Software Engineer H-1B salary at Costco Wholesale — 116 certified filings (FY2023–FY2026)
- 62
- Filings · FY2025
- $155k
- Median base · FY2025
- $145k–$165k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +39%
- vs market median · all years
Costco Wholesale filed 62 certified H-1B LCAs for Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $155k and the middle 50% of offers between $145k and $165k. Across all years its $154k median is 39% above the $111k market median for Software Engineer. It has filed 116 Software Engineer LCAs since FY2023, most often in Issaquah, WA.
How much does Costco Wholesale pay a Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Software Engineer at Costco Wholesale by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $155k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Costco Wholesale pay Software Engineers above the market?
Costco Wholesale's all-years median against every employer's certified Software Engineer LCAs — 39% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Costco Wholesale | 116 | $154k |
| All employers · Software Engineer | 301,963 | $111k |
How has Costco Wholesale's Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
1 certified Software Engineer filings in FY2023 → 43 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 43 | −31% | $151k |
| FY2025 | 62 | +520% | $155k |
| FY2024 | 10 | +900% | $150k |
| FY2023 | 1 | — | $125k |
Which wage levels does Costco Wholesale file for Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 16% of Costco Wholesale's Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 115 Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I23.5%27
- Level II60.9%70
- Level III15.7%18
Where does Costco Wholesale 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 96 | $154k |
| Texas | 18 | $155k |
| Illinois | 2 | $130k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Issaquah, WA | 96 | $154k |
| Dallas, TX | 13 | $155k |
| Plano, TX | 5 | $150k |
| Schaumburg, IL | 2 | $130k |
Also filed as
Costco Wholesale's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Software Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Costco Wholesale
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Developer | 93 | $133k |
| Quality Engineer | 50 | $136k |
| Full Stack Engineer | 48 | $130k |
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 |
| Cisco Systems | 1,899 | $127k |
| Nvidia | 1,830 | $171k |
| Uber Technologies | 1,635 | $140k |
Common questions about Software Engineer H-1B pay at Costco Wholesale
- How much does Costco Wholesale pay a Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Costco Wholesale's median certified H-1B base salary for Software Engineer is $155k in FY2025, from 62 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $145k and $165k. Across all years the median is $154k.
- How many Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Costco Wholesale filed?
- Costco Wholesale has 116 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Software Engineer on record (FY2023–FY2026), 43 of them in FY2026. That is 16% of its 705 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Costco Wholesale pay Software Engineers above the market?
- Costco Wholesale's all-years median of $154k is 39% above the $111k median for Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (301,963 certified filings).
- Where does Costco Wholesale hire H-1B Software Engineers?
- Costco Wholesale's Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in Washington, Texas, Illinois; the top cities are Issaquah, WA, Dallas, TX, Plano, TX.
- 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
Calculate your H-1B lottery odds →orCheck out the insights →
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2023–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →