Seven employers sponsoring workers with H-1B visas reported median salaries at least 50 percent higher than the national median for H-1B employees, according to an analysis of Department of Labor data compiled by H1BScope.

The analysis found that these employers reported median H-1B salaries of at least $198,000, compared with a national H-1B median salary of $130,707. The national H-1B median was more than double the overall U.S. median salary of $59,228.

University of Pittsburgh Physicians topped the ranking with a median H-1B salary of $255,725, almost double the national median. Roblox ranked second at $245,690, followed by Citadel Securities Americas Services at $235,000 and Netflix at $226,158. Credit Karma, Two Sigma Investments and TT Commerce & Global Services also reported median H-1B salaries that were at least 50 percent above the national benchmark.

The ranking was compiled using Labor Condition Application disclosure data from the Department of Labor. H1BScope limited the analysis to employers with at least 500 certified H-1B filings to reduce the impact of smaller employers and potential outliers.

Because the ranking is based on median salaries, it reflects the earnings of a typical H-1B employee at each company rather than a small group of highly compensated workers. The findings also underscore the concentration of high-paying H-1B jobs among major technology, finance and health care employers.

Technology companies featured prominently throughout the ranking, with firms such as Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb and DoorDash all reporting median H-1B salaries significantly above the national benchmark. Financial services companies—including Citadel Securities, Two Sigma, BofA Securities, Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley—also ranked highly.

According to H1BScope, the national 90th-percentile H-1B salary was $212,000 in fiscal year 2026. University of Pittsburgh Physicians, Roblox, Citadel Securities Americas Services and Netflix all reported median H-1B salaries above that level.

What Is the H-1B Visa?

The findings come as the Trump administration has reshaped the H-1B visa program. The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations that typically require at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent expertise, with technology, engineering, health care and finance among the program's largest users.

The administration has sought to tighten restrictions on legal immigration pathways, including the H-1B visa program. Among its proposals was a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States, though a federal judge blocked the measure and a federal appeals court later left that ruling in place. The administration has also pushed to replace the traditional random H-1B lottery with a wage-based selection system that would give preference to higher-paid applicants.

Supporters of the visa program argue that the salaries paid by top-ranked employers reflect strong demand for highly skilled workers in key fields such as technology, finance and medicine. Critics, meanwhile, have argued that the program can reduce opportunities for some U.S. workers and should face tighter oversight to prevent misuse or abuse.

"As a matter of fundamental economics, the salaries for highly skilled workers are determined by the market forces of supply and demand," Steven Sholk, counsel at FBT Gibbons, told Newsweek. "Since the demand for highly skilled workers is strong, the salaries paid by the highest-paying H-1B employers are often higher than the national median."

Research by the Economic Innovation Group reached a similar conclusion. Jiaxin He, a research assistant at the organization, analyzed Labor Condition Application filings from the highest-paying H-1B employers and found that almost 89 percent of positions paid above the median wage for the same occupation and state, while more than one-fifth exceeded the 90th percentile.

"LCAs reflect how much firms are willing to pay for an H-1B position, making them a robust indicator of demand for foreign talent," he said.

How H-1B Visas Affect American Workers

Critics argue that high salaries at a limited number of employers do not resolve concerns about the H-1B program's impact on American workers.

"These figures show that a handful of wealthy employers are hiring for expensive, often senior or doctorate-level positions," Kevin Lynn, the executive director of the Institute for Sound Public Policy and founder of U.S. Tech Workers, told Newsweek. "They do not, by themselves, establish a shortage of qualified American workers."

Lynn said wage comparisons should be made against similarly qualified U.S. workers in the same occupation and location rather than against national salary averages.

"High salaries at seven selected employers do not disprove wage suppression across the broader H-1B program," he said.

Jonathan Micale, a former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services executive and immigration attorney, said those policies could change wage patterns within the program over time.

"The H-1B wage level rule was designed to increase wages because the underlying premise of that rule is that higher paid employees are better qualified," Micale told Newsweek. He added that geographic and industry differences remain important, noting that prevailing wage levels for software developers can vary by more than $100,000 between metropolitan areas.

While some immigration advocates view higher salary requirements as evidence that the program increasingly favors highly skilled workers, others warn that additional restrictions could make it harder for U.S. employers to recruit talent.

Restrictive H-1B policies could encourage companies to move specialized work overseas, Sholk said, resulting in foreign workers spending and investing their earnings outside the United States.

Former State Department visa officer Duden Freeman said the salary data weakens the argument that the highest-paying H-1B employers are relying on foreign workers as a source of cheap labor.

"These employers are not looking for inexpensive foreign labor," Freeman told Newsweek. "They are paying a substantial premium to compete for scarce and highly specialized talent."

Poonam Gupta, the principal attorney at Summit Legal PLLC, said the salary data points to intense competition for a narrow segment of the labor market rather than the H-1B program as a whole. "The top-tier employers are competing for genuinely rare talent—a small pool of highly skilled workers," she told Newsweek, adding, "That's a completely different market than the H-1B program overall."

Gupta said the high salaries are largely neutral in the debate over whether H-1B workers depress wages because employers incur substantial additional costs beyond compensation, including legal fees, government filing fees and compliance obligations.

"These salaries don't settle the debate either way," she said. "They show these employers pay well, but the cost picture is more complicated than the salary line alone."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Shakeema Edwards.