Mid-level HR Specialist salary in San Francisco, CA

Based on 15 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level II in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Fremont, Pleasanton, San Mateo, San Carlos, Berkeley.

Also listed as: Recruiter

Median salary$100,000
Middle 50%$90.1k–$110.1k
vs. all levels here−17%comparison median $120,000
Filings15FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $90,000 and $131,789.
PercentileSalary
10th$90,000
25th$90,105
50th (median)$100,000
75th$110,075
90th$126,000

Salary by year

Median salary

$60k $75k $90k FY2020: median $72,000 (31 filings) FY2021: median $76,815 (16 filings) FY2022: median $78,000 (15 filings) FY2023: median $85,505 (10 filings) FY2024: median $85,000 (13 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 31 filings FY20 FY2021: 16 filings FY21 FY2022: 15 filings FY22 FY2023: 10 filings FY23 FY2024: 13 filings FY24 FY2025: 7 filings FY25 FY2026: 8 filings FY26 31
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$72,000$71,000$80,00031
FY2021$76,815$74,450$87,09516
FY2022$78,000$76,137$89,25015
FY2023$85,505$80,250$90,78010
FY2024$85,000$83,283$91,33313
FY2025–––7
FY2026–––8

Cost of living

San Francisco's median mid-level HR Specialist salary of $100,000 is worth about $86,500 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; San Francisco = 115.6).

Compared with all workers here

All Human Resources Specialists in the San Francisco, CA area earned a median of $103,140 in May 2025 (16,420 employed). The H-1B median here is $100,000, 3% 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

EmployerMedianFilings
Intellipro Grouptoo few3
The Sphere Institutetoo few2
Weee!too few2

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

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I – 0
Mid-level · Level II $100,000 15
Senior · Level III $140,000 13
Expert · Level IV $155,500 17

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$90,210$100,00015
Senior · Level III$112,486$140,00013
Expert · Level IV$134,742$155,50017

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.