Systems Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Systems 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.
Systems Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 54 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $173,899. 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 | 2 | $94,800 |
| Level II — qualified | 14 | $121,595 |
| Level III — experienced | 11 | $178,300 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 22 | $205,500 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Systems 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. | Systems Engineer, Controls | 9 | $118,810 |
| Applied Intuition, Inc. | Systems Engineer | 8 | $230,000 |
| Waymo LLC | Systems Engineer | 4 | $252,500 |
| Zoox, Inc. | Senior Systems Engineer | 3 | $175,157 |
| Applied Materials, Inc | Systems Engineer (Mechanical) | 2 | $194,459 |
| Cruise LLC | Senior Systems Engineer II | 2 | $203,700 |
| Gatik AI Inc. | Sr. Systems Engineer, HiL Int | 2 | $157,500 |
| Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. | Systems Engineer | 2 | $176,282 |
| Sigray, Inc. | Systems Engineer | 2 | $94,800 |
| Zoox Inc. | Staff Systems Engineer, Field Safety | 2 | $168,939 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Sr. Systems Engineer, HiL Int at Gatik AI Inc.$160,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIIDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-711429
- Systems Engineer at Applied Intuition, Inc.$242,000SunnyvaleWage Level IVDecided Mar 25, 2026I-200-26077-713910
- Senior Systems Engineer, Perception at General Motors$185,869SunnyvaleWage Level IVDecided Feb 23, 2026I-200-26044-640601
- Sr. Systems Engineer, Product at Lucid USA, Inc.$160,652NewarkDecided Feb 5, 2026I-200-26029-603036
- Systems Engineer at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc.$176,282San JoseDecided Jan 23, 2026I-200-26016-564422
- Systems Engineer at Waymo LLC$185,000Mountain ViewWage Level IIDecided Jan 23, 2026I-203-26016-564446
- Systems Engineer at Waymo LLC$279,000Mountain ViewWage Level IVDecided Jan 7, 2026I-203-25364-516531
- Systems Engineer, Powertrain and Energy Modeling at Waymo LLC$270,000Mountain ViewWage Level IVDecided Dec 22, 2025I-200-25349-483764
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.