H1B Sponsors Paying Over $200,000 on Average: The Complete 2026 List

Most people think of H1B sponsorship as something in the $100,000 to $150,000 salary range. The reality is that thousands of H1B petitions are filed every year at salaries above $200,000. Physicians, attorneys, senior engineers, data scientists, technology executives — all sponsored under H1B at compensation levels most people do not associate with visa workers. This article breaks down exactly which companies, roles, states, and cities are filing H1B petitions above $200,000, using real government data from LCA filings.

UP Next: Companies With the Highest H1B Approval Rates in the US (2026 Data).

The Numbers at a Glance

In fiscal year 2025 alone, here is what the over $200,000 H1B segment looked like:

• Total H1B filings above $200,000: 57,048
• Average salary in this segment: $246,284
• Unique companies sponsoring at this level: 8,827

Nearly 57,000 H1B petitions filed in a single year at salaries above $200,000. That is not a niche. That is a substantial and growing segment of the H1B program covering medicine, law, finance, and the highest levels of the technology industry. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor LCA Disclosure Data)

How This Segment Has Grown Year Over Year

The number of H1B filings above $200,000 has increased every single year for the past four years:

• 2022: 33,260 filings | Average salary $241,921 | 6,435 unique companies
• 2023: 34,641 filings | Average salary $244,895 | 6,735 unique companies
• 2024: 32,299 filings | Average salary $245,497 | 6,288 unique companies
• 2025: 57,048 filings | Average salary $246,284 | 8,827 unique companies
• 2026 so far: 10,355 filings | Average salary $243,000 | 2,845 unique companies

The jump from 2024 to 2025 is the number worth pausing on. Filings above $200,000 increased by 77% in a single year, from 32,299 to 57,048. The number of unique sponsoring companies grew from 6,288 to 8,827. This reflects a combination of salary inflation in high-demand fields, increasing physician and specialist sponsorship, and the surge in big tech compensation pushing senior engineering roles above the $200,000 threshold.

Which Wage Level Do These Filings Fall Under?

Across all filings above $200,000, here is how they break down by DOL wage level:

• Level I (Entry): 2,242 filings | Average salary $266,112
• Level II (Qualified): 9,122 filings | Average salary $250,107
• Level III (Experienced): 14,200 filings | Average salary $235,196
• Level IV (Fully Competent): 26,211 filings | Average salary $246,559

Level IV dominates with over 26,000 filings, unsurprising given that this tier covers senior specialists, directors, and expert-level professionals. But the Level I filings at an average of $266,112 stand out. This happens primarily in medicine. Physicians classified at Level I can still command salaries above $200,000 because medical specialties have high prevailing wages even at the entry tier. It is a reminder that wage level alone does not determine salary. The occupation and location matter just as much.

Top States for H1B Filings Above $200,000

• California: 23,552 filings | Average salary $236,303 | 2,956 unique companies
• New York: 8,609 filings | Average salary $251,051 | 1,803 unique companies
• Washington: 5,458 filings | Average salary $229,241 | 550 unique companies
• Texas: 3,646 filings | Average salary $242,491 | 1,070 unique companies
• New Jersey: 1,755 filings | Average salary $236,565 | 546 unique companies
• Massachusetts: 1,476 filings | Average salary $250,592 | 588 unique companies
• Illinois: 1,296 filings | Average salary $260,403 | 418 unique companies
• Florida: 1,114 filings | Average salary $265,751 | 455 unique companies
• Georgia: 812 filings | Average salary $254,922 | 290 unique companies
• Pennsylvania: 762 filings | Average salary $272,278 | 239 unique companies
• North Carolina: 696 filings | Average salary $259,411 | 275 unique companies
• Virginia: 683 filings | Average salary $245,915 | 267 unique companies
• Connecticut: 459 filings | Average salary $260,043 | 169 unique companies
• Ohio: 449 filings | Average salary $287,213 | 128 unique companies
• Indiana: 383 filings | Average salary $275,052 | 84 unique companies

California leads by a significant margin with nearly 24,000 filings, driven by big tech in the Bay Area. But the state averages tell an interesting story that most people miss. Ohio averages $287,213 and Pennsylvania averages $272,278, both higher than California’s $236,303. This reflects the dominance of physician and specialist sponsorship in those states, which pulls the average well above what the tech-heavy California market shows. Volume and average salary are measuring two very different things here.

