Electronics Engineer salary in San Jose, CA

Based on 5,530 certified H-1B filings in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Palo Alto.

Also listed as: Hardware Engineer, Hardware Engineer Electronics

Median salary$173,545
Middle 50%$151.4k–$204.9k
vs. national median+15%comparison median $151,091
Filings5,530FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $120,684 and $258,786.
PercentileSalary
10th$133,081
25th$151,433
50th (median)$173,545
75th$204,901
90th$216,091

Salary by year

Median salary

$120k $155k $190k FY2020: median $135,000 (2,356 filings) FY2021: median $141,669 (2,799 filings) FY2022: median $148,221 (3,152 filings) FY2023: median $151,902 (2,633 filings) FY2024: median $153,504 (2,415 filings) FY2025: median $175,800 (3,018 filings) FY2026: median $172,050 (2,512 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 2,356 filings FY20 FY2021: 2,799 filings FY21 FY2022: 3,152 filings FY22 FY2023: 2,633 filings FY23 FY2024: 2,415 filings FY24 FY2025: 3,018 filings FY25 FY2026: 2,512 filings FY26 3,152
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$135,000$114,982$157,5392,356
FY2021$141,669$117,817$165,0002,799
FY2022$148,221$125,465$172,2453,152
FY2023$151,902$127,000$177,3412,633
FY2024$153,504$130,000$180,0032,415
FY2025$175,800$151,091$204,9013,018
FY2026$172,050$156,853$212,0002,512

Cost of living

San Jose's median Electronics Engineer salary of $173,545 is worth about $157,200 at national average prices.

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

Compared with all workers here

All Electronics Engineers, Except Computer in the San Jose, CA area earned a median of $194,370 in May 2025 (5,970 employed). The H-1B median here is $173,545, 11% lower.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Top employers filing

EmployerMedianFilings
Apple$181,1001,216
NVIDIA$190,2281,008
Qualcomm$156,853437
Intel$153,929333
Advanced Micro Devices$176,552216
Marvell Semiconductor$178,592197
Xilinx$167,078157
Sandisk Technologies$148,957106
Cadence Design Systems$156,85398
Cisco Systems$178,00683

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

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $127,234 372
Mid-level · Level II $156,853 901
Senior · Level III $186,472 733
Expert · Level IV $216,091 1,322

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Entry-level · Level I$124,197$127,234372
Mid-level · Level II$156,853$156,853901
Senior · Level III$186,472$186,472733
Expert · Level IV$216,091$216,0911,322

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.