year 2026-27
- DOL Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #62G and H-1B debarment list
- USCIS, H-1B Electronic Registration Process
- DHS, Weighted Selection final rule: Federal Register page and full text on GovInfo
- DOL, Prevailing wage NPRM, RIN 1205-AC30; 20 CFR 656.40 (Legal Information Institute)
- U.S. Census Bureau, Geocoder; O*NET OnLine
- DOL, Davis-Bacon and Related Acts; California DIR, Prevailing Wage Requirements and General Prevailing Wage Determinations
- NYS DOL, Bureau of Public Work and Prevailing Wage Enforcement; NYC Comptroller, prevailing wage overview
How we checked this: on November 1-2, 2026 we read the OFLC Wage Search form and its result notes, DOL's Wage Year 2026-27 technical release notes, Fact Sheet #62G, USCIS's registration page, the weighted selection rule's text on GovInfo and the Federal Register records for both rules, and took the status of every pending rule from our facts brief dated 2026-11-01.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your employer and its immigration attorney decide the SOC code, wage level and worksite on your LCA and registration; your DSO is the person to ask about anything touching your F-1, OPT or STEM OPT record.
The bottom line
Your H-1B wage is a metro number, not a state number, and you can read it straight from DOL in five minutes: current series, right collection, right code, real worksite. Save the dated result, take questions to the employer's counsel, and ignore public-works rate sheets for this purpose. If you are on OPT or STEM OPT and want help finding employers that sponsor H-1B, F1Jobs runs focused job searches for international candidates.
Frequently asked questions
Is the H-1B prevailing wage different by state?
Yes, but the real unit is smaller than a state. DOL sets the H-1B prevailing wage for each occupation code in each metro or non-metro area, at four levels, from BLS OEWS survey data. Statewide data is only a fallback when local estimates are missing, so two cities in one state can have different figures. The current series covers July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
How do I look up the prevailing wage for my job and city?
Use DOL's free OFLC Wage Search on the FLAG website. Select the 7/2026 - 6/2027 data series, the All Industries collection (unless your employer's counsel says ACWIA Higher Ed. applies), your occupation code, the state of your worksite, an area type and your area. The results show Level I to Level IV wages, hourly and yearly, with yearly figures based on 2,080 hours.
Is California's prevailing wage the same as the H-1B prevailing wage?
No. California's prevailing wage, set by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, applies to workers on public works projects. Federal Davis-Bacon rates cover federally funded or assisted construction. The H-1B prevailing wage is a separate DOL foreign-labor figure based on occupation code, area and wage level, found in the OFLC Wage Search.
Which wage level would my offer be in another metro?
Run the OFLC Wage Search again with the other metro's area and find the highest of the four levels your offered salary equals or exceeds, which is what H-1B registration asks for. If you will work in more than one location, the registration uses the lowest level your salary meets across them. Your employer's immigration counsel makes the official determination.
Is DOL raising H-1B prevailing wages?
Not yet. DOL's prevailing-wage rule (RIN 1205-AC30) is a proposal published 2026-03-27 that would raise Level I from the 17th to the 34th percentile and Level IV from the 67th to the 88th. As of November 1, 2026 there is no final rule and none under White House review, so today's wage tables still apply.