What Populus certifies it pays.
Base-pay bands from 1,368 certified Department of Labor wage filings across every fiscal year on record, through FY2026. (The /pay index card counts FY2026 alone.) Filed under penalty of perjury — not self-reported.
Related record: Populus’s full H-1B sponsor file
Base-salary bands by role
Software Developers
352 filingsData Scientists
166 filingsSoftware Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
119 filingsWeb Administrators
113 filingsSoftware Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers
96 filingsSoftware Developers, Applications
94 filingsMechanical Engineers
48 filingsDatabase Architects
40 filingsMedian by state
| CA | 222 filings | $135K |
| TX | 178 filings | $134K |
| MI | 95 filings | $106K |
| IL | 83 filings | $121K |
| WA | 75 filings | $137K |
| OH | 69 filings | $130K |
| NJ | 59 filings | $132K |
| NC | 54 filings | $129K |
Median by seniority level
| Level I · Entry | 173 filings | $87K |
| Level II · Qualified | 410 filings | $116K |
| Level III · Experienced | 663 filings | $135K |
| Level IV · Fully competent | 122 filings | $166K |
OES prevailing-wage levels from the filings — a defensible seniority proxy, not job ladders.
H-1B sponsorship profile
Populus certifies 1,368 H-1B / E-3 wage filings through FY2026 — filing volume cooling. Below, how those offers compare to the legal prevailing-wage floor each role must clear.
Median certified offer runs 19% above the floor.
The rest are set exactly at the prevailing wage — legal, and common among high-volume filers.
vs. $103K prevailing-wage floor.
Seniority mix (OES wage level)
Filing volume by fiscal year
Filed across 1 legal entity under this brand — largest: Populus Group LLC (1,368).
Every H-1B role carries a legally required prevailing-wage floor (the OES rate for that occupation, area, and level). The offered wage on the certified filing must meet or exceed it — so “% above floor” distinguishes employers who genuinely pay a premium from those who file at the minimum. Certified DOL disclosure data, offered base wage only; reusable under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.
Green-card sponsorship record
Populus has 978 certified permanent-residency (PERM) applications on the federal record through FY2026 — filing volume steady. The question this answers: does this employer put workers on the path to a green card, or only on visas?
All fiscal years on record · applications, not people
Of 994 decided applications (certified + denied)
Certified green-card applications per 100 certified H-1B wage filings (978 vs 1,368) — filings and applications, not headcount
Source: DOL OFLC PERM (Form ETA-9089) disclosure data, decision-basis by federal fiscal year; the current fiscal year is partial by construction. PERM has no prevailing-wage field — this card reads sponsorship posture, not pay.
What this data is — and isn't
These bands come from certified H-1B Labor Condition Application disclosures — the base salary employers commit to on the record. They exclude equity, bonus, and benefits, and they cover only roles companies sponsor, which skews technical. Read them as a conservative, citable floor on what Populus pays — not total compensation. Our sources.
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