Senior Chemical Engineer salary in San Jose, CA

Based on 43 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level III in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Stanford.

Also listed as: Process Engineer

Median salary$151,070
Middle 50%$140k–$157.2k
vs. all levels here+1%comparison median $150,000
Filings43FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $102,854 and $169,778.
PercentileSalary
10th$129,085
25th$140,000
50th (median)$151,070
75th$157,207
90th$164,274

Salary by year

Median salary

$110k $135k $160k FY2020: median $125,000 (12 filings) FY2021: median $132,330 (22 filings) FY2022: median $135,006 (17 filings) FY2023: median $138,900 (16 filings) FY2024: median $142,103 (12 filings) FY2025: median $140,940 (23 filings) FY2026: median $151,070 (20 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 12 filings FY20 FY2021: 22 filings FY21 FY2022: 17 filings FY22 FY2023: 16 filings FY23 FY2024: 12 filings FY24 FY2025: 23 filings FY25 FY2026: 20 filings FY26 23
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$125,000$118,910$137,75012
FY2021$132,330$124,925$148,75022
FY2022$135,006$125,000$152,00017
FY2023$138,900$134,813$145,51816
FY2024$142,103$137,006$148,94812
FY2025$140,940$129,534$151,07023
FY2026$151,070$151,070$160,95020

Cost of living

San Jose's median senior Chemical Engineer salary of $151,070 is worth about $136,800 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Jose = 110.4).

Employers filing at this level

EmployerMedianFilings
Applied Materials$151,07012
Teslatoo few8
Appletoo few5
QuantumScape Batterytoo few3
Sandisk Technologiestoo few2
Western Digital Technologiestoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I too few 5
Mid-level · Level II $120,000 22
Senior · Level III $151,070 43
Expert · Level IV $178,651 26

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Mid-level · Level II$110,781$120,00022
Senior · Level III$129,085$151,07043
Expert · Level IV$147,389$178,65126

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.