H-1B Minimum Wage: Prevailing Wage Levels, Location, and Deductions

There is no single H-1B minimum wage. Federal rules require an employer to pay whichever is higher: the prevailing wage for that occupation in that geographic area, or the actual wage the employer already pays its own workers in similar roles with comparable qualifications.¹ So the floor depends on three things: the job, the worksite, and what the employer pays comparable staff. A software engineer in San Francisco and a software engineer in a small metro area can be in the same visa program with legally different minimums.

The Two Numbers That Set the Floor

The prevailing wage is the going rate for the occupation in the area, drawn from federal survey data. The actual wage is what the employer pays other employees who hold similar positions with similar experience, education, and qualifications at that same worksite.¹ The employer runs both numbers and pays the larger one.

A quick example. If a company’s existing software engineers earn $130,000 and the prevailing wage for that role in that metro is $115,000, the H-1B worker must be paid at least $130,000. Flip the prevailing wage to $140,000 and the required salary becomes $140,000, regardless of what the rest of the team makes.

The employer commits to this before the petition is filed by submitting a Labor Condition Application (Form ETA-9035) to the Department of Labor. That form is a binding attestation covering wages, working conditions, and notice for the entire authorized period of employment.²

Where the Prevailing Wage Comes From

Prevailing wages are built from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, which surveys roughly 830 occupations across every metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area in the country.³ The Department of Labor turns that survey data into a wage distribution for each occupation in each area.

Employers have two ways to get the number. They can look it up in the DOL’s online wage search tool, or they can file Form ETA-9141 with the National Prevailing Wage Center for a formal Prevailing Wage Determination.⁴ A formal determination is a safe harbor; the employer can point to the government’s own number if the wage is later challenged.

The Four Wage Levels

The same job title does not carry a single prevailing wage. The DOL assigns one of four wage levels to each position based on how much experience, judgment, and autonomy the role requires, and each level sits at a different percentile of the local wage distribution:

Level 1 (Entry): routine tasks under close supervision, approximately the 17th percentile.
Level 2 (Qualified): moderately complex work with limited supervision, approximately the 34th percentile.
Level 3 (Experienced): broad occupational knowledge and independent judgment, approximately the 50th percentile.
Level 4 (Fully Competent): highly complex duties, often with leadership or specialized expertise, approximately the 67th percentile.

The gap between levels can be substantial. A Level 1 software developer in San Francisco can have a prevailing wage $40,000 or more below a Level 4 developer in the same metro. The level also matters for petition approval: USCIS reviews the wage level against the job description, and a senior-sounding role paired with a Level 1 wage frequently draws a Request for Evidence or a denial.

Job classification is done by Standard Occupational Classification code, based on actual duties rather than the employer’s internal title. A “solutions architect” whose day-to-day work matches a software developer’s duties is classified as a software developer, and the prevailing wage follows.

Proposed 2026 Changes

In March 2026, the DOL published a proposed rule that would push these percentiles up significantly: Level 1 from the 17th to the 34th percentile, Level 2 from the 34th to the 52nd, Level 3 from the 50th to the 70th, and Level 4 from the 67th to the 88th.⁵ The rule is in its comment period and has not been finalized, so the current percentiles still apply. If adopted, nearly every H-1B minimum salary would rise.

Location and Remote Work

Because the prevailing wage is set by Metropolitan Statistical Area, moving the work moves the floor. The same data analyst role can carry a prevailing wage twice as high in a high-cost metro as it does in a rural area, and the employer has to list every worksite on the LCA so the salary clears the correct local threshold.

Remote work is where this catches employers off guard. If an H-1B worker relocates their home office to a different MSA, the employer needs a new LCA with a prevailing wage determination for the new location and an amended H-1B petition filed before work begins there. Letting someone move without updating the paperwork can create an underpayment violation even if the salary has not changed, because the new area’s prevailing wage may be higher.

What Counts Toward the Required Wage

The required wage has to be paid in cash, free and clear, when due. To count, every payment must appear on the employer’s payroll as earnings, be reported to the IRS with proper tax withholding, and have FICA paid on it.¹

Bonuses can count, but only if the payment is guaranteed. A discretionary year-end bonus tied to company profits or performance reviews does not. A signing bonus already received or a contractually guaranteed quarterly bonus does, provided it meets the payroll and tax requirements.¹

Employer contributions to health insurance, life insurance, and retirement plans do not count. Stock options and equity grants generally do not either, because their value is not guaranteed when the wage is due. If the prevailing wage is $100,000, the worker must receive at least $100,000 in cash wages, no matter how generous the benefits package looks on paper.

Deductions the Employer Cannot Make

Only three categories of deduction from an H-1B worker’s pay are permitted: those required by law (income taxes, FICA), those reasonable and customary in the occupation and applied to all employees, and those the worker authorizes in writing for their own benefit.⁶ Even authorized deductions cannot exceed the fair market value of what the worker gets and cannot push take-home pay below Consumer Credit Protection Act garnishment limits.

The important restriction: the employer cannot recoup its own business costs from the worker. Attorney fees for the H-1B petition, LCA filing costs, the ACWIA training fee, the fraud prevention fee, and the base I-129 filing fee are all the employer’s expense. Deducting them from pay, or requiring the worker to reimburse them, violates federal regulation even if the worker signs an agreement consenting to it.¹

Early-termination penalties against workers who leave before a contract ends are also prohibited. Legitimate liquidated damages are technically allowed if the amount reflects a reasonable estimate of actual damages and does not drop wages below the required rate, but the DOL scrutinizes these arrangements closely.⁷

Pay During Non-Productive Time

If an H-1B worker is ready and willing to work but the employer has no assignment to give, the required wage still runs. That covers project gaps, client cancellations, seasonal slowdowns, and delays in obtaining a professional license needed for the role. Withholding pay during these stretches, commonly called benching, is one of the most frequently enforced violations in the program.¹

The obligation does not apply to voluntary personal time off unrelated to work, such as personal travel or caring for a family member. But if the time off falls under FMLA, the ADA, or the employer’s own benefits plan, those laws impose their own separate payment obligations.⁸

Part-Time Work and the $60,000 Figure

The prevailing wage and actual wage rules apply to part-time H-1B workers on a per-hour basis. A part-time worker earns at least the same hourly rate a full-time worker in the same role and location would earn. The employer cannot slot the position into a lower wage level simply because the hours are fewer.

One fixed dollar figure does appear in the program, but it does not set a general minimum salary. A worker is treated as “exempt” from certain additional employer obligations if they actually receive at least $60,000 in cash wages during the year, or hold a master’s degree or higher in a field related to the position.⁹ Employer-paid benefits do not count toward $60,000, and discretionary bonuses only count if guaranteed. A part-time worker whose full-time equivalent salary would be $80,000 but who actually earns only $45,000 in the year does not clear the $60,000 threshold.

If You Think You’re Being Underpaid

Every H-1B worker’s employer keeps a public access file that includes the certified LCA, documentation of the prevailing wage and actual wage methodology, a summary of benefits offered to U.S. workers in the same job classification, and proof of notice to employees or their union representative.¹⁰ The file has to be produced within one working day of a request. You or someone acting for you can ask to see it and compare the documented wage commitment against your pay.

If the numbers don’t match, or if you’re being benched without pay or hit with prohibited deductions, you can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division on Form WH-4.¹¹ You do not have to still work for the employer to file, and federal law prohibits retaliation for reporting a violation. The DOL can also open investigations on its own from anonymous tips.¹² When violations are found, the DOL can order back wages for the full underpayment period, along with civil penalties that reach $67,367 per violation in the most serious cases and multi-year bans on sponsoring future workers.¹³

1
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.731 – What Is the First LCA Requirement, Regarding Wages
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Important Foreign Labor Certification H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 Information
3
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Prevailing Wage Information and Resources
5
U.S. Department of Labor. US Department of Labor Issues Proposed Rule Revising Prevailing Wage Levels
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62H – What Are the Rules Concerning Deductions From an H-1B Workers Pay
7
U.S. Department of Labor. H-1B Advisor – Early Cessation Penalty and Liquidated Damage
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62I – Must an H-1B Employer Pay for Nonproductive Time
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62Q – What Are Exempt H-1B Nonimmigrants
10
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.760 – What Records Are to Be Made Available to the Public
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Instructions for Form WH-4 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Information
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62U – What Is the Wage and Hour Divisions Enforcement Authority Under the H-1B Program
13
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments