Design Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Design 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.
Design Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 38 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $125,566. 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 | $92,393 |
| Level II — qualified | 19 | $98,987 |
| Level III — experienced | 11 | $157,622 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 4 | $155,860 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Design 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid USA, Inc. | Design Engineer, Interior Trim | 5 | $142,854 |
| Tata Consultancy Services Limited | Design Engineer | 4 | $107,151 |
| P2S LP | Design Engineer | 3 | $98,987 |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | Design Engineer | 2 | $160,574 |
| Siemens Mobility, Inc. | Design Lead Engineer | 2 | $144,124 |
| TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED | Design Engineer | 2 | $97,198 |
| VeoRide Inc. | Sr. Design Engineer | 2 | $125,738 |
| 1st Avenue Power, LLC | Design Engineer | 1 | $126,131 |
| ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CORPORATION | DESIGN ENGINEER | 1 | $126,214 |
| Applied Materials, Inc | Design Engineer | 1 | $167,000 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Sr. Staff Design Engineer, Solar at Aptera Motors Corp$185,000CarlsbadWage Level IIIDecided —I-200-26085-730929
- Design Engineer I at SINGER VEHICLE DESIGN LLC$86,478TorranceWage Level IDecided Feb 23, 2026I-200-26045-641589
- Design Engineer at 1st Avenue Power, LLC$126,131San FranciscoWage Level IIDecided Jan 23, 2026I-200-26015-563681
- Design Engineer, Battery Systems at CelLink Corporation$145,000San CarlosWage Level IIDecided Jan 22, 2026I-200-26014-559249
- Design Engineer at P2S LP$98,987IrvineWage Level IIDecided Jan 22, 2026I-200-26014-560013
- Sr. Design Engineer, Lighting Systems at Lucid USA, Inc.$150,654NewarkWage Level IIIDecided Nov 24, 2025I-200-25322-415243
- Design Lead Engineer at Siemens Mobility, Inc.$144,841SacramentoWage Level IVDecided Nov 14, 2025I-200-25310-381694
- Staff Design Engineer, Gearbox at Archer Aviation Inc.$189,000San JoseWage Level IVDecided Oct 1, 2025I-200-25267-332896
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.