Expert Electronics Engineer salary in San Jose, CA

Based on 1,322 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level IV 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$216,091
Middle 50%$204.9k–$216.1k
vs. all levels here+25%comparison median $173,545
Filings1,322FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $204,901 and $283,740.
PercentileSalary
10th$204,901
25th$204,901
50th (median)$216,091
75th$216,091
90th$227,000

Salary by year

Median salary

$140k $185k $230k FY2020: median $160,000 (489 filings) FY2021: median $172,456 (555 filings) FY2022: median $184,322 (851 filings) FY2023: median $180,003 (783 filings) FY2024: median $180,003 (632 filings) FY2025: median $204,901 (727 filings) FY2026: median $216,091 (595 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 489 filings FY20 FY2021: 555 filings FY21 FY2022: 851 filings FY22 FY2023: 783 filings FY23 FY2024: 632 filings FY24 FY2025: 727 filings FY25 FY2026: 595 filings FY26 851
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$160,000$157,539$179,000489
FY2021$172,456$166,026$187,000555
FY2022$184,322$172,245$200,000851
FY2023$180,003$177,341$200,000783
FY2024$180,003$180,003$204,901632
FY2025$204,901$204,901$216,091727
FY2026$216,091$216,091$216,091595

Cost of living

San Jose's median expert Electronics Engineer salary of $216,091 is worth about $195,700 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 $216,091, 11% higher.

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

Employers filing at this level

EmployerMedianFilings
NVIDIA$216,091404
Apple$216,091348
Qualcomm$216,09172
Marvell Semiconductor$216,09147
Advanced Micro Devices$210,00041
Samsung Austin Semiconductor$216,09128
Meta$227,00027
Xilinx$206,20623
Intel$216,09122
Arm$204,90119

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.