H-1B salaries in San Jose, CA

Based on 77,460 certified H-1B filings in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Base salary only.

Median salary$178,705
Middle 50%$149.5k–$207.7k
vs. national median+46%comparison median $122,699
Filings77,460FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $78,349 and $328,000.
PercentileSalary
10th$124,785
25th$149,500
50th (median)$178,705
75th$207,700
90th$237,786

Salary by year

Median salary

$120k $160k $200k FY2020: median $135,084 (42,433 filings) FY2021: median $145,725 (40,891 filings) FY2022: median $155,293 (45,539 filings) FY2023: median $163,300 (36,974 filings) FY2024: median $170,000 (37,204 filings) FY2025: median $175,000 (43,366 filings) FY2026: median $182,000 (34,094 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 42,433 filings FY20 FY2021: 40,891 filings FY21 FY2022: 45,539 filings FY22 FY2023: 36,974 filings FY23 FY2024: 37,204 filings FY24 FY2025: 43,366 filings FY25 FY2026: 34,094 filings FY26 45,539
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$135,084$111,634$160,00042,433
FY2021$145,725$121,000$170,00040,891
FY2022$155,293$130,894$180,00045,539
FY2023$163,300$137,093$188,40636,974
FY2024$170,000$139,578$195,00037,204
FY2025$175,000$147,000$204,14543,366
FY2026$182,000$150,369$215,00034,094

Cost of living

San Jose's median H-1B salary of $178,705 is worth about $161,800 at national average prices.

Fair market rent, 1-bedroom$2,778Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HUD Metro FMR Area).
Fair market rent, 2-bedroom$3,272Per month. Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HUD Metro FMR Area).
Price level (U.S. = 100)110.4Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.
Price-adjusted median$161,800Median salary ÷ (price level ÷ 100).
State income tax on wagesCA: yesSource: Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2025.

Most filed jobs

JobMedianFilings
Software Engineer$187,97432,111
Electronics Engineer$173,5455,530
Systems Engineer / Architect$169,3064,581
Data Scientist$174,3044,476
IT Manager$243,1232,534
QA Engineer$152,9732,522
Research Scientist (Computer Science)$201,0942,156
Industrial Engineer$147,4001,901
Electrical Engineer$175,8001,733
Mechanical Engineer$160,0001,617
Programmer Analyst$127,0001,287
Computer Hardware Engineer$190,0001,087
Operations Research Analyst$146,0001,049
Validation Engineer$160,782945
Sales Engineer$169,770863

By job title

Product Manager$194k · 1,933 Backend Developer$187.7k · 390 Site Reliability Engineer$186.1k · 383 Solutions Architect$184.3k · 238 Java Developer$127k · 226 Systems Engineer$156.9k · 224 DevOps Engineer$172.7k · 195 Frontend Developer$182k · 187 Cloud Engineer$187.7k · 158 Full Stack Developer$171k · 148 SAP Consultant$153.8k · 60 Salesforce Developer$151.7k · 46 Python Developer$131k · 25 .NET Developer$174.1k · 10

Job titles with at least 10 filings in San Jose, CA. Figure: median salary · filings.