Staff Software Engineer H-1B salary at Google — 240 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 47
- Filings · FY2025
- $262k
- Median base · FY2025
- $258k–$273k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +58%
- vs market median · all years
Google filed 47 certified H-1B LCAs for Staff Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $262k and the middle 50% of offers between $258k and $273k. Across all years its $258k median is 58% above the $163k market median for Staff Software Engineer. It has filed 240 Staff Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Mountain View, CA.
How much does Google pay a Staff Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Staff Software Engineer at Google by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $262k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Google pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
Google's all-years median against every employer's certified Staff Software Engineer LCAs — 58% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 240 | $258k | |
| All employers · Staff Software Engineer | 11,475 | $163k |
How has Google's Staff Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
2 certified Staff Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 49 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 49 | +4% | $280k |
| FY2025 | 47 | 0% | $262k |
| FY2024 | 47 | −31% | $258k |
| FY2023 | 68 | +152% | $252k |
| FY2022 | 27 | +1250% | $240k |
| FY2016 | 2 | — | $190k |
Which wage levels does Google file for Staff Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 94% of Google's Staff Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 224 Staff Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II6.3%14
- Level III33.5%75
- Level IV60.3%135
Where does Google hire H-1B Staff 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 | 192 | $260k |
| Washington | 25 | $240k |
| New York | 11 | $265k |
| Texas | 4 | $222k |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | $215k |
| Colorado | 1 | $227k |
| Massachusetts | 1 | $217k |
| Michigan | 1 | $211k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain View, CA | 119 | $258k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 54 | $267k |
| Kirkland, WA | 12 | $240k |
| New York, NY | 11 | $265k |
| Seattle, WA | 9 | $232k |
| San Bruno, CA | 8 | $260k |
| San Francisco, CA | 5 | $248k |
| Austin, TX | 4 | $222k |
Also filed as
Google's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Staff Software Engineer 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 |
| Research Scientist | 685 | $192k |
| Data Scientist | 522 | $175k |
| Solutions Consultant | 449 | $147k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 348 | $220k |
| Technical Solutions Consultant | 304 | $164k |
| Customer Engineer | 278 | $161k |
Top Staff Software Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Associates | 1,608 | $160k |
| 634 | $184k | |
| Intuit | 563 | $171k |
| Qualcomm Technologies | 451 | $120k |
| Servicenow | 312 | $174k |
| IBM | 237 | $94k |
| Uber Technologies | 225 | $234k |
| Home Depot Management | 208 | $155k |
| Qualcomm Atheros | 185 | $145k |
Common questions about Staff Software Engineer H-1B pay at Google
- How much does Google pay a Staff Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Google's median certified H-1B base salary for Staff Software Engineer is $262k in FY2025, from 47 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $258k and $273k. Across all years the median is $258k.
- How many Staff Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Google filed?
- Google has 240 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Staff Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 49 of them in FY2026. That is 0% of its 82,354 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Google pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
- Google's all-years median of $258k is 58% above the $163k median for Staff Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (11,475 certified filings).
- Where does Google hire H-1B Staff Software Engineers?
- Google's Staff Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Washington, New York; the top cities are Mountain View, CA, Sunnyvale, CA, Kirkland, 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
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 →