Transportation Engineer (Civil) H-1B salary at California Department of Transportation — 310 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)

87
Filings · FY2025
$104k
Median base · FY2025
$87k–$104k
Middle 50% · FY2025
±0%
vs market median · all years

California Department of Transportation filed 87 certified H-1B LCAs for Transportation Engineer (Civil) in FY2025, with a median base salary of $104k and the middle 50% of offers between $87k and $104k. Across all years its $92k median is in line with the $92k market median for Transportation Engineer (Civil). It has filed 310 Transportation Engineer (Civil) LCAs since FY2016, most often in Sacramento, CA.

How much does California Department of Transportation pay a Transportation Engineer (Civil)?

Certified base salary for Transportation Engineer (Civil) at California Department of Transportation by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $104k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.

$60k$80k$100k$120k’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Does California Department of Transportation pay Transportation Engineer (Civil)s above the market?

California Department of Transportation's all-years median against every employer's certified Transportation Engineer (Civil) LCAs — in line with the market. Same cleaned DOL title, same base-salary definition, so the two rows compare like for like.

Transportation Engineer (Civil) base salary: California Department of Transportation versus all H-1B employers
Base salary for this titleFilingsMedian
California Department of Transportation310$92k
All employers · Transportation Engineer (Civil)310$92k

How has California Department of Transportation's Transportation Engineer (Civil) hiring changed by year?

1 certified Transportation Engineer (Civil) filings in FY2016 → 53 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.

California Department of Transportation certified H-1B Transportation Engineer (Civil) filings and base salary by fiscal year
Fiscal yearFilingsvs prior FYMedian base
FY202653−39%$89k
FY202587+61%$104k
FY202454+50%$102k
FY202336+57%$93k
FY202223+28%$93k
FY202118+80%$80k
FY202010−33%$88k
FY201915+36%$76k
FY201811+450%$92k
FY20172+100%$81k
FY20161—$86k

Where does California Department of Transportation hire H-1B Transportation Engineer (Civil)s?

Worksite states and cities on the certified filings for this title, all years, with the median base salary at each.

California Department of Transportation Transportation Engineer (Civil) H-1B worksite states
StateFilingsMedian base
California310$92k
California Department of Transportation Transportation Engineer (Civil) H-1B worksite cities
CityFilingsMedian base
Sacramento, CA64$93k
Oakland, CA59$92k
Marysville, CA31$93k
Stockton, CA18$93k
San Diego, CA14$87k
Redding, CA13$87k
Fresno, CA12$89k
San Luis Obispo, CA12$87k

Also filed as

California Department of Transportation's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Transportation Engineer (Civil) LCAs. All years.

Other titles at California Department of Transportation

Other H-1B job titles sponsored by California Department of Transportation
Job titleFilingsMedian base
Senior Transportation Engineer, Caltrans45$108k
Transportation Engineer (Electrical)41$85k

Common questions about Transportation Engineer (Civil) H-1B pay at California Department of Transportation

How much does California Department of Transportation pay a Transportation Engineer (Civil) on an H-1B?
California Department of Transportation's median certified H-1B base salary for Transportation Engineer (Civil) is $104k in FY2025, from 87 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $87k and $104k. Across all years the median is $92k.
How many Transportation Engineer (Civil) H-1B LCAs has California Department of Transportation filed?
California Department of Transportation has 310 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Transportation Engineer (Civil) on record (FY2016–FY2026), 53 of them in FY2026. That is 61% of its 507 certified filings across all titles.
Does California Department of Transportation pay Transportation Engineer (Civil)s above the market?
California Department of Transportation's all-years median of $92k is in line with the $92k median for Transportation Engineer (Civil) across all H-1B employers (310 certified filings).
Where does California Department of Transportation hire H-1B Transportation Engineer (Civil)s?
California Department of Transportation's Transportation Engineer (Civil) LCAs name worksites mostly in California; the top cities are Sacramento, CA, Oakland, CA, Marysville, 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 →