H-1B wage levels I to IV, explained

What the four wage levels are

For each occupation (a six-digit SOC code) and each area, the Department of Labor publishes four prevailing wage levels, which its guidance calls Level I (entry), Level II (qualified), Level III (experienced) and Level IV (fully competent). They are computed from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey. OEWS is one of several sources an employer may use: under 20 CFR 655.731 the prevailing wage can also come from a collective bargaining agreement, an independent authoritative source or another legitimate wage survey, and the employer attests it will pay at least the higher of that prevailing wage and the actual wage it pays similar workers. On a Labor Condition Application the employer can record which level it used: the field PW_WAGE_LEVEL holds I, II, III, IV or N/A and is filled in when the employer independently determined the OES wage for the first worksite (OFLC record layout, FY2026 Q3).

DOL's own March 27, 2026 proposed rule (91 FR 15454) describes the current levels as sitting at approximately the 17th, 34th, 50th and 67th percentiles of OEWS wages for the occupation and area, a structure that traces to a 1998 memorandum of understanding with BLS and DOL's 2005 guidance, kept in its 2009 guidance. The same document notes that Levels I and IV are means of the lowest-paid third and the upper two thirds of the OEWS distribution, so the 17th and 67th percentiles are approximations. The proposal would move the levels to the 34th, 52nd, 70th and 88th percentiles. As of 2026-10-22 the Federal Register lists only that proposed rule under its RIN (1205-AC30), with comments closed on May 26, 2026, and no final rule; check the Federal Register before relying on either set of numbers.

Real examples from the filings

The table estimates the four thresholds for the largest job-and-metro groups in the data by placing them at those four percentiles of the published OEWS wages, then shows where the median filed wage lands and how the filings that named a level split across the four levels. These thresholds are estimates for illustration. They are not DOL's published numbers, which are computed for each job and area; look yours up in the DOL OFLC Wage Search.

Across the United States, of the filings that name a level, 19.0% name Level I, 39.9% name Level II, 20.7% name Level III, 20.3% name Level IV. That is employers choosing a level on the form, not a measure of the workers.

Why filed wages and levels do not line up neatly

The level on a filing is the employer's statement about the job's requirements and the wage floor it used. The filed wage is the bottom of the offered range. A median filed wage can land at one level while most filings name another, as the last two columns above show. Filings that report no level (N/A or blank) are left out of the level mix. For a lookup you can trust, use the filing itself and the DOL tool.

Where the level matters now

Starting with the fiscal year 2027 cap season, under a DHS rule effective February 27, 2026, the OEWS wage level an offered wage meets also affects the H-1B cap selection: see the wage-weighted selection rule. To see where an offer falls, use the offer check. For how to read the fields on a filing, see how to read LCA data.

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