Wall Street banks, Big Tech NYC offices, and consulting firms offering the highest wages — and the best FY2027 lottery odds
Under the new wage-weighted H-1B lottery system, your prevailing wage level directly determines your selection odds. Level 3 workers get approximately 3x the tickets of Level 1, and Level 4 workers get 4x — translating to roughly 37% and 62% selection rates, respectively, compared to just 15% for Level 1. New York City is one of the best metros for high-wage H-1B filings, thanks to its concentration of Wall Street banks, Big Tech offices, and top-tier consulting firms that routinely file at Level 3 and Level 4.
| Company | H-1B Filings | Dominant Wage Level |
|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase | 12,400 | Level 3-4 dominant |
| Goldman Sachs | 8,200 | Level 4 heavy |
| Deloitte NYC | 7,500 | Level 3 |
| Morgan Stanley | 6,100 | Level 3-4 |
| Google NYC | 5,800 | Level 3-4 |
| Meta NYC | 4,200 | Level 3-4 |
| Bloomberg | 3,900 | Level 4 |
| Citadel | 1,800 | Level 4 |
New York City's wage levels are naturally high due to cost of living, meaning many H-1B positions automatically qualify as Level 3 or Level 4 under DOL prevailing wage determinations. A Software Engineer role that might be Level 2 in Dallas is often Level 3 or Level 4 in NYC simply because the prevailing wage thresholds are higher and NYC employer salaries match them.
The finance sector is particularly strong for Level 4 filings. Investment banking analysts, quantitative developers, and portfolio managers at firms like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citadel routinely earn $180,000-$300,000+, placing them firmly in Level 4 territory. The DOL prevailing wage for a Software Engineer Level 4 in the NYC metro area is $198,000+, and many Wall Street tech roles exceed this.
Big Tech NYC offices — Google Hudson Square, Meta Hudson Yards, Amazon Manhattan — also file heavily at Level 3-4 because their compensation packages match or exceed Silicon Valley levels. For H-1B candidates targeting maximum lottery odds, NYC offers the highest density of Level 3-4 filing opportunities in the country.
Find New York employers filing H-1B at Level 3 and Level 4 wages for maximum lottery odds.
Search NYC Sponsors →Search thousands of verified H-1B sponsors by company, industry, and location.
Search H-1B Sponsors on Wisa →Finance and quantitative trading firms pay the highest H-1B wages in NYC. Hedge funds like Citadel and Two Sigma routinely file at Level 4 with salaries exceeding $250,000. Investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley) file most senior roles at Level 3-4. Big Tech NYC offices (Google, Meta, Amazon) also file heavily at Level 3-4 with base salaries of $180,000-$220,000+.
Use the DOL's Online Wage Library (OWL) at flcdatacenter.com to look up prevailing wages for your specific occupation code (SOC) and work location. Enter the NYC metro area and your job title to see Level 1-4 thresholds. If your offered salary falls above the Level 3 threshold, you are likely to be filed at Level 3 or 4. Ask your employer or immigration attorney to confirm the intended wage level before registration.
Yes, and this is one of the most effective strategies under the wage-weighted lottery. If your offered salary is close to the Level 3-4 boundary, negotiating even a small raise could push you into the next tier. Be transparent with your employer about the lottery implications — many employers are willing to adjust compensation when they understand it significantly improves selection odds from ~37% to ~62%.
The prevailing wage is determined by the worksite location, not the employer headquarters. If you work remotely from NYC for a company headquartered elsewhere, your LCA should list your NYC home office as the worksite, and the NYC prevailing wage applies. However, if the employer lists a different location as the primary worksite, the wage level will be based on that location. Clarify the LCA worksite with your employer before filing.