Minimum Salary for H-1B: Prevailing Wage, Deductions, and Penalties

There is no flat minimum salary for an H-1B worker. Federal law requires the sponsoring employer to pay the higher of two figures: the prevailing wage for that specific occupation in that geographic area at the assigned skill level, or the actual wage the employer already pays its own workers in comparable roles.¹ A Level 1 software developer in a mid-sized city might need to earn around $75,000; the same title at Level 4 in San Francisco can require well over $130,000. The number is built from the job, not picked from a national floor.

The Higher of Two Wages

Every H-1B employer attests on its Labor Condition Application that it will pay the “required wage rate.” That rate is whichever of these two is higher:

The prevailing wage: the average wage paid to workers in similar roles within the same geographic area, set by the Department of Labor using regional employment data for the specific occupation.
The actual wage: the wage the employer already pays its own employees who hold comparable positions with similar experience, qualifications, and responsibilities.

The math is straightforward. If an employer pays current staff $90,000 for a role but the local prevailing wage is $78,000, the H-1B worker must be offered at least $90,000. Flip the numbers, and the prevailing wage wins: if the prevailing figure is $95,000 and internal pay is $88,000, the H-1B worker gets $95,000. The obligation runs for the entire period of authorized employment, not just the start date.¹

Why the Prevailing Wage Is Not One Number

The Department of Labor uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program to set prevailing wages across four tiers for each job title and location.² The tier a position sits in depends on how complex the duties are and how much experience the role demands.

Level 1 (Entry): Routine tasks under close supervision, requiring only a basic understanding of the occupation. This is the lowest permissible wage for a given job in a given area.
Level 2 (Qualified): Roles requiring moderate independent judgment and some prior experience.
Level 3 (Experienced): Fully competent professionals handling a wide range of tasks, who may supervise others.
Level 4 (Expert): Senior or management-level roles requiring significant independent judgment, leadership, and specialized expertise.

Each step up can add tens of thousands of dollars to the required minimum. The level is assigned based on the actual job requirements described in the petition, not the credentials of the specific worker being hired. Inflating a job title while keeping the duties entry-level will not justify a Level 1 wage, and the Department of Labor can reject applications where the level does not match the described responsibilities.³

Employers are not locked into the DOL’s figure. They can also use a survey from an independent authoritative source or another legitimate wage source.² There is a practical reason to go through the DOL anyway: a formal Prevailing Wage Determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center carries “safe-harbor status,” meaning the Wage and Hour Division cannot challenge the number during an investigation as long as the employer applied it correctly. Employers who rely on private surveys do not get that shield.

Where the $60,000 Figure Comes From

The $60,000 number that circulates in H-1B discussions is not a general minimum salary. It comes from a narrow rule about “H-1B dependent” employers, meaning companies with a high ratio of H-1B workers to total staff.⁴ Those employers face extra attestations, including that they tried to recruit U.S. workers and that the H-1B hire will not displace any current domestic employees.

Those extra attestations can be avoided for any H-1B worker who qualifies as “exempt.” A worker is exempt if they earn at least $60,000 in annual wages or hold a master’s degree or higher in a specialty related to the H-1B position.⁵ Either condition is enough. So $60,000 is a threshold for skipping certain paperwork at dependent employers, not a wage floor for the program as a whole. A non-dependent employer offering a Level 1 position in a low-wage area can lawfully pay less, provided the prevailing and actual wage tests are met.

Part-Time Positions

For part-time H-1B roles, the required wage is prorated. If the full-time prevailing wage is $120,000 per year based on a 40-hour week, a 20-hour arrangement must pay at least $60,000 annually. The exact number of weekly hours, or a legitimate range, must be stated on both the LCA and the Form I-129 petition. Part-time filings invite extra scrutiny, so precise documentation showing the hourly math is essential.

When the Wage Clock Starts, and Why Benching Is Illegal

The required wage is not something the employer pays only when there is billable work. H-1B workers must be paid the full required rate for all non-productive time caused by conditions related to employment, including gaps between client engagements, delays waiting for a license or permit, or periods when the employer simply has no work available.⁶ Stopping pay between projects, commonly called benching, is a violation.

The wage obligation begins at the earliest of three events: when the worker first makes themselves available for work (such as reporting for orientation), 30 days after the worker is first admitted to the U.S. on the H-1B petition, or 60 days after USCIS approves the petition for a worker already in the country.⁶ The only exception to paying during downtime is time the worker voluntarily requests for personal reasons, such as vacation or medical leave not covered by the employer’s benefit plan. The obligation ends only after a bona fide termination, which requires notifying USCIS, requesting cancellation of the petition, and providing the worker with reasonable return transportation costs where required.

Deductions That Can Break the Minimum

An employer can hit the required wage on paper and still violate the rules through deductions. Federal regulations flatly prohibit passing several categories of cost to the H-1B worker:⁷

Penalties for leaving the job early. A contract clause requiring a worker to repay a lump sum if they quit within a set period is almost always a prohibited penalty. Legitimate liquidated damages must be a reasonable estimate of the employer’s actual losses, not a round number designed to discourage quitting.
USCIS filing fees. The statutory petition fee, the fraud prevention and detection fee, and the training fee are the employer’s responsibility and cannot be recouped from the worker’s pay.
Business expenses that would push pay below the required wage, including attorney fees for the LCA or petition, tools and equipment, the premium processing fee, and travel on the employer’s business.

Even valid liquidated damages cannot be deducted if the deduction would drop the worker’s pay below the required wage rate.

What Underpayment Costs the Employer

The penalties scale with severity and intent. Federal law establishes three tiers of civil money penalties, adjusted annually for inflation:⁸

Standard violations of wage, notice, or documentation requirements: up to $2,364 per violation, with program debarment of at least one year.
Willful violations, including intentional failure to meet an LCA condition, willful misrepresentation, or discrimination: up to $9,624 per violation, with debarment of at least two years.
Willful violations involving displacement of a U.S. worker within 90 days before or after filing an H-1B petition: up to $67,367 per violation, with debarment of at least three years.

Those are maximum per-violation amounts as of January 2025.⁹ Underpaying ten workers is ten violations. On top of the fines, the Wage and Hour Division can order back wages covering every dollar the worker should have received.¹⁰ Debarment locks the employer out of the H-1B program and certain immigrant visa petitions for the applicable period.

Investigations are triggered by worker complaints, referrals from other agencies, and, for employers previously found to be willful violators, random DOL audits that can continue for up to five years after the violation finding.¹¹ A worker who believes they are being underpaid can file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division, and the employer cannot retaliate for the filing.

1
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.731 – What Is the First LCA Requirement, Regarding Wages
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Prevailing Wage Information and Resources
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment and Training Administration Prevailing Wage Determination Policy Guidance
4
eCFR. 20 CFR 655.736 – What Are H-1B-Dependent Employers and Willful Violators
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62Q – What Are Exempt H-1B Nonimmigrants
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62I – Must an H-1B Employer Pay for Nonproductive Time
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62H – What Are the Rules Concerning Deductions From an H-1B Workers Pay
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62U – What Is the Wage and Hour Divisions Enforcement Authority
11
U.S. Department of Labor. H-1B Program