The prevailing wage isn't just a compliance number, under the wage-tiered lottery, it's also a strategic decision that affects your chances of getting selected. Here's how it works.
Entry-level workers with limited or no experience. Require close supervision. Work is routine. NOT appropriate for workers with 2+ years of experience in the role.
Typical candidate: New graduate, first job
Workers with some experience requiring limited supervision. Work involves some complexity. Most DOL investigators expect Level 2 minimum for workers with 2–4 years experience.
Typical candidate: 2–3 years experience, semi-independent
Experienced workers requiring minimal supervision. Handle complex work. Typical for senior individual contributors with 5+ years of specific experience.
Typical candidate: 5+ years, senior IC
Fully competent workers demonstrating broad expertise. May supervise others. Appropriate for lead engineers, technical architects, and senior specialists.
Typical candidate: Tech lead, architect, specialist
The Department of Labor's Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program surveys ~1.2 million establishments twice per year about wage rates for workers in over 800 occupations. This survey data feeds into the prevailing wage database that H-1B employers use when filing LCAs.
For each occupation (defined by SOC code) in each Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), DOL calculates four wage levels based on percentiles of the wage distribution observed in the survey. The four levels correspond to the 17th, 34th, 50th (mean), and 67th percentiles of wages for that occupation in that location.
Employers access prevailing wage data through the DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system at flag.dol.gov. They enter the SOC code, location (MSA), and wage level, and the system returns the current prevailing wage. This number must be entered on the LCA, and the employer must pay at least this amount to the H-1B worker.
The LCA wage obligation is to pay the HIGHER of: (1) the prevailing wage for the occupation in the location, or (2) the actual wage paid to other employees in the same job classification at the same location. This "greater of" rule prevents wage depression in two ways:
Starting in FY2025, USCIS moved to a wage-tiered lottery selection where higher-wage workers are prioritized. The system works in tiers, applications in the highest wage tier fill first, then progressively lower tiers. If the cap fills before reaching the lowest tier, those workers are not selected.
This means: an employer who files a Level 4 LCA wage for a worker has meaningfully better lottery odds than an employer filing at Level 1, all else being equal. For employers who have flexibility in how they structure compensation packages, filing at a higher LCA wage level is not just a compliance decision, it's a lottery strategy.
However, the wage level must accurately reflect the worker's duties. Filing at Level 4 for an entry-level worker with false attestations is fraud. The strategic play is: ensure the LCA wage level is at the highest level that accurately reflects the worker's experience and duties, don't artificially inflate or deflate.
Prevailing wages vary dramatically by location. A Level 3 Software Developer (SOC 15-1252) prevailing wage in San Francisco is nearly double the same level in Indianapolis. When an H-1B worker is placed at a third-party client worksite in a different city, the prevailing wage for the client's city applies, not the employer's headquarters city.
This creates a compliance trap for consulting and staffing companies: an employer in a low-cost city who places workers at high-cost city clients must pay the high-cost city prevailing wage. Many employers miss this and underpay workers placed at out-of-state client sites. This is one of the most common DOL wage violation findings.
Sumit analyzes DOL prevailing wage data and LCA filing patterns to help both H-1B employers and workers understand wage obligations, compliance requirements, and lottery strategy.