Research Scientist salary in California
A real-employer view of Research Scientist 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 Scientist in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 941 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $201,094. 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 | 47 | $164,700 |
| Level II — qualified | 355 | $196,000 |
| Level III — experienced | 153 | $224,682 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 138 | $257,421 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Research Scientist 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Platforms, Inc | Research Scientist | 392 | $202,846 |
| Google LLC | Research Scientist | 232 | $202,000 |
| NVIDIA Corporation | Research Scientist | 79 | $191,922 |
| Amazon Development Center U.S., Inc. | Research Scientist II | 19 | $146,000 |
| Amazon.com Services LLC | Research Scientist III | 17 | $179,837 |
| Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC | Research Scientist (Computer Scientist) | 16 | $206,990 |
| ByteDance Inc. | Research Scientist | 15 | $316,000 |
| Intel Corporation | Research Scientist | 14 | $198,141 |
| Salesforce, Inc. | Research Scientist | 12 | $245,444 |
| Visa U.S.A. Inc. | Staff Research Scientist | 12 | $169,100 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Research Scientist at Praxis Intelligence Inc$205,000Los GatosWage Level IIIDecided —I-200-26084-730621
- Research Scientist at Google LLC$196,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided —I-200-26084-727945
- Research Scientist at Intel Corporation$201,094Santa ClaraWage Level IIIDecided —I-200-26084-727656
- Research Scientist at Abinitia Labs, Inc.$237,786San FranciscoWage Level IVDecided —I-200-26084-730495
- Research Scientist at Google LLC$200,000SunnyvaleWage Level IIDecided —I-200-26084-728543
- Research Scientist at Meta Platforms, Inc$222,950SunnyvaleWage Level IIIDecided Mar 31, 2026I-200-26083-724387
- Research Scientist at Meta Platforms, Inc$222,950Menlo ParkWage Level IIDecided Mar 31, 2026I-200-26083-724995
- Research Scientist at Meta Platforms, Inc$222,950Menlo ParkWage Level IVDecided Mar 31, 2026I-200-26083-724343
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.