LCA vs PERM: two different filings, two different wages
An LCA supports a temporary work visa; PERM is a step toward permanent residence. They are filed at different points in a career and their wages are not directly comparable.
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The wage figures on this site come from two different Department of Labor programs. They look alike in a table and mean different things. Knowing which is which stops a common misreading: that one employer pays far more than another, when in fact the two filings sit at different points in a career.
LCA — the temporary work visa filing
A Labor Condition Application is filed before an employer can petition for a temporary work visa: H-1B, and also H-1B1 and E-3. On it the employer attests to the wage it will pay, the worksite, and that hiring will not harm conditions for existing workers.
This is the bulk of the data here, and it is the closest thing to a current market rate. An LCA is filed when someone is being hired or extended, so the wage reflects what that role pays now.
PERM — a step toward permanent residence
PERM is the labor certification stage of an employment-based green card. The employer must first test the labor market and show no qualified US worker was available, then file for certification at a stated wage.
Two things follow. PERM is usually filed for someone already employed, often years into the job — so the population skews more senior. And the process is slow, so the wage on the filing can lag the person’s actual current pay.
The differences that matter when comparing
| LCA | PERM | |
|---|---|---|
| Leads to | Temporary work authorisation | Permanent residence |
| Filed when | At hire, or at extension | Often years into the job |
| Population | All levels, including entry | Skews senior |
| Wage freshness | Close to current | Can lag by months or longer |
What certification does not mean
Certification is a Department of Labor decision about the filing. It is not a visa, not a green card, and not proof anyone was hired. An employer can file, be certified, and never place the person — the position may go unfilled, the candidate may take another offer, or the subsequent petition may be denied by a different agency.
This site counts only certified filings, because denied and withdrawn cases say nothing about what an employer pays. But a filing count is a count of filings, not of employees.
How to use this when reading a page
- Comparing two employers is fair when both are large enough that their LCA and PERM mix is similar. At small filing counts it is not.
- An unusually high median at a company with very few filings often means a handful of senior PERM cases and little else.
- For a like-for-like read, compare within one occupation and one state rather than across the whole site.
The percentile guide covers how many filings is enough for a number to mean anything.