What Is H1B Compass?
H1B Compass is a free interactive tool with publicly available source code that visualizes DOL prevailing wages across 393 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). It helps H1B visa applicants and sponsoring employers compare wage requirements by location, identify worksites where a given salary provides the most favorable margin, and understand how worksite choice affects H1B lottery odds under the FY2027 wage-weighted system.
The tool combines multiple federal data sources into a single interactive map with filtering, cost-of-living overlays, and CSV export. All code is open source and available on GitHub.
Data Sources
Prevailing Wage Data
Prevailing wages are sourced from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC). The current dataset covers the July 2026 through June 2027 prevailing wage period. These wages are derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) annual survey, which collects wage data from approximately 1.1 million establishments across all 50 states.
For each MSA and occupation (identified by Standard Occupational Classification code), the DOL publishes wages at four percentile-based levels: Level 1 (17th percentile), Level 2 (34th percentile), Level 3 (50th percentile / median), and Level 4 (67th percentile).
Fair Market Rent Data
Rent data comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FY2026 Fair Market Rent (FMR) estimates, including revisions effective May 21, 2026. FMRs represent the 40th percentile of gross rents (including utilities) for standard-quality rental units. HUD may divide a Census MSA into multiple FMR areas. H1B Compass uses the highest published FMR for each bedroom count within that MSA as a conservative comparison value; it is not an official single-area HUD estimate. Studio through 4-bedroom values feed the net-surplus calculation.
Geographic Boundaries
Metro area boundaries (GeoJSON polygons) are sourced from the 2025 U.S. Census Bureau Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) cartographic boundary files. Each MSA is identified by its CBSA FIPS code, which links the geographic boundaries to the corresponding wage and rent data.
Methodology
Wage Surplus Calculation
For each MSA, the wage surplus is calculated as: Surplus = Your Salary - Prevailing Wage. A positive surplus means the salary exceeds the prevailing wage at that location (qualifying for H1B filing). A negative surplus means the prevailing wage exceeds the salary. The choropleth map colors each MSA from green (large surplus) to red (below prevailing wage).
Net Surplus (with Rent)
When the rent layer is enabled, H1B Compass calculates: Net Surplus = Wage Surplus - (Annual FMR). This provides a more complete picture by factoring in housing costs. A metro with a $30K wage surplus but $36K annual rent yields a -$6K net surplus, while a metro with a $15K wage surplus and only $12K annual rent yields a +$3K net surplus.
FY2027 Lottery Multiplier
Under the USCIS FY2027 rule (effective February 2026), H1B cap registrations are weighted by wage level. H1B Compass determines the highest wage level at which a salary qualifies in each MSA and displays the corresponding lottery multiplier. For example, if a $130K salary qualifies at Level 3 in MSA A but only Level 2 in MSA B, the lottery weight would be 3x versus 2x respectively.
Drive Zone Calculation
Distance from the origin city to each MSA is calculated using the Haversine formula applied to the centroid of each MSA polygon. The drive zone circle is rendered as a geodesic circle on the map. MSAs whose centroids fall outside the specified radius are visually dimmed and can be filtered from the results list.
Supported Job Categories
H1B Compass covers the 846 occupations in the current OFLC table that have complete Level 1–4 wages. The searchable picker spans all 22 civilian 2018 SOC major groups and includes audited cross-industry shortcuts for technology and analytics, environment and climate, energy-related work, and finance, insurance and economics.
Occupations and industries are different concepts. OFLC's All Industries dataset classifies the work performed, not the employer's NAICS industry: a software developer at a bank and one at an energy company use the same SOC occupation. The convenience shortcuts are occupation collections, not employer-industry filters.
Limitations
- Prevailing wages are updated annually; actual wages offered in specific job postings may differ from OEWS survey averages.
- Fair Market Rents represent the 40th percentile of rents and may not reflect actual rents in specific neighborhoods. The MSA value is a conservative maximum when HUD publishes multiple FMR areas inside one Census MSA.
- Drive zone distances are calculated to MSA centroids (straight line), not actual driving distances.
- Two source occupations are excluded because OFLC does not publish complete Level 1–4 wages for them: Legislators (11-1031) and Prosthodontists (29-1024). Some high-wage medical occupations have data in fewer areas.
- This tool is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Consult an immigration attorney for individual case guidance.