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Seniority Profile · California

Lead / Director Software Developers salary in California

Roles that direct strategy, lead teams, or hold full functional ownership. Typically ten or more years of experience or a Director-class title with budget responsibility.

Adrian Serafin, founder and editor of RateOrchardBy Adrian SerafinFounderUpdated May 4, 2026
BLS percentile range
P75 to P90 of the California OES distribution for Software Developers.
DOL OFLC offered median
$239,260
Across 244 certified filings at this wage level.
Real disclosed salaries

Lead / Director Software Developers in California: actual employer-disclosed pay

Public records from 244 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $239,260. 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.

LevelFilingsMedian offer
Level IV — fully competent244$239,260

Top employers filing for this role

Companies with the most certified filings for Lead / Director Software Developers in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings.

EmployerMost-filed titleFilingsMedian
Meta Platforms, IncSoftware Engineer19$232,000
Netflix, Inc.Software Engineer13$264,514
Apple Inc.Software Engineering Systems12$207,406
NVIDIA CorporationSoftware Engineer11$264,514
Google LLCSoftware Engineer9$269,000
Oracle America, Inc.Software Developer8$213,512
Roblox CorporationSenior Software Engineer7$289,460
TikTok Inc.Software Engineer5$275,000
BYTEDANCE INC.Software Engineer5$290,000
TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc.Software Engineer USDS5$285,000

Recent sample filings

A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.

  • Specialist Master at Deloitte Consulting LLP
    $217,400
    Woodland HillsWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25266-327173
  • Staff Software Engineer - SRE at Insulet Corporation
    $200,000
    San DiegoWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25266-328233
  • Senior Software Engineer at Roblox Corporation
    $238,520
    San MateoWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25266-328769
  • Staff Engineer, Machine Learning at Hims, Inc.
    $210,000
    FolsomWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25266-327957
  • Senior Staff AI Software Engineer at Gusto, Inc.
    $300,000
    San FranciscoWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25267-330210
  • Solution Architect, Device & Behavior at Oscilar, Inc.
    $230,000
    San RamonWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25267-330192
  • Sr Software Engineer - Infrastructure, TikTok Search Engine at TikTok Inc.
    $320,000
    San JoseWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-200-25266-330005
  • Senior Software Engineer at People Center, Inc. d/b/a Rippling
    $238,000
    San FranciscoWage Level IVDecided Sep 30, 2025I-202-25266-329660

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.