Research Scientist H-1B salary at Meta Platforms — 2,093 certified filings (FY2022–FY2026)
- 468
- Filings · FY2025
- $184k
- Median base · FY2025
- $179k–$214k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +69%
- vs market median · all years
Meta Platforms filed 468 certified H-1B LCAs for Research Scientist in FY2025, with a median base salary of $184k and the middle 50% of offers between $179k and $214k. Across all years its $186k median is 69% above the $110k market median for Research Scientist. It has filed 2,093 Research Scientist LCAs since FY2022, most often in Menlo Park, CA.
How much does Meta Platforms pay a Research Scientist?
Certified base salary for Research Scientist at Meta Platforms by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $184k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Meta Platforms pay Research Scientists above the market?
Meta Platforms's all-years median against every employer's certified Research Scientist LCAs — 69% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Platforms | 2,093 | $186k |
| All employers · Research Scientist | 12,917 | $110k |
How has Meta Platforms's Research Scientist hiring changed by year?
302 certified Research Scientist filings in FY2022 → 613 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 613 | +31% | $208k |
| FY2025 | 468 | +19% | $184k |
| FY2024 | 393 | +24% | $188k |
| FY2023 | 317 | +5% | $189k |
| FY2022 | 302 | — | $168k |
Which wage levels does Meta Platforms file for Research Scientist?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 55% of Meta Platforms's Research Scientist filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 1,433 Research Scientist filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I5.4%78
- Level II39.8%571
- Level III31.4%450
- Level IV23.3%334
Where does Meta Platforms 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 | 1,185 | $186k |
| Washington | 492 | $185k |
| New York | 294 | $188k |
| Pennsylvania | 32 | $179k |
| Massachusetts | 21 | $203k |
| Texas | 16 | $146k |
| Illinois | 7 | $166k |
| District of Columbia | 6 | $177k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Menlo Park, CA | 889 | $186k |
| New York, NY | 289 | $190k |
| Bellevue, WA | 261 | $191k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 177 | $199k |
| Seattle, WA | 145 | $173k |
| Redmond, WA | 80 | $199k |
| Burlingame, CA | 64 | $186k |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 25 | $172k |
Also filed as
Meta Platforms's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Research Scientist LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Meta Platforms
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 12,265 | $200k |
| Data Scientist | 1,194 | $189k |
| Data Engineer | 1,089 | $187k |
| Production Engineer | 654 | $191k |
| Software Engineering Manager | 596 | $261k |
| Product Manager | 578 | $224k |
| Technical Program Manager | 359 | $210k |
| Product Designer | 356 | $192k |
| Software Engineer, Machine Learning | 261 | $214k |
| Research Engineer | 199 | $204k |
Top Research Scientist sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| 890 | $160k | |
| 685 | $192k | |
| 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 Meta Platforms
- How much does Meta Platforms pay a Research Scientist on an H-1B?
- Meta Platforms's median certified H-1B base salary for Research Scientist is $184k in FY2025, from 468 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $179k and $214k. Across all years the median is $186k.
- How many Research Scientist H-1B LCAs has Meta Platforms filed?
- Meta Platforms has 2,093 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Research Scientist on record (FY2022–FY2026), 613 of them in FY2026. That is 8% of its 26,336 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Meta Platforms pay Research Scientists above the market?
- Meta Platforms's all-years median of $186k is 69% above the $110k median for Research Scientist across all H-1B employers (12,917 certified filings).
- Where does Meta Platforms hire H-1B Research Scientists?
- Meta Platforms's Research Scientist LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Washington, New York; the top cities are Menlo Park, CA, New York, NY, Bellevue, 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 (FY2022–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →