Principal Application Engineer H-1B salary at Cadence Design Systems — 161 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 15
- Filings · FY2025
- $170k
- Median base · FY2025
- $150k–$178k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- −2%
- vs market median · all years
Cadence Design Systems filed 15 certified H-1B LCAs for Principal Application Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $170k and the middle 50% of offers between $150k and $178k. Across all years its $142k median is 2% below the $145k market median for Principal Application Engineer. It has filed 161 Principal Application Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in San Jose, CA.
How much does Cadence Design Systems pay a Principal Application Engineer?
Certified base salary for Principal Application Engineer at Cadence Design Systems by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $170k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Cadence Design Systems pay Principal Application Engineers above the market?
Cadence Design Systems's all-years median against every employer's certified Principal Application Engineer LCAs — 2% below the market. Same cleaned DOL title, same base-salary definition, so the two rows compare like for like.
| Base salary for this title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Cadence Design Systems | 161 | $142k |
| All employers · Principal Application Engineer | 555 | $145k |
How has Cadence Design Systems's Principal Application Engineer hiring changed by year?
10 certified Principal Application Engineer filings in FY2016 → 17 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 17 | +13% | $161k |
| FY2025 | 15 | +15% | $170k |
| FY2024 | 13 | −35% | $172k |
| FY2023 | 20 | +67% | $149k |
| FY2022 | 12 | +9% | $144k |
| FY2021 | 11 | −15% | $156k |
| FY2020 | 13 | −46% | $148k |
| FY2019 | 24 | +71% | $123k |
| FY2018 | 14 | +17% | $116k |
| FY2017 | 12 | +20% | $134k |
| FY2016 | 10 | — | $120k |
Which wage levels does Cadence Design Systems file for Principal Application Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 88% of Cadence Design Systems's Principal Application Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 80 Principal Application Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II12.5%10
- Level III7.5%6
- Level IV80.0%64
Where does Cadence Design Systems hire H-1B Principal Application Engineers?
Worksite states and cities on the certified filings for this title, all years, with the median base salary at each.
| State | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| California | 124 | $143k |
| Texas | 23 | $140k |
| Oregon | 5 | $111k |
| Massachusetts | 3 | $148k |
| Florida | 2 | $130k |
| North Carolina | 2 | $132k |
| Illinois | 1 | $107k |
| Washington | 1 | $166k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | 96 | $153k |
| Austin, TX | 22 | $140k |
| San Diego, CA | 12 | $133k |
| Irvine, CA | 10 | $140k |
| Folsom, CA | 3 | $142k |
| Beaverton, OR | 2 | $111k |
| Burlington, MA | 2 | $148k |
| Cary, NC | 2 | $132k |
Also filed as
Cadence Design Systems's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Principal Application Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Cadence Design Systems
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Lead Software Engineer | 177 | $121k |
| Principal Software Engineer | 171 | $138k |
| Lead Application Engineer | 151 | $119k |
| Software Engineer II | 94 | $115k |
| Principal Design Engineer | 90 | $144k |
| Lead Design Engineer | 87 | $120k |
| Sr. Principal Software Engineer | 70 | $154k |
| Principal Product Engineer | 69 | $146k |
| Sr. Application Engineer | 66 | $97k |
| Lead Product Engineer | 63 | $124k |
Top Principal Application Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Dfs Corporate Services | 251 | $145k |
| Capital One Services | 45 | $149k |
| Pulse Network | 20 | $145k |
| Diners Club International | 8 | $145k |
| Ansys | 7 | $151k |
| The Mathworks | 6 | $152k |
| Nxp USA | 6 | $140k |
| The Hanover Insurance | 5 | $110k |
| Citrix Systems | 4 | $130k |
Common questions about Principal Application Engineer H-1B pay at Cadence Design Systems
- How much does Cadence Design Systems pay a Principal Application Engineer on an H-1B?
- Cadence Design Systems's median certified H-1B base salary for Principal Application Engineer is $170k in FY2025, from 15 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $150k and $178k. Across all years the median is $142k.
- How many Principal Application Engineer H-1B LCAs has Cadence Design Systems filed?
- Cadence Design Systems has 161 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Principal Application Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 17 of them in FY2026. That is 7% of its 2,376 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Cadence Design Systems pay Principal Application Engineers above the market?
- Cadence Design Systems's all-years median of $142k is 2% below the $145k median for Principal Application Engineer across all H-1B employers (555 certified filings).
- Where does Cadence Design Systems hire H-1B Principal Application Engineers?
- Cadence Design Systems's Principal Application Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, Oregon; the top cities are San Jose, CA, Austin, TX, San Diego, CA.
- Does a certified LCA mean an H-1B visa was approved?
- No. A Labor Condition Application (LCA) is the Department of Labor attestation an employer must have certified before filing an H-1B petition with USCIS. It records the job, worksite and offered wage, but not whether the petition was filed, selected in the lottery, or approved. Filing counts measure intent to sponsor, not headcount.
- What salary do these figures show?
- The base annual wage offered on the certified LCA, converted to a yearly amount. Bonus, equity, overtime and benefits are not included, so total compensation is typically higher. Figures are medians and percentiles over certified filings; wages above $5,000,000 a year are excluded as data-entry errors.
- What do prevailing-wage levels I–IV mean?
- The Department of Labor assigns each LCA an OES wage level from I (entry) to IV (fully competent) for the occupation and area. Under the FY2027 wage-weighted H-1B lottery rule, a higher level earns more selection entries, so an employer's level mix is a proxy for how senior its sponsored roles are.
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2016–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →