Research Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Research Engineer pay, clustered from DOL OFLC certified filings. Variants like Senior, Lead, and II/III titles fold into this cluster — the wage range below reflects all of them.
Research Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 127 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $200,000. Every figure below is an actual offered salary an employer attested to under federal law.
By DOL wage level
DOL classifies every offer into one of four wage levels based on the role's experience and skill requirements.
| Level | Filings | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Level I — entry | 9 | $159,182 |
| Level II — qualified | 74 | $200,000 |
| Level III — experienced | 23 | $224,682 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 9 | $325,000 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Research Engineer in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings. Click a company for its full H-1B salary breakdown.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google LLC | Research Engineer | 62 | $209,500 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc | Research Engineer | 6 | $230,923 |
| Anthropic, PBC | Research Engineer | 5 | $215,000 |
| Luma AI, Inc. | Research Engineer | 5 | $170,000 |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | Research Engineer III | 4 | $164,403 |
| InnoPeak Technology, Inc. | Senior Research Engineer | 4 | $175,552 |
| Granica Computing, Inc. | Research Engineer | 3 | $190,000 |
| Mistral AI, Inc. | Research Engineer | 3 | $195,000 |
| Character Technologies Inc. | Research Engineer | 2 | $312,500 |
| SONY CORPORATION OF AMERICA | Associate Staff Research Engineer, Computer Graphics | 2 | $158,891 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$276,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIIDecided —I-200-26084-728268
- Research Engineer at Luma AI, Inc.$170,000Palo AltoWage Level IIDecided Mar 31, 2026I-200-26083-726236
- Research Engineer at Toyota Research Institute, Inc.$170,000Los AltosWage Level IIDecided Mar 30, 2026I-200-26082-722006
- Research Engineer at Granica Computing, Inc.$170,000MOUNTAIN VIEWWage Level IIDecided Mar 27, 2026I-200-26080-720327
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$200,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided Mar 27, 2026I-200-26079-719022
- Research Engineer (Software Engineer) at Google LLC$242,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-712565
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$241,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-712594
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$196,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-712675
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification. Disclosed wages reflect what employers attested to pay; actual paid wages may differ. Only certified filings are shown — denied and withdrawn cases are excluded.