Researcher H-1B wages

Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026. Most are classified as Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221).

Employers filed 97 wage applications for Researcher jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 40 employers. The median offered wage was $98,520, 17.5% above the government's prevailing wage for the job. The Pennsylvania State University filed the most (17, median $68,004).

Filings: 97
Positions covered: 109
Employers: 40
Median offered: $98,520
Median prevailing wage: $78,894
Filings since FY2020: 761
Median offer change since FY2020: −29%

Researcher, all employers97 filings, July 2025 to June 2026

$98,520Median wage employers told the government they would pay

$68,004 to $154,000Where the middle half of the filings fall

$78,894Prevailing wage: the legal minimum for these jobs

Offered wage since 2020

The median wage offered for Researcher jobs fell 29%, from $141,000 in fiscal 2020 to $100,000 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 14.0% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2020, with 145 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.

Researcher by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Filings	Median offered	vs year before	Median prevailing	vs prevailing
2026 (Oct to Jun)	77	$100,000	+8.3%	$80,122	+14.0%
2025	87	$92,310	+27.3%	$78,801	+15.3%
2024	98	$72,504	−14.1%	$66,643	+13.4%
2023	84	$84,365	−23.3%	$77,834	+14.6%
2022	126	$110,000	−22.0%	$87,360	+15.3%
2021	144	$141,041	no change	$105,228	+18.6%
2020	145	$141,000	n/a	$115,981	+14.2%

Employers that file for this title

Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage

Employer	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
The Pennsylvania State University	17	$68,004	+24.2%
NEC Laboratories America, Inc.	7	$164,403	at the minimum
Global Energy Monitor	6	$76,960	+2.2%
Waymo LLC	6	$212,000	+18.9%
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital	6	$53,269	at the minimum
University of Louisville	5	$61,083	+3.8%
University of Nebraska Medical Center	3	$53,352	at the minimum
NVIDIA Corporation	3	$235,997	+57.4%
General Motors	3	$119,548	+9.6%
ByteDance Inc.	2	$172,856	+35.3%
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc	2	$283,572	+147.5%
Nevada Nanotech Systems Inc.	2	$95,171	at the minimum
Intellipro Service Inc.	2	$120,000	+59.0%
Jane Street Group, LLC	2	$300,000	+240.3%
Saint Louis University	2	$73,341	+20.3%
Baseten Labs, Inc.	2	$133,952	at the minimum
Deel US LLC	2	$133,120	+1.6%
Zenleads, Inc.	1	$146,000	+32.7%
GAP Solutions Inc.	1	$101,647	+21.6%
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc.	1	$58,240	+52.7%
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP	1	$154,000	+60.4%
General Hospital Corporation	1	$86,520	+25.8%
Cognizance Technologies LLC	1	$95,000	+20.4%
Kepos Capital LP	1	$135,000	+14.2%
Tufts University	1	$65,000	+22.0%

Showing the 25 employers with the most filings of 40. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.

Where Researcher jobs are filed

Worksite	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Hershey, PA	15	$68,004	+24.2%
Memphis, TN	6	$53,269	at the minimum
Louisville, KY	5	$61,083	+3.8%
New York, NY	5	$250,000	+38.6%
San Jose, CA	5	$164,403	at the minimum
Boston, MA	4	$83,040	+20.4%
Cambridge, MA	4	$100,060	+1.2%
Omaha, NE	4	$55,676	+1.6%
Princeton, NJ	4	$152,672	at the minimum
Philadelphia, PA	3	$235,997	+57.4%
San Francisco, CA	3	$133,952	at the minimum
Seattle, WA	3	$72,800	+4.1%
Kirkland, WA	2	$162,500	+71.5%
Mountain View, CA	2	$244,500	+18.9%
St. Louis, MO	2	$73,341	+20.3%
San Diego, CA	2	$79,040	+1.3%
San Mateo, CA	2	$550,000	+246.4%
Sparks, NV	2	$95,171	at the minimum
University Park, PA	2	$67,242	+43.5%
Warren, MI	2	$116,699	+10.9%
Alpharetta, GA	1	$149,000	+115.7%
Austin, TX	1	$98,520	+238.6%
Baltimore, MD	1	$101,647	+21.6%
Baton Rouge, LA	1	$213,408	+134.5%
Bellevue, WA	1	$353,736	+160.6%

Seniority of the jobs filed

Level I, entry47%

Level II, qualified26%

Level III, experienced12%

Level IV, fully competent16%

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.
9 filings are for part-time work. Hourly wages are shown as full-time equivalents (2,080 hours a year).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.