Entry-level Engineering Director salary in San Jose, CA
Based on 87 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level I in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View.
Also listed as: Architectural and Engineering Manager, Manager Hardware Engineering
Salary range
| Percentile | Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $172,994 |
| 25th | $173,000 |
| 50th (median) | $178,818 |
| 75th | $185,150 |
| 90th | $198,000 |
Salary by year
Median salary
Filings per year
Show as table
| Fiscal year | Median | P25 | P75 | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $130,416 | $130,416 | $135,535 | 37 |
| FY2021 | $136,390 | $133,370 | $155,000 | 28 |
| FY2022 | $160,000 | $152,859 | $173,500 | 51 |
| FY2023 | $156,998 | $156,998 | $170,000 | 21 |
| FY2024 | – | – | – | 9 |
| FY2025 | $178,177 | $172,994 | $185,150 | 55 |
| FY2026 | $178,869 | $178,818 | $185,500 | 32 |
Cost of living
San Jose's median entry-level Engineering Director salary of $178,818 is worth about $161,900 at national average prices.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Jose = 110.4).
Compared with all workers here
All Architectural and Engineering Managers in the San Jose, CA area earned a median of $234,590 in May 2025 (5,130 employed). The H-1B median here is $178,818, 24% lower.
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
| Employer | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | $178,818 | 18 |
| Applied Materials | $179,337 | 10 |
| Intuitive Surgical Operations | too few | 7 |
| Marvell Semiconductor | too few | 5 |
| Applied Intuition | too few | 3 |
| Cadence Design Systems | too few | 3 |
| Everpure | too few | 3 |
| Ford | too few | 2 |
| Micron | too few | 2 |
| Kla | too few | 2 |
Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.
By experience level
| Wage level | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level · Level I | $178,818 | 87 |
| Mid-level · Level II | $213,512 | 239 |
| Senior · Level III | $248,186 | 131 |
| Expert · Level IV | $282,880 | 91 |
Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.
Minimum H-1B salary by level
| Wage level | Prevailing wage (most common) | Median offered salary | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry-level · Level I | $172,994 | $178,818 | 87 |
| Mid-level · Level II | $213,512 | $213,512 | 239 |
| Senior · Level III | $248,186 | $248,186 | 131 |
| Expert · Level IV | $282,880 | $282,880 | 91 |
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.