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Astronomers: H-1B salaries

Standard Occupational Classification 19-2011. 556 labor condition applications; median offered base salary $81,487, middle half $72,000–$98,992.

Applications (LCAs)556

Median offered salary$81,487

Middle half of salaries$72,000–$98,992

10th–90th percentile$65,000–$116,719

By wage level

Wage level	LCAs	Median salary
Level I (entry)	354	$76,102
Level II (qualified)	86	$89,505
Level III (experienced)	19	$110,451
Level IV (fully competent)	21	$130,000

The Department of Labor sets four prevailing wage levels for each occupation and area, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). The employer picks the level that matches the job's requirements.

Employers

Employer	LCAs	Median salary
Aura/space Telescope Science Institute	30	$114,112
National Radio Astronomy Observatory	25	$83,491
University of Colorado	24	$90,988
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy	21	$89,802
Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii	21	$75,837
The University of Chicago	18	$80,000
California Institute of Technology	18	$92,523
University of Maryland College Park	18	$84,500
The University of Arizona	17	$75,000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	17	$77,917
University of Michigan	16	$81,650
The Trustees of Princeton University	16	$79,550
University of California, Berkeley	14	$110,050
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory	13	$104,658
Northwestern University	11	$73,815
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	10	$103,672
Southwest Research Institute	10	$95,000
University of California, Santa Cruz	9	$80,866
Johns Hopkins University	9	$75,000
The Leland Stanford, Jr University	9	$81,925
University of Central Florida	9	$93,500
California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory	9	$116,636
Harvard University	9	$72,000
Simons Foundation	8	$90,500
University of Washington	8	$76,491
Universities Space Research Association	8	$83,823
SETI Institute	7	$103,000
The University of Texas at Austin	7	$67,000
University of Delaware	7	$68,000
The Ohio State University	7	$100,008
University of Illinois	6	$64,216
Arizona State University	6	$71,000
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania	6	$72,500
Columbia University	5	$78,000
University of Minnesota	5	$66,025
University of Hawaii	5	$132,000
George Mason University	5	$104,356
Trustees of Boston University	4	$80,600
The Catholic University of America	4	$77,500
Triad National Security, LLC	4	$119,494
Cornell University	4	$87,453
New York University	4	$76,875
Georgia State University	4	$73,840
American University	4	$99,441
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	3	$61,100
California Association for Research in Astronomy	3	$110,000
Institute for Advanced Study	3	$75,000
University of California, Los Angeles	3	$81,848
University of California, San Diego	3	$85,152
University of Massachusetts Amherst	3	$61,339

Cities

Job titles

By fiscal year

Fiscal year	LCAs	Median salary
FY2023	141	$79,500
FY2024	131	$80,500
FY2025	160	$84,570
FY2026	124	$82,000

Salaries are the lower end of the wage offered on each application, converted to a yearly amount; statistics use certified full-time applications only. An LCA is not a visa approval and one LCA can cover several positions. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC LCA Disclosure Data, fiscal years 2023–2026 (latest decision Jun 30, 2026).