Expert UX Designer salary in San Jose, CA

Based on 31 certified H-1B filings at DOL wage level IV in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Cupertino.

Also listed as: Web Designer, Product Designer

Median salary$243,506
Middle 50%$225k–$269.4k
vs. all levels here+38%comparison median $176,800
Filings31FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $217,610 and $335,000.
PercentileSalary
10th$217,610
25th$225,000
50th (median)$243,506
75th$269,352
90th$300,000

Salary by year

Median salary

$160k $220k $280k FY2023: median $180,000 (15 filings) FY2025: median $224,835 (14 filings) FY2026: median $257,400 (17 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 1 filings FY20 FY2021: 7 filings FY21 FY2022: 6 filings FY22 FY2023: 15 filings FY23 FY2024: 1 filings FY24 FY2025: 14 filings FY25 FY2026: 17 filings FY26 17
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–––1
FY2021–––7
FY2022–––6
FY2023$180,000$164,736$212,50015
FY2024–––1
FY2025$224,835$217,610$240,13014
FY2026$257,400$243,506$300,00017

Cost of living

San Jose's median expert UX Designer salary of $243,506 is worth about $220,500 at national average prices.

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

Compared with all workers here

All Web and Digital Interface Designers in the San Jose, CA area earned a median of $201,260 in May 2025 (4,400 employed). The H-1B median here is $243,506, 21% 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
TikToktoo few6
Netflixtoo few4
Appletoo few3
ByteDancetoo few3
Metatoo few2

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

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $116,740 70
Mid-level · Level II $168,000 89
Senior · Level III $217,652 72
Expert · Level IV $243,506 31

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$113,630$116,74070
Mid-level · Level II$156,915$168,00089
Senior · Level III$200,221$217,65272
Expert · Level IV$243,506$243,50631

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.