Blog
H-1B & LCA analysis
Data-driven guides and deep dives, built on the normalized DOL corpus.
20 H-1B Questions, Answered With Real DOL Data
20 common H-1B questions answered with real Department of Labor data: wages, top sponsors, occupations, states, and what LCA terms actually mean.
Is the H-1B Program Shrinking? What FY2026 Filings Really Show
FY2026 H-1B filings look far below prior years — but only ~2 quarters are reported. An honest read of partial-year data, rising wages, and the FY2027 forecast.
Emerging H-1B Sponsors to Watch: Tesla, Nvidia & the New Wave
New H-1B sponsors like Tesla, Nvidia, ByteDance and Palo Alto Networks are rising as IT-services giants recede. See the real filing counts and how to read them.
What WARN Data Does — and Doesn't — Tell You About H-1B Employers
WARN notices show that an employer announced a layoff — not whether it happened, who was affected, or if any H-1B workers were involved. Here's the line.
H-1B Salary by Industry: How Sectors Compare
Which industries pay H-1B workers the most? Filing volume and pay pull opposite ways — see how sector share compares to each field's signature-occupation wages.
H-1B Layoff Notices 2020–2026: What the WARN Trend Shows
How sponsor-linked WARN layoff notices moved from 2020 to 2026 — the 2020 notice count vs the 2023 worker peak, the plateau since, and the data caveats.
What Does a Data Engineer Earn on H-1B? (Salary Guide)
There's no 'Data Engineer' visa code. See which SOC codes employers file the role under — Database Architects, Data Scientists — and the wages they report.
Do Big H-1B Sponsors Announce Big Layoffs? A WARN Reality Check
We cross-referenced the top 100 H-1B sponsors with WARN layoff notices. Only 22 appear at all — and one outlier skews everything. Here's the honest picture.
Which States Punch Above Their Weight on H-1B (Per-Capita)
Normalize H-1B filings by workforce and the map reorders: New Jersey, Washington, and tiny Delaware out-index California on H-1B per capita by state.
Pharma Layoffs and H-1B: New Jersey's Drug Corridor
Cross-referencing 2026 WARN layoff notices with H-1B sponsors, pharma and biotech top the list — led by New Jersey drugmakers like Novartis, Merck and J&J.
How Much Do H-1B Software Developers Earn by State?
H-1B software developer filed wages swing ~40% by state — from $135K in Washington to $90.5K in Illinois. See the medians, the volume trap, and how to read them.
H-1B Sponsors With Layoffs: Introducing the WARN Cross-Reference
See which H-1B sponsors have announced layoffs. We cross-reference state WARN Act notices with LCA filings — two public records, side by side, no causal claim.
Cognizant, Infosys & TCS: The Outsourcing Trio by the Numbers
Cognizant, Infosys and TCS H-1B filings compared head-to-head — cumulative volume, role mix, and what certification rates really mean.
Finance & Banking H-1B: Wall Street's Foreign Talent
Which banks sponsor the most H-1B workers, what roles they hire, and how to read finance H-1B sponsors' wildly different certification rates.
Amazon's H-1B Playbook: Inside the Top FY2026 Sponsor
How Amazon became the #1 FY2026 H-1B sponsor — its filing entities, near-perfect certification rates, software developer mix, and what the numbers really mean.
H-1B Beyond Tech: Healthcare, Finance & Education Sponsors
H-1B isn't just tech. See the real sector mix — finance, education, healthcare and manufacturing — and why physicians top the wage table.
Physicians on H-1B: The Highest-Paid Visa Workers in America
H-1B filing data shows physicians — led by psychiatrists near a $210K median — top the wage table. What the numbers mean, and the traps in reading them.
H-1B Denials Are Rare — Here's What the Data Actually Shows
The H-1B denial rate at the LCA stage is near zero — often under 0.6% for big sponsors. Why that number isn't your visa approval odds.
The "Certified-Withdrawn" Mystery: Why Big Employers' Rates Look Low
A low H-1B certification rate rarely means rejections. What certified-withdrawn really measures — and why big sponsors like Microsoft look weak but aren't.
LCA vs H-1B Visa: What the Data Does and Doesn't Tell You
LCA data isn't H-1B visa data. Learn what 9.3M DOL filings measure, why certified isn't approved, and the five misreads to avoid.
Prevailing Wage Levels I–IV, Explained (With Real H-1B Data)
What DOL wage Levels I–IV mean and how much they move H-1B pay — with real software-developer medians showing a ~$67K entry-to-senior gap.
How to Find H-1B Sponsors for Your Job and State
Find which employers sponsor H-1B for your occupation and state, free, from DOL data. How to read filings, certification rates, wages and sponsor health.
Where H-1B Jobs Actually Are (It's Not Just California)
California files 1 in 5 H-1B applications and the top 5 states hold half. But a per-capita reframe reveals the real H-1B hubs the volume map hides.
The Rise of the Data Scientist: H-1B's AI-Era Role
Data Scientists are now the 3rd-largest H-1B occupation with a median wage that edges out software developers. What the filing data reveals about the AI-era role.
H-1B in Charts: 15 Years of Filings and Wage Growth
How US H-1B filings and prevailing wages changed from 2010 onward, in year-by-year charts built from Department of Labor LCA disclosure data.
Outsourcing Giants vs. Big Tech: The Two Faces of H-1B Hiring
IT-services firms built H-1B's volume, but product companies now lead live filings. How the two models differ in jobs, wages, and certification rates.
The H-1B Wage Boom: How Prevailing Salaries Nearly Doubled in 15 Years
Median certified H-1B wages roughly doubled from FY2010 to FY2026. See what drove the climb, why it's recent, and why the boom is now cooling.
How Much Do H-1B Workers Really Earn? A State-by-State Salary Map
There's no single H-1B salary. See how the same software developer job pays $40K+ more by state, plus how level and year move the number.
Google vs. Infosys: Two H-1B Business Models
Google and Infosys both sponsor H-1B workers for opposite reasons. Here's how product-company hiring and IT-services labor differ in the filing data.
Who Sponsors the Most H-1Bs (and Who Has the Cleanest Record)
Which employers file the most H-1Bs, who certifies most consistently, and why a low certification rate almost never means denials. A practical guide.
The Highest-Paying H-1B Jobs Aren't in Tech
FY2026 data shows the best-paid H-1B jobs are medical and executive roles — while the most common tech jobs sit mid-pack. Here's why pay tracks scarcity.