Research Scientist H-1B salary at Google — 685 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 182
- Filings · FY2025
- $193k
- Median base · FY2025
- $184k–$215k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +75%
- vs market median · all years
Google filed 182 certified H-1B LCAs for Research Scientist in FY2025, with a median base salary of $193k and the middle 50% of offers between $184k and $215k. Across all years its $192k median is 75% above the $110k market median for Research Scientist. It has filed 685 Research Scientist LCAs since FY2016, most often in Mountain View, CA.
How much does Google pay a Research Scientist?
Certified base salary for Research Scientist at Google by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $193k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Google pay Research Scientists above the market?
Google's all-years median against every employer's certified Research Scientist LCAs — 75% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 685 | $192k | |
| All employers · Research Scientist | 12,917 | $110k |
How has Google's Research Scientist hiring changed by year?
4 certified Research Scientist filings in FY2016 → 194 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 194 | +7% | $205k |
| FY2025 | 182 | +46% | $193k |
| FY2024 | 125 | +11% | $182k |
| FY2023 | 113 | +71% | $169k |
| FY2022 | 66 | +6500% | $169k |
| FY2017 | 1 | −75% | $138k |
| FY2016 | 4 | — | $138k |
Which wage levels does Google file for Research Scientist?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 19% of Google's Research Scientist filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 548 Research Scientist filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I7.5%41
- Level II73.5%403
- Level III15.7%86
- Level IV3.3%18
Where does Google hire H-1B Research Scientists?
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 | 458 | $195k |
| New York | 151 | $196k |
| Washington | 44 | $165k |
| Massachusetts | 24 | $179k |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | $214k |
| New Jersey | 2 | $157k |
| Florida | 1 | $168k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain View, CA | 340 | $198k |
| New York, NY | 151 | $196k |
| San Francisco, CA | 34 | $187k |
| Seattle, WA | 32 | $163k |
| Cambridge, MA | 23 | $180k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 23 | $200k |
| Goleta, CA | 22 | $172k |
| Los Angeles, CA | 15 | $180k |
Also filed as
Google's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Research Scientist LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Google
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 27,422 | $170k |
| Program Manager | 883 | $168k |
| Technical Program Manager | 868 | $176k |
| Product Manager | 862 | $190k |
| Data Scientist | 522 | $175k |
| Solutions Consultant | 449 | $147k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 348 | $220k |
| Technical Solutions Consultant | 304 | $164k |
| Customer Engineer | 278 | $161k |
| Hardware Engineer | 275 | $167k |
Top Research Scientist sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Platforms | 2,093 | $186k |
| 890 | $160k | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 497 | $78k |
| Intel | 409 | $131k |
| Nvidia | 327 | $168k |
| UT Southwestern Medical Center | 156 | $62k |
| Bytedance | 153 | $215k |
| University of Pittsburgh | 142 | $60k |
| The University of Virginia | 135 | $67k |
Common questions about Research Scientist H-1B pay at Google
- How much does Google pay a Research Scientist on an H-1B?
- Google's median certified H-1B base salary for Research Scientist is $193k in FY2025, from 182 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $184k and $215k. Across all years the median is $192k.
- How many Research Scientist H-1B LCAs has Google filed?
- Google has 685 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Research Scientist on record (FY2016–FY2026), 194 of them in FY2026. That is 1% of its 82,354 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Google pay Research Scientists above the market?
- Google's all-years median of $192k is 75% above the $110k median for Research Scientist across all H-1B employers (12,917 certified filings).
- Where does Google hire H-1B Research Scientists?
- Google's Research Scientist LCAs name worksites mostly in California, New York, Washington; the top cities are Mountain View, CA, New York, NY, San Francisco, 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.
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 (FY2016–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →