Principal Software Development Engineer H-1B salary at Fortinet — 50 certified filings (FY2017–FY2026)
- 9
- Filings · FY2025
- $199k
- Median base · FY2025
- $195k–$202k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- −5%
- vs market median · all years
Fortinet filed 9 certified H-1B LCAs for Principal Software Development Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $199k and the middle 50% of offers between $195k and $202k. Across all years its $181k median is 5% below the $190k market median for Principal Software Development Engineer. It has filed 50 Principal Software Development Engineer LCAs since FY2017, most often in Sunnyvale, CA.
How much does Fortinet pay a Principal Software Development Engineer?
Certified base salary for Principal Software Development Engineer at Fortinet by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $199k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Fortinet pay Principal Software Development Engineers above the market?
Fortinet's all-years median against every employer's certified Principal Software Development Engineer LCAs — 5% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fortinet | 50 | $181k |
| All employers · Principal Software Development Engineer | 883 | $190k |
How has Fortinet's Principal Software Development Engineer hiring changed by year?
2 certified Principal Software Development Engineer filings in FY2017 → 5 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 5 | −44% | $205k |
| FY2025 | 9 | +50% | $199k |
| FY2024 | 6 | +100% | $188k |
| FY2023 | 3 | −70% | $181k |
| FY2022 | 10 | +43% | $175k |
| FY2021 | 7 | +17% | $171k |
| FY2020 | 6 | +500% | $155k |
| FY2019 | 1 | 0% | $155k |
| FY2018 | 1 | −50% | $155k |
| FY2017 | 2 | — | $144k |
Which wage levels does Fortinet file for Principal Software Development Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 95% of Fortinet's Principal Software Development Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 20 Principal Software Development Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II5.0%1
- Level III15.0%3
- Level IV80.0%16
Where does Fortinet hire H-1B Principal Software Development 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 | 49 | $181k |
| Washington | 1 | $190k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale, CA | 42 | $175k |
| Santa Clara, CA | 7 | $205k |
| Sammamish, WA | 1 | $190k |
Also filed as
Fortinet's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Principal Software Development Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Fortinet
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Development Engineer | 218 | $133k |
| Software Development QA Engineer | 89 | $124k |
| Technical Support Engineer | 89 | $89k |
| Staff Software Development Engineer | 67 | $157k |
| Staff Software Development QA Engineer | 41 | $150k |
| Technical Account Manager | 41 | $116k |
| Manager, Software Development | 40 | $165k |
Top Principal Software Development Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Services | 367 | $212k |
| Amazon Development Center U.S. | 57 | $224k |
| Amazon Web Services | 39 | $190k |
| Expedia | 37 | $165k |
| Microsoft | 32 | $204k |
| Zscaler | 26 | $239k |
| Mastercard International | 22 | $127k |
| Workday | 18 | $165k |
| Nationstar Mortgage | 17 | $127k |
Common questions about Principal Software Development Engineer H-1B pay at Fortinet
- How much does Fortinet pay a Principal Software Development Engineer on an H-1B?
- Fortinet's median certified H-1B base salary for Principal Software Development Engineer is $199k in FY2025, from 9 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $195k and $202k. Across all years the median is $181k.
- How many Principal Software Development Engineer H-1B LCAs has Fortinet filed?
- Fortinet has 50 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Principal Software Development Engineer on record (FY2017–FY2026), 5 of them in FY2026. That is 4% of its 1,427 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Fortinet pay Principal Software Development Engineers above the market?
- Fortinet's all-years median of $181k is 5% below the $190k median for Principal Software Development Engineer across all H-1B employers (883 certified filings).
- Where does Fortinet hire H-1B Principal Software Development Engineers?
- Fortinet's Principal Software Development Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Washington; the top cities are Sunnyvale, CA, Santa Clara, CA, Sammamish, WA.
- 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 (FY2017–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →