The H-1B visa program, a crucial path for skilled foreign workers in U.S. industries, is poised for significant regulatory changes, including a new $100,000 fee for applications made outside the U.S. and higher prevailing wage standards. Researchers at Manifest Law analyzed recent H-1B wage data, offering a valuable look into the current compensation landscape just as these impending changes are expected to reshape employers’ demand and strategies for global talent acquisition.
The Impact of the H-1B Visa
While frequently associated with technology and engineering sectors, the H-1B visa program spans a range of fields, including healthcare, academia, and finance. The program allows American employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. H-1B visas are particularly concentrated in industries that depend on advanced education and highly specialized skill sets, making the program a central pillar in many companies’ global talent strategies.
The continued reliance on H-1B workers reflects persistent skills gaps in the U.S. workforce. Employers frequently turn to this visa category when they are unable to find qualified domestic candidates, especially for roles requiring advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
As such, the program not only supports business innovation and service delivery but also points to long-term challenges in the domestic labor pipeline, including shortfalls in workforce development, higher education output, and training programs aligned with in-demand fields.
Researchers at Manifest Law, a technology-enabled law firm focused on helping clients with work visas, analyzed newly certified H-1B wage data to identify where these workers are earning the most, which companies are offering the highest wages, and how wage trends differ by occupation and geography.
Understanding H-1B wage patterns offers insight into how U.S. employers value specialized skills in a competitive global labor market. It also highlights which sectors and regions are most willing, or most required, to offer premium compensation to fill roles that may otherwise go unstaffed.
Here are the key takeaways from the analysis:
- In 2022, H-1B approvals reached their highest level in more than 15 years. Approved H-1B applications rose to over 442,000 in 2022 and totaled more than 406,000 through the first three quarters of 2025, following a period of lower approvals in the late 2010s.
- Specialty physicians and Big Tech workers receive the highest H-1B wages. Five specialty physician occupations report a median H-1B wage over $300,000, while 12 of the top 15 highest-paying companies operate in the tech space.
- West Coast cities dominate the H-1B wage rankings. Six out of the top 10 large metropolitan areas for H-1B wages are located on the West Coast, with all six offering a median wage of over $120,000.
Where Are H-1B Wages the Highest?
West Coast States Lead the Way With the Highest H-1B Wages
Source: Manifest Law analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data | Image Credit: Manifest Law
H-1B wages are highest in the three West Coast states, California ($167,534), Washington ($157,600), and Oregon ($138,086), each reporting median annual wages well above the national median of $123,828.
These elevated wages reflect both the concentration of high-paying industries such as software, semiconductors, and cloud computing, as well as the high cost of living in coastal metropolitan areas. By contrast, the lowest H-1B wages are concentrated in the Northern Great Plains region, with South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana all with median H-1B visa wages under $80,000 per year.
At the metro level, nearly all of the top-paying large metros (populations of 1M+) are located in established tech hubs. Anchored by industry giants like Google, Apple, and Meta, California’s San Jose and San Francisco metro areas top the list with median H-1B wages of $184,772 and $173,638, respectively. Seattle, headquarters to both Amazon and Microsoft, follows closely behind at $158,691.
However, these tech capitals are surprisingly outpaced by several small metropolitan areas (populations under 350,000). Driven by high demand in the healthcare sector, areas such as Parkersburg, WV; Beckley, WV; Jacksonville, NC; and Lake Havasu City, AZ all report median H-1B wages exceeding $315,000.
Top H-1B Wages by Occupation and Company
Speciality physicians and tech companies have the highest H-1B wages
Source: Manifest Law analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data | Image Credit: Manifest Law
In addition to geographical disparities, H-1B wages also vary significantly by occupation and employer. Among all occupations with at least 100 certified H-1B applications, specialty physicians receive the highest average wages. Five medical occupations—cardiologists, anesthesiologists, radiologists, surgeons, and neurologists—report median H-1B wages exceeding $300,000, with some surpassing $400,000. These figures reflect both the advanced training required for these roles and the persistent demand in U.S. healthcare systems for board-certified specialists.
Among employers, technology companies dominate the list of top-paying firms for H-1B workers. Among the top 15 highest-paying firms for H-1B wages, 12 are tech companies, led by the streaming television company, Roku, offering a median of $376,579 for their H-1B employees. Major tech companies, such as Netflix ($226,158), Airbnb ($223,634), LinkedIn ($218,772), and Nvidia ($217,451), also top the list.
These companies are concentrated in high-cost, innovation-driven industries and are competing aggressively for specialized talent in fields such as software development, artificial intelligence, and robotics. The presence of these firms at the top of the wage rankings underscores the premium placed on technical expertise in today’s digital economy.
Changes in H-1B Applications Over Time
The H-1B approval rate is at its highest level in more than 15 years
Source: Manifest Law analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data | Image Credit: Manifest Law
These wage patterns take shape alongside notable shifts in application volume. Total H-1B visa approvals rose to over 442,000 in 2022, the highest in more than 15 years. This marks a strong recovery from the late 2010s, when approvals dropped below 340,000 amid increased scrutiny of visa applications and tighter adjudication standards. The approval rate has followed a similar trajectory, climbing from a low of 84.5% in 2018 to 98.0% in 2022. While the dip in the late 2010s marked a period of tighter enforcement, approval totals and approval rates have since stabilized near historical highs, indicating a return to pre-2017 patterns and an increased demand for labor in H-1 B-reliant sectors, such as tech and the sciences. Through Q3 2025, approved H-1B applications totaled 406,348 with an approval rate of 97.9%.
However, the environment for H-1B approvals is set to undergo significant change. The landscape for new H-1B petitions faces the possibility of sharp contraction, primarily driven by the $100,000 one-time fee for new applications made from outside the United States, effective as of September 21, 2025.
This financial barrier, coupled with pending rules to significantly raise prevailing wage levels, a benchmark used to determine the minimum wage for each H-1B worker’s occupation and location, and a proposed wage-weighted lottery prioritizing highly-paid workers, could collectively dampen demand and reduce the overall volume of new filings. These shifts could incentivize employers to fill roles domestically, adopt automation solutions, or more heavily rely on renewing existing H-1B visas, which will not be affected by these changes.
Below is a complete breakdown of H-1B wage data across more than 370 metros and all 50 states. The data provides insight into which locations and employers are spending the most on H-1B visa talent. For more information on how the analysis was conducted, see the methodology section.
Large Cities With the Highest and Lowest Wages for H-1B Visas
States With the Highest and Lowest Wages for H-1B Visas
Looking Ahead
Demand for high-skill workers remains strong in tech and healthcare. The explosion of investment in fields like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and robotics suggests continued high demand for skilled workers, particularly in engineering fields. Employers in these sectors may face even higher wage requirements to meet that demand moving forward, in addition to the one-time $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications. As U.S. companies compete globally for talent, foreign workers are expected to continue filling key technical roles despite the increased financial barriers.
Employer strategies may shift toward fewer, higher-skilled roles. As artificial intelligence and automation continue to disrupt knowledge work and compensation for skilled talent is set to increase, employers may prioritize hiring in strategic roles to further divest away from entry-level jobs involving repetitive, administrative, and data-intensive tasks. These trends will remain in focus as this shift in the employment landscape unfolds.
Specialty physicians will remain central to H-1B demand in healthcare. Healthcare employers are expected to continue relying heavily on the H-1B visa program to fill specialty physician roles, particularly in underserved or rural regions. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts the U.S. will face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. With continued population growth, especially among the over-65 population, and a large portion of the physician workforce nearing retirement age, demand for board-certified international medical graduates is likely to remain strong. These roles are difficult to automate and often face long domestic training pipelines, meaning foreign-trained specialists will continue to play a key role in maintaining care capacity, especially in hospitals and health systems that struggle to attract U.S.-trained providers.
Conclusion
The latest H-1B wage data makes clear that compensation varies sharply across both occupations and regions, with specialty physicians earning some of the highest salaries—often exceeding $300,000 and in some cases surpassing $400,000—while top tech employers such as Roku ($376,579 median), Netflix ($226,158), Airbnb ($223,634), and Nvidia ($217,451) continue to offer premium pay for highly specialized roles. Geographic differences are equally pronounced: large West Coast metros like San Jose ($184,772) and San Francisco ($173,638) sit near the top of the wage rankings, but some small metros driven by healthcare demand—including Parkersburg and Beckley, WV—now report median H-1B wages above $315,000, underscoring the strong and regionally varied demand for high-skill labor.
Looking ahead, looming regulatory changes—including sharply higher H-1B application fees, rising prevailing wage requirements, and proposed updates to the lottery system—may drive employer costs higher or push employers to streamline recruitment toward fewer, more specialized roles even as persistent skill shortages in tech and healthcare ensure that demand for highly skilled foreign workers remains strong.
Methodology
Photo Credit: Insta Photos / Shutterstock
Researchers at Manifest Law analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Foreign Labor Certification Performance Data in order to determine the cities with the highest wages for H-1B visas. Using data from 2025 Q1-Q3, the latest data available, the researchers ranked locations by the median annual wage for certified H-1B visa applications. Because H-1B prevailing wage rules require employers to pay H-1B workers the higher of either the actual wage paid to similarly qualified U.S. workers at the company or the prevailing wage for the occupation in that geographic area, the wage for each application was determined using the average wage paid to nonimmigrant workers at the business and the prevailing wage for the geographic area, whichever was higher. Researchers also calculated the annual wage range for H-1B workers using the annualized wages at the 25th and 75th percentiles, the total number of H-1B applications, and the largest company sponsored by H-1B worker count.
For relevance, H-1B applications with anomalous or incomplete data were omitted, and metropolitan areas were grouped into the following population cohorts: small (less than 350,000), midsize (350,000–1,000,000), and large (more than 1,000,000).
