Is LCA wage the same as actual paid salary?

Not always. The LCA wage is the employer's binding minimum commitment — employer must pay at least this. Actual paid salary may be higher (especially if there are bonuses, RSUs, or merit raises). DOL audits enforce that actual wage paid ≥ LCA offered wage. Equity and bonuses are separate.

Where does H-1B salary data come from?

H-1B salary data comes from the LCA filings — public record under the H-1B Reform Act. DOL publishes the quarterly dataset in CSV format with full filing details. Third-party sites (h1bdata.info, flcdatacenter.com) re-host the same data with search UIs.

What is the difference between prevailing wage and offered wage?

Two distinct fields in the LCA: prevailing wage (DOL-determined minimum) and offered wage (employer's commitment). DOL and USCIS both verify offered wage is at or above prevailing, and that the employer actually pays the offered wage during the H-1B period.

Are H-1B wages public information?

H-1B wages must be publicly disclosed to ensure no displacement of US workers. The DOL quarterly dataset is the official public release; the worksite public-access file (PAF) is also accessible to similarly-situated US workers and DOL inspectors.

How do DOL Wage Levels 1-4 work?

Wage Level 1 (entry) → 17th percentile, Level 2 (qualified) → 34th, Level 3 (experienced) → 50th, Level 4 (fully competent) → 67th. Levels are tied to BLS OEWS percentiles by the H-1B Reform Act of 2004.

H-1B Salary Database 2026: DOL FLAG LCA Disclosure Data by Employer and SOC

What the H-1B Salary Database Is

DOL's Foreign Labor Certification Performance Data publishes the H-1B Labor Condition Application (LCA) disclosure dataset quarterly. Each row captures one certified LCA: employer name, SOC code, worksite city/state, wage offered, prevailing wage, full-time / part-time, visa class (H-1B / H-1B1 / E-3), and case status.

Data has been available since FY2008. The dataset is public under the H-1B Reform Act, which mandates LCA disclosure to ensure no displacement of US workers.

Where to Search

Three main access points:

DOL FLAG portal — official source, raw quarterly CSV files
FLC Data Center — search interface for the same DOL dataset
h1bdata.info — third-party search, often faster UI

All three pull from the same DOL ETA-9035 LCA filings. The DOL portal has the authoritative data; third-party sites add search and visualization on top.

Prevailing Wage vs Offered Wage

Each LCA captures two wage figures. Prevailing wage is the DOL minimum based on BLS OEWS percentile by SOC × worksite × wage level. Offered wage is the actual wage the employer commits to pay the H-1B beneficiary. Offered ≥ prevailing always; many employers exceed prevailing significantly when competing for talent.

The H-1B Reform Act requires the employer to pay the higher of (a) prevailing wage or (b) actual wage paid to similarly-situated US workers. Both prevailing and offered are public data; actual wage paid (post-employment) is verifiable through DOL audits.

DOL Wage Levels 1-4

DOL Wage Levels map to BLS OEWS percentiles per the H-1B Reform Act of 2004:

Level 1 (entry): 17th percentile — early-career roles requiring direction
Level 2 (qualified): 34th percentile — independent task execution
Level 3 (experienced): 50th percentile — substantial independent judgment
Level 4 (fully competent): 67th percentile — full role expertise, possibly supervisory

Employer self-selects the wage level on the LCA; USCIS issues RFEs when Wage Level 1 is claimed for senior or specialty roles.

What's Public vs Private

Public under DOL Wage and Hour rules: employer name, SOC code, worksite city/state, prevailing wage, offered wage, wage level, case status, decision date. Not public: H-1B beneficiary's name, SSN, passport number — these are not in the public dataset.

The public-access file (PAF) at the worksite mirrors the same employer-side data plus posting documentation. PAF must be available to similarly-situated US workers and DOL inspectors during the certification period plus 1 year past employment end.

Caveats When Using LCA Data

An LCA filing means the employer was approved to sponsor at that wage — not that the beneficiary was actually employed at that wage. Some LCAs are filed for positions that aren't ultimately filled. Some employers file LCAs in bulk and use a subset.

Actual wage paid often exceeds the LCA-attested wage (bonuses, RSUs, merit increases). The LCA is the binding minimum, not the typical paid total compensation. Compensation benchmarking from LCA data understates total pay for senior roles.

Cross-Pillar Reading

H-1B Sponsorship · employer-side LCA mechanics
Prevailing Wage Checker · interactive 23-occupation × 51-state lookup
H-1B Lottery · cap-subject registration cycle
H-1B Transfer · LCA filing for new employer
H-1B News · prevailing-wage rule changes

Bottom line

Verdict: H-1B salary data is fully public via DOL quarterly disclosure. flcdatacenter.com and h1bdata.info provide search UIs. LCA wage is the employer's binding minimum — actual pay (with bonuses, equity) is usually higher.

Frequently asked questions

Is LCA wage the same as actual paid salary?: Not always. The LCA wage is the employer's binding minimum commitment — employer must pay at least this. Actual paid salary may be higher (especially if there are bonuses, RSUs, or merit raises). DOL audits enforce that actual wage paid ≥ LCA offered wage. Equity and bonuses are separate.
Where does H-1B salary data come from?: H-1B salary data comes from the LCA filings — public record under the H-1B Reform Act. DOL publishes the quarterly dataset in CSV format with full filing details. Third-party sites (h1bdata.info, flcdatacenter.com) re-host the same data with search UIs.
What is the difference between prevailing wage and offered wage?: Two distinct fields in the LCA: prevailing wage (DOL-determined minimum) and offered wage (employer's commitment). DOL and USCIS both verify offered wage is at or above prevailing, and that the employer actually pays the offered wage during the H-1B period.
Are H-1B wages public information?: H-1B wages must be publicly disclosed to ensure no displacement of US workers. The DOL quarterly dataset is the official public release; the worksite public-access file (PAF) is also accessible to similarly-situated US workers and DOL inspectors.
How do DOL Wage Levels 1-4 work?: Wage Level 1 (entry) → 17th percentile, Level 2 (qualified) → 34th, Level 3 (experienced) → 50th, Level 4 (fully competent) → 67th. Levels are tied to BLS OEWS percentiles by the H-1B Reform Act of 2004.

H-1B Salary Database: DOL FLAG LCA Disclosure Data by Employer and SOC