Top Cities for H1B Filings Above $200,000

• New York, NY: 7,457 filings | Average salary $248,154
• San Francisco, CA: 3,814 filings | Average salary $243,467
• San Jose, CA: 3,068 filings | Average salary $240,167
• Sunnyvale, CA: 2,559 filings | Average salary $228,934
• Mountain View, CA: 2,247 filings | Average salary $233,356
• Santa Clara, CA: 2,084 filings | Average salary $226,299
• Seattle, WA: 1,958 filings | Average salary $226,181
• Menlo Park, CA: 1,730 filings | Average salary $237,665
• Bellevue, WA: 1,559 filings | Average salary $235,399
• Redmond, WA: 1,207 filings | Average salary $218,128
• Palo Alto, CA: 1,180 filings | Average salary $239,142
• Cupertino, CA: 1,169 filings | Average salary $218,562
• Dallas, TX: 975 filings | Average salary $252,764
• Chicago, IL: 744 filings | Average salary $247,558
• Austin, TX: 720 filings | Average salary $228,111

New York leads all cities with 7,457 filings. The combination of Wall Street finance, Big Law, and major tech offices makes it the single largest market for six-figure-plus H1B sponsorship in the country. Six of the top fifteen cities are in California’s Bay Area, a concentration that reflects just how much high-compensation tech employment is packed into that geography.

Top Job Titles With H1B Filings Above $200,000

• Software Developers: 18,448 filings | Average $229,041 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 1,972 companies
• Computer and Information Systems Managers: 6,459 filings | Average $243,228 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 1,480 companies
• Physicians, All Other: 2,060 filings | Average $306,045 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 710 companies
• Data Scientists: 1,710 filings | Average $231,295 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 451 companies
• Information Technology Project Managers: 1,662 filings | Average $226,336 | Min $200,000 | Max $444,000 | 457 companies
• Lawyers: 1,657 filings | Average $279,223 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 323 companies
• Hospitalists: 1,538 filings | Average $287,719 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 375 companies
• Financial and Investment Analysts: 1,527 filings | Average $243,053 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 456 companies
• Computer and Information Research Scientists: 1,246 filings | Average $241,658 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 264 companies
• General Internal Medicine Physicians: 992 filings | Average $274,210 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 422 companies
• Electronics Engineers, Except Computer: 966 filings | Average $214,146 | Min $200,000 | Max $365,000 | 124 companies
• Marketing Managers: 869 filings | Average $250,869 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 493 companies
• Architectural and Engineering Managers: 868 filings | Average $241,285 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 398 companies
• Management Analysts: 819 filings | Average $235,254 | Min $200,000 | Max $400,000 | 204 companies
• Financial Managers: 795 filings | Average $269,139 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 478 companies
• Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary: 741 filings | Average $295,450 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 92 companies
• Operations Research Analysts: 700 filings | Average $231,242 | Min $200,000 | Max $475,000 | 144 companies
• Financial Quantitative Analysts: 683 filings | Average $233,616 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 171 companies
• Business Intelligence Analysts: 542 filings | Average $227,599 | Min $200,000 | Max $480,000 | 184 companies
• Chief Executives: 541 filings | Average $293,426 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 450 companies
• Family Medicine Physicians: 445 filings | Average $251,667 | Min $200,000 | Max $475,200 | 265 companies
• General and Operations Managers: 432 filings | Average $250,539 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 336 companies
• Electrical Engineers: 406 filings | Average $224,817 | Min $200,000 | Max $380,000 | 123 companies
• Information Security Analysts: 394 filings | Average $231,489 | Min $200,000 | Max $435,139 | 135 companies
• Neurologists: 359 filings | Average $315,001 | Min $200,000 | Max $500,000 | 171 companies
• Computer Systems Engineers and Architects: 351 filings | Average $217,535 | Min $200,000 | Max $400,000 | 165 companies
• Dentists, General: 334 filings | Average $234,109 | Min $200,000 | Max $437,486 | 244 companies
• Pediatricians, General: 330 filings | Average $252,642 | Min $200,000 | Max $479,664 | 180 companies
• Computer Hardware Engineers: 326 filings | Average $225,927 | Min $200,000 | Max $460,000 | 68 companies
• Radiologists: 324 filings | Average $376,494 | Min $200,776 | Max $500,000 | 115 companies

Software Developers are the largest single group in this salary tier by a wide margin, 18,448 filings across 1,972 companies. These are not recent graduates. These are senior engineers, staff engineers, and principal engineers at the top of their compensation bands at major technology companies. The average within this segment is $229,041.

