Senior Researcher salary in California
A real-employer view of Senior Researcher 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.
Senior Researcher in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 35 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $191,922. 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 | 4 | $174,000 |
| Level II — qualified | 7 | $191,922 |
| Level III — experienced | 7 | $232,596 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 6 | $292,060 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Senior Researcher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | Senior Staff Researcher | 8 | $185,587 |
| Salesforce, Inc. | Lead Researcher, Mulesoft | 4 | $259,800 |
| Samsung Research America, Inc. | Senior Researcher, AI/Vision Intelligence | 4 | $191,922 |
| Dolby Laboratories, Inc. | Researcher | 3 | $169,928 |
| Fujitsu Research of America, Inc. | Principal Researcher | 2 | $182,240 |
| Tencent America LLC | Senior Researcher | 2 | $179,000 |
| Ant Technologies U.S., Inc. | Associate researcher | 1 | $237,786 |
| Cartesia AI, Inc. | Researcher, Evaluations Lead | 1 | $340,000 |
| Certified Kernel Tech LLC | Principal Researcher | 1 | $270,000 |
| Cognosphere, LLC | Researcher | 1 | $480,000 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Staff Researcher at Palo Alto Networks, Inc.$130,043Santa ClaraDecided Mar 17, 2026I-200-26069-693926
- Researcher at Salesforce, Inc.$232,596Palo AltoWage Level IIIDecided Mar 12, 2026I-200-26065-684224
- Researcher, Evaluations Lead at Cartesia AI, Inc.$340,000San FranciscoWage Level IVDecided Feb 3, 2026I-200-26027-593116
- Researcher at Waymo LLC$280,000Mountain ViewWage Level IVDecided Jan 30, 2026I-200-26023-585277
- Senior Researcher at Fujitsu Research of America, Inc.$164,403Santa ClaraWage Level IIDecided Jan 22, 2026I-200-26014-558948
- Senior Researcher at Localhost Research, Inc.$225,000Palo AltoWage Level IIIDecided Jan 6, 2026I-200-25363-514130
- Researcher at NEC Laboratories America, Inc.$164,403San JoseWage Level IIDecided Jan 2, 2026I-203-25358-508596
- Associate researcher at Ant Technologies U.S., Inc.$237,786SunnyvaleWage Level IVDecided Dec 15, 2025I-200-25343-466830
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.