Worksite city · Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN wage area

H-1B salaries in Chicago, IL

25% of new-employment offers here reach Level IV; 35% get a single lottery entry.

8,905certified H-1B LCAs with a worksite here, Jul 2025 to Jun 2026

$118,000median offer

25%of new-employment offers reach Level IV

2,727new-employment LCAs

Source U.S. Dept. of Labor, OFLC disclosure files Covers decisions Jul 2025 to Jun 2026 Release FY2026 Q3, published Aug 7, 2026 Wage levels OFLC 2026-27

Wage levels for the top jobs here

same scale for every row · black mark: median offer

Software Developers

IV $166k

Data Scientists

IV $140k

Computer Occupations, All Other

IV $133k

Accountants and Auditors

IV $106k

Financial and Investment Analysts

IV $133k

Financial Specialists, All Other

IV $111k

Computer and Information Systems Managers

IV $214k

Management Analysts

IV $141k

under Level ILevel IIIIIIIV and upmedian offerscale $52k to $225k

Lottery entries

2,727 new-employment LCAs

Chicago, IL 11%24%22%18%25% 2,727

All employers 12%28%25%18%16% 149,984

1 entry · Level I2 · Level II3 · Level III4 · Level IVunder Level I, still 1 entry

How this is calculated

New-employment H-1B LCAs only, the filings behind most cap petitions; extensions, transfers and amendments do not go through the lottery, and cap-exempt universities and nonprofit research organizations are left out. Each offered salary (low end of the range) is compared with the OFLC Level I to IV wages for its occupation and worksite area, wage year 2026-27; a filing with several worksites counts at its lowest level, as the rule requires. Numbers on the right are LCAs. Full methodology.

Jobs and employers

Jul 2025 to Jun 2026

Top jobs

#	Job	Certified LCAs	Median salary
1	Software Developers	2,086	$131,997
2	Data Scientists	861	$119,600
3	Computer Occupations, All Other	541	$107,640
4	Accountants and Auditors	350	$100,000
5	Financial and Investment Analysts	283	$134,000
6	Financial Specialists, All Other	271	$150,000
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers	254	$196,062
8	Management Analysts	253	$183,200
9	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	236	$104,728
10	Operations Research Analysts	208	$122,203
11	Computer Systems Analysts	160	$105,830
12	Computer Programmers	160	$92,850
13	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	158	$67,843
14	Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	136	$90,000
15	Civil Engineers	133	$97,510

Top employers

#	Employer	Certified LCAs	Median salary
1	Ernst & Young U.S. LLP	417	$169,244
2	The University of Chicago	304	$79,071
3	Northwestern University	166	$69,482
4	University of Illinois	144	$90,032
5	Deloitte Consulting LLP	121	$153,317
6	PayPal, Inc.	119	$141,186
7	Grandison Management, Inc.	104	$71,968
8	Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corp	99	$107,640
9	PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC	99	$190,000
10	Capgemini America Inc	93	$132,600
11	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	92	$154,100
12	Infosys Limited	85	$82,846
13	Boston Consulting Group, Inc.	79	$190,000
14	Google LLC	79	$146,000
15	Accenture LLP	78	$141,700
16	Tata Consultancy Services Limited	72	$82,846
17	Deloitte Tax LLP	70	$105,200
18	McDonald's Corporation	68	$164,715
19	Deloitte & Touche LLP	66	$89,000
20	Amazon Web Services, Inc.	62	$161,100
	All other employers	6,488	–