Mercatus Center — 17 certified H-1B filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 4
- Filings · FY2025
- $85k
- Median base · FY2025
- Research Assistant
- Top role · 3 all-time
- VA
- Top state · 17 all-time
Mercatus Center filed 4 certified H-1B LCAs in FY2025 (up 300% from the year before), with a median base salary of $85k and the middle 50% of offers between $69k and $98k. Across all years it has 17 certified filings since FY2016, most often for Research Assistant in Virginia.
How much does Mercatus Center pay H-1B workers?
Certified base salary by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $85k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
How has Mercatus Center's H-1B hiring changed by year?
1 certified filings in FY2016 → 2 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 2 | −50% | $69k |
| FY2025 | 4 | +300% | $85k |
| FY2022 | 1 | −50% | $86k |
| FY2021 | 2 | 0% | $78k |
| FY2020 | 2 | 0% | $53k |
| FY2019 | 2 | +100% | $44k |
| FY2018 | 1 | −50% | $71k |
| FY2017 | 2 | +100% | $32k |
| FY2016 | 1 | — | $67k |
Which wage levels does Mercatus Center file?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 33% of Mercatus Center's filings sit at Level III–IV. A heavy I–II skew reads as entry-level or contractor-style hiring; a heavy IV skew as senior in-house roles — and higher levels earn more lottery entries.
Share of 12 filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I33.3%4
- Level II33.3%4
- Level III33.3%4
What jobs does Mercatus Center sponsor for H-1B?
The most-filed job titles across all years (DOL titles, employer pay-grade codes stripped), with base-salary percentiles.
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Research Assistant | 3 | $33k |
| Emerging Scholar | 1 | $85k |
| Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs | 1 | $67k |
| Philosophy and Research Senior Fellow | 1 | $120k |
| Program Associate (Healthcare) | 1 | $44k |
| Program Manager (Open Health Project) | 1 | $69k |
| Research Fellow - India Political Economy Program | 1 | $69k |
| Research Fellow, Space Policy | 1 | $69k |
| Salesforce Architecture Engineer | 1 | $103k |
| Senior Research Fellow and Associate Director of a | 1 | $75k |
Where does Mercatus Center hire H-1B workers?
Worksite states on the certified filings, all years. Deeper pink = more filings; hover a state for its figures.
| State | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| VA | 17 | $71k |
What has Mercatus Center filed recently?
Every certified LCA on record for Mercatus Center: job title, worksite, prevailing-wage level and the offered base salary.
| FY | Job title | Base salary |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Research Fellow, Space Policy | $68,750 |
| 2026 | Salesforce Architecture Engineer | $103,147 |
| 2025 | Emerging Scholar | $85,000 |
| 2025 | Research Fellow - India Political Economy Program | $68,750 |
| 2025 | Sr Fellow Fahp Adv Study & Philosophy, Politics & Economics | $98,363 |
| 2025 | Philosophy and Research Senior Fellow | $120,000 |
| 2022 | Sr Fellow, Fahp Adv Study, Philosophy, Politics, & Economics | $86,195 |
| 2021 | Sr. Research Fellow/Assoc Dir Acad & Student Prog. | $77,600 |
| 2021 | Sr Fellow, Fahp, Advanced Study and Phil, Po, & Ec | $100,000 |
| 2020 | Research Assistant | $53,373 |
| 2020 | Program Manager (Open Health Project) | $69,100 |
| 2019 | Program Associate (Healthcare) | $44,000 |
| 2019 | Senior Research Fellow and Associate Director of a | $75,000 |
| 2018 | Sr Research Fellow/Assoc Director of Academic/Student Prog | $71,400 |
| 2017 | Research Assistant | $32,032 |
| 2017 | Research Assistant | $32,656 |
| 2016 | Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs | $66,900 |
Common questions about Mercatus Center's H-1B filings
- How much does Mercatus Center pay H-1B workers?
- Mercatus Center's median certified H-1B base salary is $85k (FY2025), from 4 filings. See the full salary distribution and percentiles above.
- How many H-1B workers does Mercatus Center sponsor?
- Mercatus Center has 17 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications on record (FY2016–FY2026).
- What jobs does Mercatus Center sponsor for H-1B?
- Mercatus Center's most-sponsored H-1B roles include Research Assistant, Emerging Scholar, Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs, Philosophy and Research Senior Fellow.
- Where does Mercatus Center hire H-1B workers?
- Mercatus Center's top H-1B worksite states are VA.
- 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 (FY2016–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →