How to read a Labor Condition Application (LCA)
Published November 10, 2026 · Data through FY2026 Q3
Every H-1B job starts with a Labor Condition Application, or LCA. Before an employer can file an H-1B petition, it must submit an LCA to the U.S. Department of Labor stating what job it is filling, where the work will happen, and what it will pay. The Department of Labor publishes these filings, and that public record is the raw material behind every salary figure on Wage Record. This guide walks through the fields that matter most, explains what each one tells you, and shows what the data looks like across hundreds of thousands of filings.
What an LCA is, and what it is not
An LCA is a set of promises the employer makes to the Department of Labor. The most important one is about pay: the employer must pay the H-1B worker at least the higher of two amounts, the actual wage it pays similar workers in the same job, or the prevailing wage for that occupation in that area. The employer also attests to working conditions, notice to other workers, and the absence of a strike or lockout at the worksite.
A few points are easy to miss:
- A certified LCA is not a visa approval. Certification means the Department of Labor accepted the application. The H-1B petition is a separate step handled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and many certified LCAs never turn into an approved petition or a hire.
- One filing can cover several workers. An LCA lists a number of positions, so a single filing is not always a single person.
- The wage is base salary. LCAs report the offered wage only. Bonuses, stock and benefits are not part of it.
This guide is general information, not legal or immigration advice.
The main fields, one by one
The table below summarizes the fields most people look at when they read an LCA, in roughly the order a reader needs them.
| Field | What it tells you | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Employer name | The legal entity filing the application | Large companies often file under several legal names or subsidiaries |
| Job title | The employer's own title for the role | Titles are free text and vary widely; "Engineer II" at one firm may match "Senior Engineer" elsewhere |
| SOC code and occupation | The Standard Occupational Classification code the role is mapped to | This, not the title, decides which prevailing wage applies |
| Worksite | City, county, state and ZIP of the place of work | The worksite's metro area sets the local prevailing wage |
| Wage offered (rate of pay) | The salary the employer commits to pay | May be a single figure or a "from–to" range |
| Unit of pay | Year, month, week, bi-weekly or hour | An hourly rate must be annualized before comparing to yearly salaries |
| Wage range upper bound | The top of the offered range, if one is given | A range does not mean the worker earns the top figure |
| Prevailing wage | The local benchmark wage for the occupation | The offered wage must meet or exceed it |
| Prevailing wage level | Level I to IV, from entry level to fully competent | Signals the experience and responsibility the role requires |
| Case status | Certified, denied, withdrawn, or certified-withdrawn | Only certified filings are used in Wage Record salary figures |
| Decision date | When the Department of Labor acted on the application | Determines which fiscal year and quarter a filing falls in |
Employer and job title
The employer field identifies who is making the wage promise. The job title is whatever the employer chose to write, which makes it useful for flavor but weak for comparison. Two filings titled "Software Engineer" can sit at very different levels, and two filings with different titles can describe the same work.
SOC code: the field that does the real sorting
The SOC code maps the job to a standard occupation. It is the field that determines which prevailing wage applies, and it is the most reliable way to compare roles across employers. In our window, the five most common occupations by filing count were:
| Occupation | SOC code | Filings | Median base salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 15-1252 | 289,690 | $139,194 |
| Systems Engineer / Architect | 15-1299 | 76,607 | $114,795 |
| Data Scientist | 15-2051 | 58,256 | $123,531 |
| QA Engineer | 15-1253 | 31,444 | $105,602 |
| Programmer Analyst | 15-1251 | 23,865 | $92,207 |
Software Engineer alone accounts for about 31% of all certified filings in the window (289,690 of 931,595).
Worksite
The worksite is where the work is performed, not necessarily where the employer is headquartered. Because prevailing wages are set by occupation and area, the same job in two different metro areas can carry two different minimum wages. When you compare salaries, compare filings with the same occupation in the same area whenever you can.
Wage offered, unit of pay and wage range
The wage offered is the heart of the filing. It comes with a unit of pay, so an hourly figure has to be converted to an annual one before it can be compared with yearly salaries. Some employers give a single number; others give a range. In our window, about 31% of certified filings listed a wage range rather than a single figure. When a range appears, the lower end is the binding commitment; the upper end shows where the employer might go, not what anyone was actually paid.
Prevailing wage and wage level
The prevailing wage is the Department of Labor's benchmark for the occupation in that area, usually drawn from Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey data. Each benchmark comes in four levels, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). The level the employer selects reflects the experience, education and responsibility the job requires.
Wage Record records the wage level of each filing. For what each level means and how offered salaries differ between Level I and Level IV, see H-1B wage levels explained.
Case status and decision date
Case status tells you how the application ended. Wage Record uses certified filings only. The decision date places the filing in a federal fiscal year, which runs October 1 to September 30.
Putting it together: reading a filing by employer
Once you know the fields, an employer's filings become easy to read in aggregate. The largest filers in our window:
| Employer | Filings | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 42,644 | $131,100 | $155,000 | $180,000 |
| Cognizant | 16,913 | $92,602 | $109,886 | $126,818 |
| 16,005 | $164,000 | $186,000 | $205,020 | |
| EY | 14,593 | $110,000 | $147,396 | $189,000 |
| Microsoft | 14,273 | $154,100 | $172,759 | $193,050 |
These medians mix many occupations and levels, so treat them as a starting point. For a fairer comparison, filter by occupation, then by worksite, then by wage level.
How we calculated this
Figures cover certified H-1B LCA filings in FY2025–FY2026, where FY2026 includes only Q1–Q3. That is 931,595 filings with an overall median base salary of $122,699. Offered wages are converted to annual base salary; bonus and stock are not included. Percentiles are calculated across filings. See the full methodology.