DOL LCA Data

H1B Salaries
Biotech & Pharma

Real salary data from Labor Condition Applications. Wage levels, biotech hubs, and top companies.

FY2026 Q1 (Oct-Dec 2025) | 1,220 certified LCAs

About This Data

What is LCA Data?

Before filing an H1B visa petition, employers must submit a Labor Condition Application (LCA) to the Department of Labor. The LCA certifies that the employer will pay at least the prevailing wage. The DOL publishes all LCA filings quarterly, making it the most reliable public source for H1B salary data. Unlike job postings that show ranges, LCA wages are the actual offered salaries.

What Jobs Are Included

  • * Biotech & Pharma companies: Eli Lilly, Amgen, Genentech, Regeneron, Moderna, etc.
  • * Research institutions: Broad Institute, Dana-Farber, Fred Hutch, etc.
  • * Diagnostics & Tools: Illumina, 10x Genomics, Thermo Fisher, etc.
  • * AI/ML drug discovery: Recursion, Insitro, Tempus, etc.

How We Process the Data

  • * Source: DOL quarterly disclosure files (~1M+ rows)
  • * Filter: Only "Certified" status (not withdrawn/denied)
  • * Companies: 60+ biotech/pharma employers
  • * Wages: Hourly rates converted to annual (x2080)
  • * Range: $50K-$500K (excludes outliers)

Why This Matters in 2026

Wage-Based Lottery

Higher wage levels (L3, L4) now have better H1B selection odds under new rules effective Feb 2026. FY2027 lottery guide

$100K Fee Impact

See which companies are still actively sponsoring H1B despite the new $100K fee (Sept 2025-2026).

Salary Negotiation

Know actual salaries companies pay for H1B roles - not just job posting ranges.

Data: FY2026 Q1 (Oct-Dec 2025) | Q2 data expected mid-April 2026 | Source: DOL LCA Disclosure

Read H1B Guide →
52
Companies
1,220
LCA Filings
$140K
Median Salary
30%
Level 4 (Best Lottery Odds)

Wage Level Distribution

Important for Lottery

Under the new wage-based lottery (Feb 2026), Level 4 positions have highest selection priority.

Level 1 Entry (17th %ile)
$78K median
198 (16%)
Range: $51K - $240K
Level 2 Qualified (34th %ile)
$110K median
315 (26%)
Range: $55K - $335K
Level 3 Experienced (50th %ile)
$137K median
284 (23%)
Range: $64K - $270K
Level 4 Fully Competent (67th+ %ile)
$162K median
360 (30%)
Range: $63K - $454K

Strategy: Level 4 positions ($160K+ median) have best lottery odds. Learn more about the wage-based lottery →

Biotech Hubs

H1B filings by worksite city. Click to see jobs in each location.

Salary by Company

Sorted by median salary. Box shows 25th-75th percentile range.

$80K$120K$160K$200K$240K
10x Genomics
$185K (7)
Takeda
$184K (32)
Agilent
$181K (7)
Regeneron
$171K (17)
Janssen
$170K (13)
Alexion
$167K (7)
AstraZeneca
$165K (9)
Charles River
$161K (6)
AbbVie
$158K (45)
Tempus
$154K (6)
Illumina
$152K (17)
Natera
$152K (6)
Vertex
$151K (30)
Gilead
$150K (25)
IQVIA
$147K (44)
* = Cap-exempt (no lottery required)

All Companies

Company Jobs Min Median Max Lvl 4
10x Genomics 7 $90K $185K $220K 86%
Takeda 32 $110K $184K $270K 38%
Agilent 7 $105K $181K $231K 14%
Foundation Medicine 5 $131K $178K $210K 40%
Regeneron 17 $108K $171K $242K 35%
Janssen 13 $130K $170K $325K 54%
Alexion 7 $107K $167K $201K 14%
AstraZeneca 9 $97K $165K $205K 11%
Charles River 6 $82K $161K $191K 33%
Bristol Myers Squibb 35 $99K $160K $271K 51%
AbbVie 45 $100K $158K $335K 42%
Guardant Health 7 $127K $158K $197K 57%
LONZA HOUSTON INC 8 $110K $154K $165K 75%
Tempus 6 $84K $154K $240K 33%
Illumina 17 $90K $152K $400K 35%
Natera 6 $86K $152K $192K 33%
Vertex 30 $92K $151K $228K 60%
Gilead 25 $88K $150K $219K 32%
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION 18 $85K $147K $186K 50%
IQVIA 44 $85K $147K $227K 25%
Sanofi 11 $84K $147K $289K 36%
Bayer 36 $96K $146K $208K 56%
Eli Lilly 77 $97K $145K $232K 64%
Biogen 5 $128K $145K $170K 100%
Moderna 11 $101K $141K $184K 55%
Genentech 40 $91K $140K $249K 23%
Amgen 42 $91K $138K $193K 12%
Pfizer 10 $96K $135K $170K 30%
Merck 17 $94K $131K $187K 24%
WuXi Biologics USA, LLC 7 $115K $130K $229K 14%
Novartis 25 $76K $128K $223K 32%
Labcorp 6 $101K $125K $162K 33%
CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc. 5 $102K $124K $320K 20%
Thermo Fisher 37 $68K $121K $250K 22%
GSK 28 $87K $114K $184K 4%
Allen Institute Cap-exempt 9 $66K $113K $240K 0%
Lonza Biologics Inc. 5 $91K $110K $170K 20%
University of Colorado Denver Cap-exempt 6 $51K $98K $210K 33%
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS INCORPORATED 7 $88K $97K $144K 29%
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cap-exempt 45 $55K $95K $270K 7%
Mayo Clinic Cap-exempt 63 $63K $95K $454K 56%
Fred Hutch Cap-exempt 13 $78K $93K $156K 31%
Recursion 6 $86K $93K $118K 0%
Roche 60 $54K $85K $253K 8%
Dana-Farber Cap-exempt 45 $66K $83K $220K 0%
Colorado State University Cap-exempt 16 $57K $83K $125K 13%
Broad Institute Cap-exempt 14 $62K $83K $129K 7%
University of Colorado Cap-exempt 30 $54K $82K $238K 7%
Johns Hopkins University Cap-exempt 49 $62K $79K $260K 4%
The Scripps Research Institute Cap-exempt 7 $69K $78K $115K 0%
Jackson Laboratory 16 $63K $74K $115K 19%
University of Colorado Denver / Anschutz Cap-exempt 12 $55K $71K $143K 17%

