Level IV Fully competent
Wage Level IV
Three or four steps up. The ceiling, and the level that needs the most support in the job description.
What Level IV means
Level IV describes a position that plans and organizes its own work, exercises judgement on matters with no precedent, and frequently supervises or leads. It sits at the top of the four-figure range and it carries the highest wage obligation, so it’s the level a filing has to justify most carefully.
The worksheet caps at four. Three step-ups and four step-ups both land here, which means the difference between a strong Level IV and a marginal one doesn’t show in the level itself. It shows in whether each asserted requirement is genuinely beyond the occupational norm.
The kind of role that lands here
Managers with real reports, principal and staff engineers, and specialists whose requirement set no one else in the occupation is expected to meet. Also the level where an employer requiring both an advanced degree and long experience ends up almost by default.
For Software Developers, 5,910 of 29,058 certified H-1B filings in FY2025 Q1 to Q4 were filed at Level IV, which is 20.3% of them. That's what employers filed, not what any of those jobs should have been.
Level mix for Software Developers (15-1252) from the DOL Labor Condition Application disclosure data, FY2025 Q1 to Q4, certified H-1B filings only.
What the worksheet inputs look like
- Three or four of the step conditions met.
- Typically: experience well beyond the Job Zone norm, education above the usual entry level, and either a special requirement or genuine supervisory duty.
- Supervision that the occupation already carries doesn’t count, even at this level.
Three or four steps up. The worksheet doesn’t go higher.
What Level IV costs, worked
Software Developers in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, wage year 2026-27: Level IV is $93.01 an hour, which annualizes at 2,080 hours to $193,461. Across the 500 areas where this occupation's wage was surveyed locally, the median Level IV is $141,149 a year.
| Level | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Level I | $52.81 | $109,845 |
| Level II | $66.21 | $137,717 |
| Level III | $79.61 | $165,589 |
| Level IV | $93.01 | $193,461 |
Software Developers (15-1252), New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ. ALC_Export.csv, OFLC_Wages_2026-27.zip, wage year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
The other three levels
None of this is a wage determination. Run your own facts through the calculator, then verify in FLAG before you file. The disclaimer says the rest.