Software Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Software 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.
Software Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 1,576 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $195,800. 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 | 129 | $162,000 |
| Level II — qualified | 616 | $198,000 |
| Level III — experienced | 152 | $226,138 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 160 | $249,000 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Software 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google LLC | Software Engineer | 669 | $199,488 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc | Software Engineer | 219 | $214,032 |
| Uber Technologies, Inc. | Software Engineer | 28 | $213,000 |
| LinkedIn Corporation | Sr. Software Engineer | 27 | $187,741 |
| LINKEDIN CORPORATION | Sr. Software Engineer | 27 | $219,960 |
| NVIDIA Corporation | Software Engineer | 27 | $187,741 |
| Waymo LLC | Software Engineer | 21 | $200,000 |
| WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC. | SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER | 20 | $150,080 |
| Zoom Communications, Inc. | Software Engineer | 14 | $161,562 |
| Databricks, Inc. | Software Engineer | 13 | $187,741 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER at WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.$150,080SUNNYVALEDecided —I-200-26084-728659
- Software Engineer at Google LLC$236,000Mountain ViewDecided —I-200-26085-730843
- Software Engineer at NetApp, Inc.$150,080San JoseDecided —I-200-26084-729664
- Senior Staff Software Engineer at HID Global Corporation$188,043MilpitasWage Level IIDecided —I-200-26084-730660
- Software Engineer at Google LLC$236,000SunnyvaleDecided —I-200-26084-728292
- Software Engineer at Google LLC$164,000SunnyvaleDecided —I-200-26084-728421
- Software Engineer at Google LLC$167,000Mountain ViewDecided —I-200-26084-730729
- Software Engineer at Google LLC$355,680,000SunnyvaleDecided —I-200-26085-730875
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.