They're crazy outliers, and that's fine. The point of H1B is hiring talent outside of the United States, not hiring normal webdevs or commodity software engineers. A fee like that, where a large salary for an exceptional job would make the cost relatively small, brings the program back to its original goal.

If you just need a normal worker, there are plenty of CS grads and unemployed SWEs you can hire in the US right now. If you need a specialized foreign worker because he or she is not available in the US, then chances are you are going to pay a premium anyway; that's the point.

>US tech companies still need mid-level workers making low-to-mid six figures

Yes, and there are plenty of US citizens to fill these roles.

> These are crazy outliers

They are. And in the truly talented spaces there are many at all of the ranges in between.

> US tech companies still need mid-level workers making low-to-mid six figures

$100k for three to six years seems entirely reasonable if it's really such a critical need.