Radiologists, despite lower filing volume, command the highest average of any named role at $376,494. Neurologists sit at $315,001. These numbers reflect what specialist medicine actually pays, and how the H1B program serves the physician workforce in ways that rarely get attention in mainstream immigration coverage.

Top Companies Filing H1B Petitions Above $200,000

Ranked by average salary across all their filings above $200,000:

• Southern Illinois Medical Services: Average $346,872 | 68 filings | Top role: Physicians | Illinois | 100% approval
• Guthrie Medical Group PC: Average $335,033 | 93 filings | Top role: Physicians | New York | 100% approval
• Fayette Physician Network Inc: Average $331,498 | 64 filings | Top role: General Internal Medicine Physicians | West Virginia
• Aurora Medical Group Inc: Average $320,380 | 118 filings | Top role: Physicians | Wisconsin | 97.91% approval
• WellStar Medical Group LLC: Average $317,221 | 66 filings | Top role: Physicians | Georgia | 98.39% approval
• Eastern Maine Medical Center: Average $314,370 | 153 filings | Top role: Physicians | Maine | 98.82% approval
• Carolinas Physicians Network (Atrium Health): Average $313,464 | 69 filings | Top role: Physicians | North Carolina | 95.83% approval
• OSF Multi-Specialty Group: Average $310,103 | 220 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Illinois | 100% approval
• Charleston Area Medical Center Inc: Average $308,573 | 53 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | West Virginia | 98.39% approval
• Bayhealth Medical Center Inc: Average $307,572 | 75 filings | Top role: Physicians | Delaware | 100% approval
• Apogee Medical Group Delaware Inc: Average $306,539 | 71 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Delaware | 95.83% approval
• Allegheny Clinic: Average $306,509 | 139 filings | Top role: Physicians | Pennsylvania | 97.99% approval
• WellSpan Medical Group: Average $306,233 | 51 filings | Top role: Physicians | Pennsylvania | 98.11% approval
• TidalHealth Specialty Care LLC: Average $304,934 | 51 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Maryland | 100% approval
• Apogee Medical Group New York PC: Average $304,521 | 86 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | New York | 94.35% approval
• OU Health Partners Inc: Average $303,408 | 62 filings | Top role: Physicians | Oklahoma | 100% approval
• OpenAI OpCo LLC: Average $299,403 | 267 filings | Top role: Software Developers | California | 98.23% approval
• University Hospitals Medical Group Inc: Average $299,276 | 116 filings | Top role: Physicians | Ohio | 97.30% approval
• Debevoise and Plimpton LLP: Average $298,041 | 85 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• USACS Medical Group Ltd: Average $296,841 | 202 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Maryland | 99.12% approval
• Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System: Average $296,011 | 140 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Louisiana | 98.81% approval
• Kirkland and Ellis LLP: Average $293,956 | 213 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 97.89% approval
• Vidant Medical Group LLC: Average $292,170 | 96 filings | Top role: Neurologists | North Carolina | 100% approval
• Florida Hospital Medical Group Inc: Average $287,999 | 62 filings | Top role: Physicians | Florida | 100% approval
• UMass Memorial Medical Group Inc: Average $287,119 | 93 filings | Top role: Radiologists | Massachusetts | 96.55% approval
• Southeastern Physician Services PC: Average $286,950 | 50 filings | Top role: Physicians | Tennessee | 95% approval
• Cooley LLP: Average $286,665 | 87 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• Ropes and Gray LLP: Average $285,656 | 154 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 98.10% approval
• Hospital Physician Services Southeast PC: Average $283,112 | 55 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Georgia | 100% approval
• Baystate Medical Practices Inc: Average $282,568 | 143 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Massachusetts | 100% approval
• Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP: Average $282,238 | 190 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 96% approval
• Weil Gotshal and Manges LLP: Average $281,266 | 129 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson LLP: Average $280,769 | 51 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• Indiana University Health Care Associates Inc: Average $279,496 | 125 filings | Top role: Physicians | Indiana | 100% approval
• Sidley Austin LLP: Average $279,411 | 56 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 94.55% approval
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Average $278,079 | 53 filings | Top role: Medical and Health Services Managers | Washington | 97.27% approval
• Sound Physicians of Illinois LLC: Average $277,961 | 60 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Missouri | 98.11% approval
• King and Spalding LLP: Average $277,019 | 55 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Inc: Average $276,252 | 198 filings | Top role: General Internal Medicine Physicians | Connecticut | 100% approval
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP: Average $275,790 | 57 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 100% approval
• Avera McKennan: Average $274,828 | 79 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | South Dakota | 98.44% approval
• Dechert LLP: Average $274,276 | 83 filings | Top role: Lawyers | New York | 98.85% approval
• Northeast Medical Group Inc: Average $272,158 | 91 filings | Top role: Hospitalists | Connecticut | 97.62% approval
• Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess: Average $272,053 | 113 filings | Top role: Anesthesiologists | Massachusetts

What Stands Out When You Look at This Data Carefully

The top 17 companies by average salary are all healthcare organizations. Physician groups, hospital systems, specialist practices. Southern Illinois Medical Services leads at $346,872 average. The highest-paying non-medical employer on the entire list is OpenAI at $299,403.

OpenAI deserves a separate note. With 267 filings, a $299,403 average salary, and a 98.23% approval rate, it is the only technology company in the top 20 by average salary. That reflects what AI research and engineering commands right now at the frontier level. It is genuinely different from what a software engineer at a mature tech company earns, and the H1B data confirms it.

Big Law is the third pillar of this segment that most people do not talk about. Debevoise and Plimpton, Kirkland and Ellis, Cooley, Ropes and Gray, Simpson Thacher, Weil Gotshal, Fried Frank, Sidley Austin, King and Spalding, and Freshfields all appear on the list. New York-based law firms are filing H1B petitions for attorneys at averages ranging from $275,000 to $298,000. If you are an internationally educated lawyer admitted to a US bar, this is an often overlooked but very well-documented pathway.

The hospitalist model has created H1B sponsorship demand across regional health systems that most people would never think to target. OSF Multi-Specialty Group in Illinois, TidalHealth in Maryland, Avera McKennan in South Dakota, Hartford Healthcare in Connecticut, Baystate Medical Practices in Massachusetts. These are not household names in immigration circles. But they are filing H1B petitions at average salaries above $270,000 with strong approval records. Physicians who know this data target these organizations. Those who do not know about it never consider them.

The Gates Foundation appearing on this list is genuinely surprising. Fifty-three filings at a $278,079 average for Medical and Health Services Managers in Washington state. Global health leadership at the highest level commands compensation comparable to top corporate roles. The H1B data captures that.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many H1B petitions are filed above $200,000?

In fiscal year 2025, 57,048 H1B LCA filings were at salaries above $200,000, with an average salary of $246,284 across 8,827 unique sponsoring companies. This is up from 33,260 filings in 2022, reflecting significant growth over four years.

Which job has the highest H1B salary?

Among roles with meaningful filing volume, Radiologists average $376,494 in the over $200,000 segment. Neurologists average $315,001 and Physicians All Other average $306,045. Among non-medical roles, Lawyers average $279,223 and Chief Executives average $293,426 in this salary tier.

Which state has the most H1B filings above $200,000?

California leads with 23,552 filings. However, Pennsylvania averages $272,278 and Ohio averages $287,213 in this segment, both higher than California’s $236,303, because their filings are dominated by high-paying physician and specialist roles rather than tech roles.

Can software developers really get H1B sponsorship above $200,000?

Yes. There are 18,448 H1B filings for software developers above $200,000 across 1,972 unique companies, with an average salary of $229,041 in this segment. These are primarily senior and principal engineers at large technology companies filing at Level III and Level IV wage classifications.

Which city has the most H1B filings above $200,000?

New York City leads all cities with 7,457 filings at an average salary of $248,154. San Francisco follows with 3,814 filings and San Jose with 3,068. Six of the top fifteen cities are in California’s Bay Area.

This Segment Is Bigger Than Most People Realize

The over $200,000 H1B segment is larger, more diverse, and faster-growing than the immigration conversation typically acknowledges. It is not just Google and Meta paying senior engineers outsized salaries. It is a physician group in rural Wisconsin averaging $320,000. It is a law firm on Park Avenue at $294,000. It is a hospitalist practice in South Dakota at $274,000. It is OpenAI at $299,000. It is the Gates Foundation at $278,000.

If your career is in medicine, law, senior technology leadership, quantitative finance, or research science, the data makes one thing clear: H1B sponsorship at this compensation level happens at scale, across the entire country, far beyond the obvious markets most people focus on.

Data source: Labor Condition Application filings submitted to the US Department of Labor. All salary and filing figures are from official government records. Fiscal year 2026 figures reflect filings recorded to date. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.