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 361 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $182,000. 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 | 14 | $159,182 |
| Level II — qualified | 105 | $182,000 |
| Level III — experienced | 42 | $225,126 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 30 | $259,982 |
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.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Platforms, Inc | Research Scientist | 207 | $182,000 |
| Google LLC | Research Scientist | 31 | $230,000 |
| NVIDIA Corporation | Research Scientist | 28 | $191,922 |
| Amazon Development Center U.S., Inc. | Research Scientist II | 10 | $143,500 |
| Amazon.com Services LLC | Research Scientist III | 10 | $187,027 |
| Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC | Research Scientist (Computer Scientist) | 8 | $209,236 |
| Salesforce, Inc. | Research Scientist | 6 | $233,360 |
| ByteDance Inc. | Research Scientist | 6 | $320,000 |
| IBM Corporation | Research Scientist | 6 | $228,217 |
| Intel Corporation | Research Scientist | 4 | $206,263 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Research Scientist at Intel Corporation$201,094Santa ClaraDecided Dec 30, 2025I-200-25357-504587
- Research Scientist at NVIDIA Corporation$226,933Santa ClaraDecided Dec 30, 2025I-200-25356-502608
- Research Scientist at Meta Platforms, Inc$214,032SunnyvaleDecided Dec 30, 2025I-200-25356-500756
- Research Scientist at Alljoined, Inc.$155,000San FranciscoDecided Dec 29, 2025I-200-25353-496932
- Research Scientist at Meta Platforms, Inc$258,524SunnyvaleDecided Dec 26, 2025I-200-25352-492763
- Research Scientist at NVIDIA Corporation$127,712Santa ClaraDecided Dec 26, 2025I-200-25352-494106
- Research Scientist at zkBricks Inc$140,000EmeryvilleDecided Dec 23, 2025I-200-25350-485236
- Research Scientist (Computer Scientist) at Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC$162,068LivermoreDecided Dec 16, 2025I-200-25343-470039
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.