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 49 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $210,000. 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 | 5 | $159,182 |
| Level II — qualified | 16 | $195,000 |
| Level III — experienced | 6 | $226,341 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 3 | $300,000 |
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.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google LLC | Research Engineer | 16 | $225,000 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc | Research Engineer | 3 | $218,400 |
| Anthropic, PBC | Research Engineer | 3 | $215,000 |
| Mistral AI, Inc. | Research Engineer | 3 | $195,000 |
| InnoPeak Technology, Inc. | Staff Research Engineer | 3 | $191,922 |
| Honda Research Institute USA, Inc. | Research Engineer | 2 | $155,741 |
| Granica Computing, Inc. | Research Engineer | 2 | $205,000 |
| Luma AI, Inc. | Research Engineer | 2 | $191,922 |
| Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Inc. | Senior Research Engineer, AI Engineering | 1 | $214,000 |
| Netflix, Inc. | Research Engineer | 1 | $237,786 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Research Engineer at Meta Platforms, Inc$232,000Menlo ParkDecided Dec 30, 2025I-200-25356-500758
- Research Engineer at Anthropic, PBC$215,000San FranciscoDecided Dec 16, 2025I-201-25344-470472
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$222,000Mountain ViewDecided Dec 16, 2025I-200-25343-469798
- Senior Research Engineer, AI Engineering at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Inc.$214,000San FranciscoDecided Dec 8, 2025I-200-25335-446567
- Research Engineer at Netflix, Inc.$237,786Los GatosDecided Dec 1, 2025I-200-25325-427643
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$230,000Mountain ViewDecided Nov 24, 2025I-200-25321-414850
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$216,000Mountain ViewDecided Nov 18, 2025I-200-25315-397035
- Research Engineer at Google LLC$200,000Mountain ViewDecided Nov 18, 2025I-200-25314-394290
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.