Postdoctoral Scholar H-1B salary at Northwestern University — 240 certified filings (FY2020–FY2026)
- 62
- Filings · FY2025
- $65k
- Median base · FY2025
- $61k–$70k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +5%
- vs market median · all years
Northwestern University filed 62 certified H-1B LCAs for Postdoctoral Scholar in FY2025, with a median base salary of $65k and the middle 50% of offers between $61k and $70k. Across all years its $63k median is 5% above the $60k market median for Postdoctoral Scholar. It has filed 240 Postdoctoral Scholar LCAs since FY2020, most often in Evanston, IL.
How much does Northwestern University pay a Postdoctoral Scholar?
Certified base salary for Postdoctoral Scholar at Northwestern University by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $65k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Northwestern University pay Postdoctoral Scholars above the market?
Northwestern University's all-years median against every employer's certified Postdoctoral Scholar LCAs — 5% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | 240 | $63k |
| All employers · Postdoctoral Scholar | 4,441 | $60k |
How has Northwestern University's Postdoctoral Scholar hiring changed by year?
1 certified Postdoctoral Scholar filings in FY2020 → 45 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 45 | −27% | $64k |
| FY2025 | 62 | +11% | $65k |
| FY2024 | 56 | +33% | $64k |
| FY2023 | 42 | +68% | $61k |
| FY2022 | 25 | +178% | $56k |
| FY2021 | 9 | +800% | $54k |
| FY2020 | 1 | — | $54k |
Which wage levels does Northwestern University file for Postdoctoral Scholar?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 1% of Northwestern University's Postdoctoral Scholar filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 232 Postdoctoral Scholar filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I99.1%230
- Level III0.9%2
Where does Northwestern University hire H-1B Postdoctoral Scholars?
Worksite states and cities on the certified filings for this title, all years, with the median base salary at each.
| State | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 239 | $63k |
| Washington | 1 | $57k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Evanston, IL | 123 | $62k |
| Chicago, IL | 115 | $64k |
| Il, IL | 1 | $60k |
| Vancouver, WA | 1 | $57k |
Also filed as
Northwestern University's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Postdoctoral Scholar LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Northwestern University
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Postdoctoral Fellow | 380 | $52k |
| Research Associate | 237 | $66k |
| Research Assistant Professor | 177 | $80k |
| Assistant Professor | 153 | $136k |
| Assistant Professor of Instruction | 51 | $72k |
| Clinical Research Associate | 45 | $63k |
| Research Technologist 2 | 34 | $45k |
Top Postdoctoral Scholar sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| University of California San Francisco | 856 | $64k |
| University of California Davis | 428 | $60k |
| The University of Chicago | 409 | $58k |
| University of California Los Angeles | 347 | $64k |
| The Pennsylvania State University | 322 | $56k |
| University of Washington | 277 | $66k |
| Case Western Reserve University | 149 | $55k |
| Oregon Health Science University | 140 | $60k |
| University of California at Santa Barbara | 116 | $69k |
Common questions about Postdoctoral Scholar H-1B pay at Northwestern University
- How much does Northwestern University pay a Postdoctoral Scholar on an H-1B?
- Northwestern University's median certified H-1B base salary for Postdoctoral Scholar is $65k in FY2025, from 62 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $61k and $70k. Across all years the median is $63k.
- How many Postdoctoral Scholar H-1B LCAs has Northwestern University filed?
- Northwestern University has 240 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Postdoctoral Scholar on record (FY2020–FY2026), 45 of them in FY2026. That is 14% of its 1,730 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Northwestern University pay Postdoctoral Scholars above the market?
- Northwestern University's all-years median of $63k is 5% above the $60k median for Postdoctoral Scholar across all H-1B employers (4,441 certified filings).
- Where does Northwestern University hire H-1B Postdoctoral Scholars?
- Northwestern University's Postdoctoral Scholar LCAs name worksites mostly in Illinois, Washington; the top cities are Evanston, IL, Chicago, IL, Il, IL.
- 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.
Keep exploring
Calculate your H-1B lottery odds →orCheck out the insights →
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 →