California H-1B salaries

From 177,453 certified H-1B filings with a worksite in California (FY2025–FY2026). Base salary only.

  • #1 of 51 by filings
  • #1 of 51 by median salary
Median base salary$161,230+31% vs. national median
Middle 50%$126.1k–$199.5k25th to 75th percentile
Most common levelLevel II37% of leveled filings
Top metro areaSan Jose, CA77,460 filings in California

Top cities in California

San Jose, CA$178,70577,460 filings · rent 1BR $2,778 San Francisco, CA$170,00051,155 filings · rent 1BR $2,290 Los Angeles, CA$116,00025,999 filings · rent 1BR $2,402 San Diego, CA$131,0009,256 filings · rent 1BR $2,335 Sacramento, CA$121,4514,179 filings · rent 1BR $1,793 Riverside, CA$100,0002,818 filings · rent 1BR $1,705 Stockton, CA$133,9732,111 filings · rent 1BR $1,628 Oxnard, CA$128,257918 filings · rent 1BR $2,035 Santa Maria, CA$120,000452 filings · rent 1BR $2,711 Fresno, CA$122,394419 filings · rent 1BR $1,363 Santa Cruz, CA$148,400333 filings · rent 1BR $3,390 Bakersfield, CA$125,000305 filings · rent 1BR $1,273

Ordered by filings with a worksite in California. Figures on each card cover the whole metro area, which can cross state lines.

Top H-1B employers in California

Google logoGoogle10,941 filings · 6%$191,000 Apple logoApple9,052 filings · 5%$179,394 Amazon logoAmazon7,184 filings · 4%$178,300 Meta logoMeta6,768 filings · 4%$214,032 Tesla logoTesla3,289 filings · 2%$164,000 NVIDIA logoNVIDIA3,068 filings · 2%$191,469 Qualcomm logoQualcomm2,754 filings · 2%$143,187 Walmart logoWalmart2,219 filings · 1%$152,148 TikTok logoTikTok2,077 filings · 1%$205,000 EY logoEY2,069 filings · 1%$144,000 Microsoft logoMicrosoft1,726 filings · 1%$194,764 Adobe logoAdobe1,645 filings · 1%$190,000

Filings and median salary for jobs located in California.

Most filed jobs in California

Software Engineer60,109 filings · 34%$184,558 Data Scientist11,054 filings · 6%$164,273 Electronics Engineer7,791 filings · 4%$162,347 QA Engineer5,400 filings · 3%$135,746 IT Manager5,368 filings · 3%$237,141 Industrial Engineer4,173 filings · 2%$140,254 Mechanical Engineer3,959 filings · 2%$148,925 Research Scientist (Computer Science)3,952 filings · 2%$200,000 Accountant3,458 filings · 2%$104,140 Electrical Engineer3,119 filings · 2%$159,890 Programmer Analyst2,797 filings · 2%$117,300 Operations Research Analyst2,701 filings · 2%$137,600

California vs. other states

California$161,230 Washington$160,000 New York$133,000 Massachusetts$122,970 New Jersey$122,175 Virginia$119,000 North Carolina$114,504 Texas$112,923 Georgia$109,284 Illinois$108,012 Pennsylvania$105,206 Florida$105,000

States with the most H-1B filings. Median base salary on certified filings; not adjusted for cost of living.