Updated
PERM jobs in Washington, DC
- Decisions
- 4,015
- Approved
- 94.5%
- Median certified wage
- $99,920
- Years
- FY2016 to FY2026
Year by year
- certified
- denied
- withdrawn
Fiscal years run October to September. More
Fiscal years run October to September. FY2016 to FY2023 come from DOL's closed-year files, and FY2024 on from its current ones. The newest year is partial until DOL publishes its fourth quarter.
Every year as a table
| Fiscal year | Certified | Denied | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 402 | 26 | 23 |
| FY2017 | 297 | 29 | 16 |
| FY2018 | 424 | 20 | 22 |
| FY2019 | 289 | 17 | 15 |
| FY2020 | 309 | 17 | 7 |
| FY2021 | 371 | 21 | 18 |
| FY2022 | 231 | 9 | 18 |
| FY2023 | 258 | 24 | 14 |
| FY2024 | 304 | 17 | 22 |
| FY2025 | 400 | 15 | 35 |
| FY2026 | 309 | 16 | 20 |
Top sponsors
- Georgetown University 127
- BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 119
- The George Washington University 51
- MCKINSEY & COMPANY, INC. UNITED STATES 50
- EastBanc Technologies, LLC 50
- EAB Global, Inc. 48
- NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION AMTRAK 47
- AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH 46
- PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP 39
- FANNIE MAE 39
Top occupations
Industries
- Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 255
- Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools 252
- Custom Computer Programming Services 218
- Offices of Lawyers 179
- Full-Service Restaurants 161
- Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities 130
- Elementary and Secondary Schools 119
- Monetary Authorities-Central Bank 119
- Food Services and Drinking Places 106
- Architectural Services 88
Countries of citizenship
- India 763
- China 419
- South Korea 123
- Canada 116
- Thailand 89
- Pakistan 72
- El Salvador 72
- Philippines 72
- Turkey 72
- United Kingdom 63
Worker's education
- Master's 1,333
- Bachelor's 682
- Doctorate 374
- None 372
- Other 221
- High School 149
- Associate's 27
Visa held when filed
- H-1B 2,025
- F-1 241
- L-1 59
- G-4 58
- NOT IN USA 58
- A1/A2 56
- B-2 50
- TN 40
- J-1 38
- TPS 29
H-1B in Washington, DC
16,893 labor condition applications name a worksite here, FY2020 to FY2026, and DOL certified 15,883 (94%). An LCA is the employer's wage attestation before an H-1B petition, so it counts positions offered. It doesn't count people hired.
Employers, certified LCAs since FY2024
- District of Columbia Public Schools 390
- cognizant-technology-solutions-us-corporation 190
- Georgetown University 168
- Children's National Medical Center 158
- Ernst & Young U.S. LLP 153
- PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC 118
- THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, INC. 88
- LTIMindtree Limited 83
- HCL AMERICA INC 78
- infosys-ltd 64
Jobs, certified LCAs since FY2024
- Software Developers 860
- Computer Systems Engineers/Architects 417
- Data Scientists 270
- Lawyers 225
- Management Analysts 214
- Economists 213
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education 205
- Accountants and Auditors 204
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education 192
- Social Science Research Assistants 161
Where Washington, DC sits
- County
- District of Columbia
- Census places Washington city in it
- Metro area
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Metropolitan statistical area
- DOL wage area
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- The area DOL sets prevailing wages for, wage year 2026-27
108.9 is BEA's price level for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area in 2024, against 100 for the country as a whole; for housing rents it's 151.1. A salary here buys about 92% of what the same salary buys at the national price level.
- Economists268 PERM decisions
- Lawyers170 PERM decisions
- Accountants and Auditors167 PERM decisions
- Software Developers112 PERM decisions
- Management Analysts111 PERM decisions
- Cooks, Restaurant110 PERM decisions
Each row has its own scale, marked at its ends: these jobs pay too differently to share one. The table compares them.
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
| Job | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economists | $156,750 | $100,714 | $133,266 | $165,818 | $198,370 |
| Lawyers | $195,190 | $129,605 | $177,944 | $226,304 | $274,643 |
| Accountants and Auditors | $102,140 | $72,384 | $92,914 | $113,422 | $133,952 |
| Software Developers | $154,930 | $102,086 | $127,462 | $152,838 | $178,214 |
| Management Analysts | $126,830 | $86,154 | $115,586 | $145,018 | $174,450 |
| Cooks, Restaurant | $42,920 | $35,235 | $38,896 | $42,557 | $46,218 |
Any job in any area, and every wage year since 2021-22, in the wage-level tool.
The worksite city on each application, from DOL's decided cases since FY2016. Spellings of one city are pooled, and a city counts as one place per state.
Case data through Jun 30, 2026 · LCA disclosures through Jun 30, 2026 · Census places and metros through Jan 1, 2026 · BLS market pay through May 31, 2025 · DOL wage tables through Jul 1, 2026. How these figures are counted. Spotted an error? Tell us; every fix is dated in the corrections log.
The sources in full
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
LCA disclosures: DOL quarterly LCA disclosure files (www.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Census places and metros: Census Bureau Gazetteer and metro delineation files (census.gov) · data through Jan 1, 2026 · yearly
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
LCA disclosures: Certified and denied H-1B labor condition applications only, with the wage offered.
Census places and metros: Where each worksite city sits: its county, metro area and DOL wage area, matched to Census's place and county files. A city Census lists in no single place is left unmatched. This site doesn't guess it.
BLS market pay: Pay employers report for everyone in each job, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). It's shown nationally, by state and by metro. It covers citizens and immigrants alike, and it isn't drawn from PERM offers.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. They're the floors an offer is held to. They don't show what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it
Don't have the number?