H-1B wage filings in Chicago, IL
Jobs with a worksite in Chicago, Illinois. Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026.
9,349 wage applications for H-1B and similar visas named Chicago, IL as the worksite from July 2025 to June 2026, from 2,396 employers. The median offered wage was $119,496, 9.4% above the government's prevailing wage for those jobs in the area. The most-filed job was Software Engineer (331).
- Filings
- 9,349
- Positions covered
- 16,139
- Employers
- 2,396
- Median offered
- $119,496
- Median prevailing wage
- $99,840
- Filings since FY2020
- 68,518
- Median offer change since FY2020
- +31%
Offered wage since 2020
The median wage offered for jobs in Chicago, IL rose 31%, from $90,000 in fiscal 2020 to $117,749 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 9.0% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2020, with 11,180 filings.
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wageFilings per year
Fiscal years run October to September. Fiscal 2026 is still running: these figures cover October 2025 to June 2026.
Chicago, IL by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Filings | Median offered | vs year before | Median prevailing | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Oct to Jun) | 7,490 | $117,749 | +4.2% | $99,341 | +9.0% |
| 2025 | 10,255 | $112,965 | +4.7% | $97,760 | +10.1% |
| 2024 | 9,650 | $107,848 | +2.7% | $92,040 | +10.1% |
| 2023 | 9,540 | $105,000 | +2.5% | $93,912 | +9.7% |
| 2022 | 10,906 | $102,464 | +7.2% | $90,397 | +7.7% |
| 2021 | 9,497 | $95,555 | +6.2% | $87,838 | +4.0% |
| 2020 | 11,180 | $90,000 | n/a | $81,931 | +3.1% |
Employers filing for jobs in Chicago
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage
Showing the 25 employers with the most filings of 2,396. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.
Most-filed job titles in Chicago
| Job title | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 331 | $118,450 | +6.5% | |
| Software Developer | 187 | $108,089 | at the minimum | |
| Manager | 169 | $143,874 | at the minimum | |
| Senior Software Engineer | 145 | $143,000 | +1.8% | |
| Postdoctoral Scholar | 129 | $65,520 | +9.0% | |
| Senior Associate | 99 | $145,000 | +29.4% | |
| Accountants and Auditors | 86 | $110,000 | +39.0% | |
| Data Scientist | 85 | $119,558 | +7.7% | |
| Associate | 79 | $115,000 | +49.4% | |
| Assistant Professor | 78 | $137,000 | +73.1% | |
| Data Engineer | 72 | $119,558 | at the minimum | |
| Consultant | 71 | $190,000 | +48.8% | |
| Senior Data Scientist | 71 | $145,876 | +19.5% | |
| Occupational Therapist | 69 | $71,968 | at the minimum | |
| Senior Manager | 66 | $202,779 | +11.0% | |
| Database Administrators | 64 | $130,000 | +50.5% | |
| Quantitative Researcher | 63 | $175,000 | +79.6% | |
| Senior Consultant | 60 | $115,556 | +7.2% | |
| Financial and Investment Analysts | 58 | $205,000 | +79.3% | |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 56 | $215,092 | +18.6% | |
| Data Analyst | 56 | $85,000 | at the minimum | |
| Research Associate | 56 | $70,245 | +8.2% | |
| Project Manager | 46 | $112,200 | +0.3% | |
| Software Developers | 44 | $180,618 | +41.4% | |
| Physical Therapist | 42 | $85,634 | at the minimum | |
Seniority of the jobs filed
The government assigns each job one of four wage levels. A higher level means a higher legal minimum.
What these numbers are
- They are wages employers attested to on Labor Condition Applications (Form ETA-9035), not paychecks. Bonuses and stock are not included.
- A filing is not a visa or a hire. One filing can cover several positions, and some are later withdrawn. Wage figures use certified filings only.
- The prevailing wage is the minimum the employer must pay for that job in that area, set from government wage surveys.
- The city is the worksite on the filing, which can be a client's office or a remote worker's home, not the employer's headquarters.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.