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 38 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $186,059. 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 | 6 | $97,775 |
| Level II — qualified | 20 | $178,500 |
| Level III — experienced | 6 | $192,550 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 6 | $232,117 |
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. Click a company for its full H-1B salary breakdown.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC | Research Scientist | 20 | $191,548 |
| Bay Area Environmental Research Institute | Research Scientist | 3 | $111,182 |
| KLA Corporation | Research Scientist | 3 | $175,890 |
| SETI Institute | Research Scientist | 3 | $106,000 |
| AMAZON DEVELOPMENT CENTER U.S., INC. | RESEARCH SCIENTIST II | 2 | $170,900 |
| Amazon.com Services LLC | Research Scientist II | 1 | $155,000 |
| California Institute of Technology | Research Scientist | 1 | $85,000 |
| Cepton Technologies, Inc. | Senior Research Scientist | 1 | $260,000 |
| Eureka Aerospace INC | Senior Research Scientist | 1 | $192,000 |
| Flexcompute Inc. | Senior Research Scientist | 1 | $200,000 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Research Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC$194,052LivermoreWage Level IIDecided Mar 11, 2026I-200-26063-679757
- Senior Research Scientist at Eureka Aerospace INC$192,000PasadenaWage Level IVDecided Dec 12, 2025I-203-25339-462594
- RESEARCH SCIENTIST II at AMAZON DEVELOPMENT CENTER U.S., INC.$170,900PASADENAWage Level IIDecided Aug 25, 2025I-201-25230-247481
- Research Scientist at Kent State University$79,914BerkeleyWage Level IDecided Aug 19, 2025I-200-25224-237564
- Research Scientist at Bay Area Environmental Research Institute$111,182Moffett FieldWage Level IIDecided Jul 23, 2025I-200-25197-180397
- RESEARCH SCIENTIST II at AMAZON DEVELOPMENT CENTER U.S., INC.$170,900PASADENAWage Level IIDecided Jul 21, 2025I-201-25195-171433
- Research Scientist (Physicist) at Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC$187,824LivermoreWage Level IIIDecided Jul 2, 2025I-200-25176-128482
- Research Scientist (Physicist) at Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC$187,379LivermoreWage Level IIIDecided Jul 2, 2025I-200-25176-128787
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.