Software Engineer H-1B salary at Cisco Systems — 1,899 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 148
- Filings · FY2025
- $131k
- Median base · FY2025
- $125k–$151k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +15%
- vs market median · all years
Cisco Systems filed 148 certified H-1B LCAs for Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $131k and the middle 50% of offers between $125k and $151k. Across all years its $127k median is 15% above the $111k market median for Software Engineer. It has filed 1,899 Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in San Jose, CA.
How much does Cisco Systems pay a Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Software Engineer at Cisco Systems by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $131k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Cisco Systems pay Software Engineers above the market?
Cisco Systems's all-years median against every employer's certified Software Engineer LCAs — 15% above 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco Systems | 1,899 | $127k |
| All employers · Software Engineer | 301,963 | $111k |
How has Cisco Systems's Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
88 certified Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 220 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 220 | +49% | $149k |
| FY2025 | 148 | −3% | $131k |
| FY2024 | 153 | −23% | $128k |
| FY2023 | 198 | −49% | $132k |
| FY2022 | 385 | +89% | $122k |
| FY2021 | 204 | +4% | $135k |
| FY2020 | 196 | +104% | $122k |
| FY2019 | 96 | −18% | $119k |
| FY2018 | 117 | +24% | $123k |
| FY2017 | 94 | +7% | $116k |
| FY2016 | 88 | — | $111k |
Which wage levels does Cisco Systems file for Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 49% of Cisco Systems's Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 1,337 Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I2.0%27
- Level II49.4%661
- Level III41.8%559
- Level IV6.7%90
Where does Cisco Systems hire H-1B Software 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 | 930 | $139k |
| Texas | 230 | $111k |
| North Carolina | 178 | $113k |
| Massachusetts | 93 | $116k |
| Washington | 76 | $135k |
| Maryland | 62 | $110k |
| Georgia | 59 | $114k |
| New Jersey | 35 | $130k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | 476 | $136k |
| San Francisco, CA | 149 | $144k |
| Research Triangle Park, NC | 123 | $109k |
| Milpitas, CA | 105 | $153k |
| Austin, TX | 92 | $112k |
| Richardson, TX | 90 | $111k |
| Seattle, WA | 64 | $130k |
| Boxborough, MA | 61 | $115k |
Also filed as
Cisco Systems's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Software Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Cisco Systems
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Technical Leader | 357 | $145k |
| Technical Consulting Engineer | 299 | $98k |
| Consulting Engineer | 278 | $105k |
| Software Engineering Technical Leader | 226 | $179k |
| Hardware Engineer | 211 | $124k |
| Product Manager | 176 | $135k |
| Software QA Engineer | 173 | $130k |
| Technical Marketing Engineer | 171 | $130k |
| Project Manager | 165 | $112k |
| Engineering Product Manager | 164 | $141k |
Top Software Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 29,968 | $142k |
| 27,422 | $170k | |
| Meta Platforms | 12,265 | $200k |
| 7,220 | $167k | |
| Mphasis | 5,479 | $107k |
| Intel | 5,159 | $118k |
| Natsoft | 1,994 | $97k |
| Nvidia | 1,830 | $171k |
| Uber Technologies | 1,635 | $140k |
Common questions about Software Engineer H-1B pay at Cisco Systems
- How much does Cisco Systems pay a Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Cisco Systems's median certified H-1B base salary for Software Engineer is $131k in FY2025, from 148 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $125k and $151k. Across all years the median is $127k.
- How many Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Cisco Systems filed?
- Cisco Systems has 1,899 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 220 of them in FY2026. That is 15% of its 13,067 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Cisco Systems pay Software Engineers above the market?
- Cisco Systems's all-years median of $127k is 15% above the $111k median for Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (301,963 certified filings).
- Where does Cisco Systems hire H-1B Software Engineers?
- Cisco Systems's Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, North Carolina; the top cities are San Jose, CA, San Francisco, CA, Research Triangle Park, NC.
- 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.
Keep exploring
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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 →