Visiting Scientist H-1B salary at Food and Drug Administration — 103 certified filings (FY2020–FY2026)
- 9
- Filings · FY2025
- $105k
- Median base · FY2025
- $100k–$126k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +7%
- vs market median · all years
Food and Drug Administration filed 9 certified H-1B LCAs for Visiting Scientist in FY2025, with a median base salary of $105k and the middle 50% of offers between $100k and $126k. Across all years its $107k median is 7% above the $100k market median for Visiting Scientist. It has filed 103 Visiting Scientist LCAs since FY2020, most often in Silver Spring, MD.
How much does Food and Drug Administration pay a Visiting Scientist?
Certified base salary for Visiting Scientist at Food and Drug Administration by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $105k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Food and Drug Administration pay Visiting Scientists above the market?
Food and Drug Administration's all-years median against every employer's certified Visiting Scientist LCAs — 7% above the market. Same cleaned DOL title, same base-salary definition, so the two rows compare like for like.
| Base salary for this title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Drug Administration | 103 | $107k |
| All employers · Visiting Scientist | 211 | $100k |
How has Food and Drug Administration's Visiting Scientist hiring changed by year?
22 certified Visiting Scientist filings in FY2020 → 7 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 7 | −22% | $147k |
| FY2025 | 9 | −25% | $105k |
| FY2024 | 12 | +9% | $122k |
| FY2023 | 11 | −48% | $104k |
| FY2022 | 21 | 0% | $107k |
| FY2021 | 21 | −5% | $104k |
| FY2020 | 22 | — | $103k |
Which wage levels does Food and Drug Administration file for Visiting Scientist?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 17% of Food and Drug Administration's Visiting Scientist filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 103 Visiting Scientist filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I53.4%55
- Level II29.1%30
- Level III16.5%17
- Level IV1.0%1
Where does Food and Drug Administration hire H-1B Visiting Scientists?
Worksite states and cities on the certified filings for this title, all years, with the median base salary at each.
| State | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 67 | $119k |
| Arkansas | 33 | $85k |
| Michigan | 1 | $147k |
| Tennessee | 1 | $77k |
| Texas | 1 | $103k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Spring, MD | 57 | $121k |
| Jefferson, AR | 33 | $85k |
| College Park, MD | 6 | $112k |
| Laurel, MD | 2 | $105k |
| Bethesda, MD | 1 | $90k |
| Dallas, TX | 1 | $103k |
| Detroit, MI | 1 | $147k |
| Jefferson, MD | 1 | $114k |
Also filed as
Food and Drug Administration's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Visiting Scientist LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Food and Drug Administration
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Visiting Associate | 191 | $119k |
Top Visiting Scientist sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Drug Administration Hhs | 81 | $97k |
| Cornell University | 7 | $52k |
| Harvard University | 4 | $51k |
| Dana Farber Cancer Institute | 3 | $53k |
| 2 | $140k | |
| Washington State University | 1 | $32k |
| Schlumberger Technology | 1 | $80k |
| University Corporation for Atmospheric Research | 1 | $75k |
| The University of Texas at Dallas - | 1 | $42k |
Common questions about Visiting Scientist H-1B pay at Food and Drug Administration
- How much does Food and Drug Administration pay a Visiting Scientist on an H-1B?
- Food and Drug Administration's median certified H-1B base salary for Visiting Scientist is $105k in FY2025, from 9 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $100k and $126k. Across all years the median is $107k.
- How many Visiting Scientist H-1B LCAs has Food and Drug Administration filed?
- Food and Drug Administration has 103 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Visiting Scientist on record (FY2020–FY2026), 7 of them in FY2026. That is 35% of its 294 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Food and Drug Administration pay Visiting Scientists above the market?
- Food and Drug Administration's all-years median of $107k is 7% above the $100k median for Visiting Scientist across all H-1B employers (211 certified filings).
- Where does Food and Drug Administration hire H-1B Visiting Scientists?
- Food and Drug Administration's Visiting Scientist LCAs name worksites mostly in Maryland, Arkansas, Michigan; the top cities are Silver Spring, MD, Jefferson, AR, College Park, MD.
- Does a certified LCA mean an H-1B visa was approved?
- No. A Labor Condition Application (LCA) is the Department of Labor attestation an employer must have certified before filing an H-1B petition with USCIS. It records the job, worksite and offered wage, but not whether the petition was filed, selected in the lottery, or approved. Filing counts measure intent to sponsor, not headcount.
- What salary do these figures show?
- The base annual wage offered on the certified LCA, converted to a yearly amount. Bonus, equity, overtime and benefits are not included, so total compensation is typically higher. Figures are medians and percentiles over certified filings; wages above $5,000,000 a year are excluded as data-entry errors.
- What do prevailing-wage levels I–IV mean?
- The Department of Labor assigns each LCA an OES wage level from I (entry) to IV (fully competent) for the occupation and area. Under the FY2027 wage-weighted H-1B lottery rule, a higher level earns more selection entries, so an employer's level mix is a proxy for how senior its sponsored roles are.
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2020–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →