California disclosed tech salaries
Last updated
In California, H-1B/LCA filings disclose a median tech base wage of around US$182,500 a year. Here's the disclosed pay range and how it breaks down by role.
Disclosed base wage
The median disclosed base wage is US$182,500 a year, with most filings between US$147,331 and US$219,651.
| 25th percentile | US$147,331 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | US$182,500 |
| 75th percentile | US$219,651 |
Disclosed base wage, from 59,741 H-1B/LCA filings, U.S. DOL OFLC, as of 2025.
This is the base wage employers attest on H-1B/LCA filings to meet the prevailing wage — it leaves out equity and bonus and reflects visa-sponsored hires, so it runs lower than total compensation. Read it alongside the advertised salary on each role page.
| Period | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | US$153,377 | US$186,000 | US$220,000 |
| 2025 | US$147,331 | US$182,500 | US$219,651 |
Disclosed pay by role
| Role | Median base wage | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | US$184,100 | 53,540 |
| Data Scientist | US$184,000 | 7,950 |
| Engineering Manager | US$245,579 | 4,801 |
| QA Engineer | US$147,506 | 4,730 |
| Data Engineer | US$167,205 | 3,334 |
| Machine Learning Engineer | US$213,877 | 2,890 |
| DevOps Engineer | US$161,300 | 2,578 |
| Security Engineer | US$182,000 | 1,139 |
Disclosed wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC.
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