How to find your H-1B wage level

Published November 12, 2026

Under the weighted H-1B lottery, the wage level of the job offer sets how many entries a registration gets. That level comes from one comparison: the offered wage against a public table of four thresholds.

What OFLC wage levels are

For each occupation and area, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) at the U.S. Department of Labor publishes four prevailing wage levels, Level I to Level IV. They are built from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. The current table is wage year 2026-27: it applies from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 and is based on May 2025 OEWS estimates.

DOL describes the levels as roughly these points of the OEWS wage distribution for the occupation in the area, and its 2005 guidance gave each a skill label:

OFLC wage levels with approximate OEWS percentile and DOL label
Level	Approximate percentile	DOL label
Level I	17th	entry
Level II	34th	qualified
Level III	50th	experienced
Level IV	67th	fully competent

For a registration, though, the percentiles and labels do not decide the level: what counts is how the offered wage compares with the four thresholds for the job's SOC code and area. In March 2026 DOL proposed moving the levels to the 34th, 52nd, 70th and 88th percentiles (91 FR 15454). As of November 11, 2026 the Federal Register lists only the proposal, and H1B Math uses the levels in effect. Several sources report that a DOL final rule went to White House review in early November 2026. Its text and effective date are not public. If a final rule takes effect before a registration is submitted, the thresholds for that registration can change.

The three inputs

The DHS weighted selection rule ties the level to three things.

SOC code. The job's Standard Occupational Classification code (OFLC uses the 2018 SOC). It must be the same on the registration, the labor condition application and the petition. Matching a job to a code depends on its duties, and an immigration attorney can advise on it.
Area of intended employment. DOL's rules define it as the area within normal commuting distance of the place where the person is or will be employed. OFLC publishes thresholds for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.
Offered wage. The wage in the job offer. If it is a range, the lowest wage in the range counts.

The registrant must select the highest level that the offered wage equals or exceeds for that SOC code and area, and the registration records both. H1B Math shows each threshold rounded up to the whole dollar, so a salary one dollar short falls in the level below.

Worked example: software developer in Dallas

Software Developers (SOC 15-1252) in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX area, from the 2026-27 table:

Wage level thresholds for Software Developers in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Level	Per hour	Per year
Level I	$45.77	$95,202
Level II	$56.20	$116,896
Level III	$66.63	$138,591
Level IV	$77.06	$160,285

An offer of $145,000 a year is at or above the Level III threshold of $138,591 and below the Level IV threshold of $160,285. Its level is Level III, which gives 3 entries in the lottery. The same numbers are on the Dallas software developer wage page.

Hourly vs annual pay

OFLC publishes most thresholds as hourly rates and some as annual amounts. DOL's labor condition application rules convert a yearly salary to an hourly rate by dividing by 2,080, and require the prevailing wage on the application to be stated as an hourly rate for part-time employment.

H1B Math converts at 2,080 hours a year: in the example above, $45.77 × 2,080 = $95,201.60, shown as $95,202. The calculator accepts an annual salary or an hourly rate.

"High Wage" occupations

For some occupations in some areas, OEWS publishes no estimate because most reported wages fall in its top, open-ended band. OFLC marks these rows "High Wage", without separate level amounts, and issues the prevailing wage as $115.00 an hour ($239,200 a year). In the 2026-27 table they are mostly physician, surgeon and dentist occupations.

H1B Math treats a salary at or above that figure as Level IV (4 entries) and a salary below it as below Level I. That reading is an assumption, explained on the methodology page.

Several worksites

If the person will work in more than one location, the registration takes the lowest level among them. A commenter's example, which DHS's response does not dispute: a software engineer split between Atlanta (Level III) and Birmingham (Level II) is registered at Level II.

The same lowest-level logic covers a person registered by several employers: USCIS uses the lowest level among all of their registrations. In the full calculator, "Add another worksite" adds a location and the result shows which level applies.

Remote work

The DHS rule refers to the area of intended employment. DOL's labor condition application rules define the place of employment as the worksite or physical location where the work is actually performed. The H1B Math calculator asks for the place where the work will actually happen. How this applies to a specific remote arrangement is a question for an immigration attorney.

Below Level I

The rule covers an offered wage below the Level I threshold when it is based on a prevailing wage from another legitimate source, such as a private wage survey or a collective bargaining agreement. Such a registration counts as Level I, with 1 entry. DHS chose to group these registrations with Level I rather than create a lower category.

H1B Math labels such a salary "Below Level I" and shows odds only on the condition that a legitimate alternative wage source supports it.

When OEWS has no current wage data for a position, the rule says the level follows the position's requirements under DOL's prevailing wage guidance. H1B Math does not estimate a level or odds in that case.

ACWIA wages and the general table

OFLC also publishes ACWIA Higher Education wages, named after the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act. Under DOL's rules, the prevailing wage for employees of institutions of higher education, their affiliated or related nonprofits, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations takes into account only employees at such institutions in the area.

Congress exempts people employed by these same kinds of employers from the H-1B cap, so their petitions do not go through the lottery. The weighted selection rule has no ACWIA-specific provision, and its levels refer to OEWS wages.

H1B Math's wage pages and its default calculator use OFLC's general table. In the full calculator, answering "Yes" to "Is the employer cap-exempt?" switches to the ACWIA table and shows no lottery odds. Whether a particular employer is cap-exempt is a question an immigration attorney can answer.

How to look it up on H1B Math

Open Wage levels, the list of covered jobs with their SOC codes.
Pick a job, for example Software Developers, to see where each level starts in every covered area, as annual amounts.
Pick an area, for example Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, for the four thresholds per year and per hour, the entries per level and the OFLC wage year. A note appears if OFLC built the numbers from a wider geography, such as statewide data.
For other jobs or areas, or to place a specific salary, use "Open in calculator" or the calculator. It asks about a US master's degree, the job (a title or SOC code), where the work will happen (a ZIP code or city) and the salary, then shows the level, the entries and the thresholds.
"More knobs" adds a salary range, several worksites, a cap-exempt employer and more than one registering employer.

DHS cites a printout from DOL's OFLC Wage Search, as of the registration date, as an example of evidence for the registered level. H1B Math shows the same public data but is not that official record. This page is general information, not legal advice, and an immigration attorney can advise on a specific case.

Sources

Run your own numbers

The calculator finds the OFLC wage level for your job, work location and salary and estimates your FY2028 lottery odds. Your salary never leaves your browser.

Open the calculator

H1B Math is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.