Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of 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.
Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 174 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $136,400. 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 | 33 | $102,336 |
| Level II — qualified | 47 | $118,810 |
| Level III — experienced | 55 | $142,854 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 21 | $166,878 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Digital Technologies, Inc. | Senior Engineer, Development Engineering | 42 | $128,690 |
| Lucid USA, Inc. | Sr. Engineer, Body Structures | 36 | $142,854 |
| Amgen Inc. | Engineer | 11 | $107,385 |
| Sandisk Technologies, Inc. | Principal Engineer, Packaging Engineering | 11 | $155,043 |
| Eldorado National (California), Inc. | Engineer | 5 | $87,859 |
| Frore Systems, Inc. | Staff Engineer | 4 | $157,285 |
| Rohr, Inc. | Principal Engineer, Structural Engineering | 4 | $141,929 |
| Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. | Senior Engineer, R&D Operations | 4 | $139,500 |
| Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers, Inc. | Engineer (Mechanical) | 3 | $91,000 |
| Applied Medical Resources Corporation | ENGINEER | 3 | $87,000 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Senior Engineer I at Amgen Inc.$126,189Thousand OaksWage Level IIIDecided —I-200-26085-730750
- Staff Engineer, Mechanical Design Engineering at Western Digital Technologies, Inc.$154,649San JoseDecided Mar 27, 2026I-200-26079-719183
- Principal Engineer at Arm, Inc.$185,869San JoseWage Level IVDecided Mar 24, 2026I-200-26077-710829
- Principal Engineer, Packaging Engineering at Sandisk Technologies, Inc.$176,509MilpitasDecided Mar 24, 2026I-200-26076-709006
- Principal Engineer, Packaging Engineering at Sandisk Technologies, Inc.$176,509San JoseDecided Mar 24, 2026I-200-26076-709016
- Engineer I, Autonomous & Artificial Intelligence at ITCA (Isuzu Technical Center of America, Inc.)$132,142SunnyvaleWage Level IIDecided Mar 20, 2026I-200-26072-702170
- Principal Engineer, Hardware Development Engineering at Western Digital Technologies, Inc.$158,995Santa ClaraWage Level IIIDecided Mar 17, 2026I-200-26069-693388
- Principal Engineer, Hardware Development Engineering at Western Digital Technologies, Inc.$158,995FremontWage Level IIIDecided Mar 17, 2026I-200-26069-693385
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.