Staff Engineer salary in California
A real-employer view of Staff 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.
Staff Engineer in California: actual employer-disclosed pay
Public records from 23 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Median offered wage: $163,613. 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 II — qualified | 3 | $113,277 |
| Level III — experienced | 5 | $165,422 |
| Level IV — fully competent | 4 | $182,333 |
Top employers filing for this role
Companies with the most certified filings for Staff Engineer in California. Median offer is across all of that employer's filings.
| Employer | Most-filed title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid USA, Inc. | Sr. Engineer, System Integration Body | 3 | $163,613 |
| Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. | Staff Engineer | 2 | $165,422 |
| Brillio, LLC | Senior Lead Engineer | 2 | $113,277 |
| Illumio, Inc. | Principal Engineer | 2 | $201,053 |
| Sandisk Technologies, Inc. | Principal Engineer, Firmware Verification Engineering | 2 | $173,584 |
| Comcast Cable Communications, LLC | Engineer 4, Software Quality Assurance | 1 | $132,912 |
| INFOSTRETCH CORPORATION | Lead Engineer | 1 | $134,430 |
| Samsung Research America, Inc. | Staff Engineer, Software QA | 1 | $201,053 |
| ICE MORTGAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC. | Engineer II | 1 | $163,700 |
| Beachbody, LLC | Lead Engineer, Quality Assurance | 1 | $146,082 |
Recent sample filings
A snapshot of recent certified offers. Each line is a real, public, verifiable record.
- Engineer 4, Software Quality Assurance at Comcast Cable Communications, LLC$132,912IrvineDecided Dec 10, 2025I-200-25337-455184
- Lead Engineer at INFOSTRETCH CORPORATION$134,430Elk GroveDecided Dec 10, 2025I-200-25337-454713
- Staff Engineer, Software QA at Samsung Research America, Inc.$201,053Mountain ViewDecided Dec 3, 2025I-200-25329-438620
- Staff Engineer at Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.$165,422San JoseDecided Dec 2, 2025I-200-25329-434944
- Engineer II at ICE MORTGAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.$163,700PleasantonDecided Nov 14, 2025I-200-25309-376864
- Lead Engineer, Quality Assurance at Beachbody, LLC$146,082El SegundoDecided Nov 14, 2025I-200-25307-366261
- SENIOR ENGINEER at TARANA WIRELESS, INC$165,422MILPITASDecided Nov 7, 2025I-200-25305-354326
- Principal Engineer I at Western Alliance Bank$161,968San JoseDecided Nov 6, 2025I-200-25272-343340
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.