Top Paying Bioinformatics Jobs

Highest salaries for bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, and biostatistics roles.

Company Title Salary Level Location
Regeneron Senior Manager Biostatistics $203,514 L3 Warren, NJ
Eli Lilly Sr. Advisor - Target Discovery Computational Biology $190,000 L4 Boston, MA
Eli Lilly Sr. Advisor - Target Discovery Computational Biology $190,000 L4 Quincy, MA
Novartis Associate Director, Biostatistics $175,781 L4 East Hanover, NJ
IQVIA Principal Biostatistician $172,000 L3 Plainsboro, NJ
Guardant Health Bioinformatics Scientist $167,877 L4 Palo Alto, CA
Thermo Fisher Staff Scientist, Bioinformatics $167,877 L4 San Francisco, CA
Amgen Biostatistical Programming Sr Mgr $167,601 L4 Apex, NC
Bayer Data Science Tech Lead Genomic Prediction $165,229 L3 Chesterfield, MO
Veracyte, Inc. Sr. Bioinformatics Scientist $165,000 L3 Framingham, MA
Alexion Manager, Biostatistics $159,318 L1 Boston, MA
Moderna Associate Director, Biostatistics $158,600 L4 Cambridge, MA
Guardant Health Senior Bioinformatics Software Engineer $157,934 L4 Laveen, AZ
Eli Lilly Sr. Principal - Bioinformatics Engineer - Lilly Omics Hub $156,829 L4 Revere, MA
Amgen Biostatistical Programming Manager $150,726 L4 Prosper, TX
Memorial Sloan Kettering Senior Computational Biologist II $150,000 L3 New York, NY
Sanofi Senior Project Biostatistics Lead $147,000 L2 Swiftwater, PA
Sanofi Senior Project Biostatistics Lead $147,000 L2 Swiftwater, PA
Merck Associate Principal Scientist, Biostatistics $139,600 L3 North Wales, PA
Guardant Health Senior Bioinformatics Scientist $138,466 L4 Brooklyn, NY
Vertex Computational Genomics Senior Research Scientist $136,000 L4 Boston, MA
Tempus Biostatistician II $131,300 L3 Orange, CA
Novartis Senior Principal Biostatistician $127,858 L4 Cambridge, MA
Novartis Principal Biostatistician $127,858 L4 Cambridge, MA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Bioinformatics Software Engineer II $115,000 L2 New York, NY

Wage Levels & Lottery

As of Feb 2026, H1B lottery prioritizes higher wage levels:

4 Highest priority (67th+ percentile)
3 High priority (50th-67th)
2 Medium priority (34th-50th)
1 Lower priority (17th-34th)

By Role Type

Other
$100K (490)
Engineer
$135K (205)
Research Scientist
$115K (161)
Manager
$150K (138)
Director
$186K (113)
Analyst
$120K (58)
Data Science
$134K (17)
Biostatistics
$149K (14)
Bioinformatics
$138K (11)
Machine Learning
$158K (5)

By State

MA
$131K (216)
CA
$146K (197)
NY
$92K (125)
NJ
$165K (115)
MD
$92K (63)
TX
$138K (57)
IN
$141K (52)
NC
$129K (38)
IL
$155K (37)
PA
$135K (35)

About This Data

Salaries from certified LCAs filed with the DOL. LCAs are required before H1B petitions.

  • * Only "Certified" status (not withdrawn)
  • * Actual offered wages (not ranges)
  • * Hourly wages annualized (x2080)
  • * Filtered: $50K-$500K range

Q2 data expected mid-April 2026

DOL Source Data →