Unlike the popularly held belief, H-1B visa holders in the United States are among the highest paid workers, new evidence suggests. The median salary of all US workers in the year 2021 was approximately $45,000 and the top 10% workers earned a salary of approximately $102,000.
H1-B visa holders are among the top 10 percent of US salary earners
Among the top 10 percent of US salary earners, the median salary for H?1B workers in the year 2021 was approximately $108,000, which is way more than double the median wage for all US workers, as per the information provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This new information was discovered and brought to light by David J Bier, a researcher at US think tank Cato Institute.
What is the H1-B visa?
The H1-B program allows US employers, who cannot otherwise get needed business skills and abilities from the domestic workforce, to employ qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the US. Indians, particularly from the IT sector, have benefitted the most from this visa. And, IT companies have been at the lead of receiving a large number of H1-B visas.
Proof that H1-B visa holders aren’t ‘cheap’ workers
“Opponents of the H?1B visa often claim that H?1B employers “pay low wages.” He said in a blog post. The claim has never been true, but the latest salary data prove just how bogus this claim is. H?1B workers are often highly paid individuals: their salaries are in the 90th percentile of all wages in the United States, meaning that they have salaries in the top 10 percent of US salary earners. H?1B workers are in no shape or form low salary or “cheap” workers.
H?1B salaries have dramatically increased above the 90th percentile for the first time since DHS has reported H?1B wages in 2003. H?1B salary growth has surpassed the growth for all US workers, Bier noted.
From 2003 to 2021, the nominal median H?1B wage grew by 52 percent, while the nominal median for all US workers grew by just 39 percent. “If H?1B employers could just pay whatever they want—as opponents claim — these increases would not be happening,” Bier stated.
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