Senior Software Engineer H-1B salary at Microsoft — 3,271 certified filings (FY2016–FY2024)
- 30
- Filings · FY2024
- $185k
- Median base · FY2024
- $170k–$198k
- Middle 50% · FY2024
- +18%
- vs market median · all years
Microsoft filed 30 certified H-1B LCAs for Senior Software Engineer in FY2024 (down 58% from the year before), with a median base salary of $185k and the middle 50% of offers between $170k and $198k. Across all years its $155k median is 18% above the $131k market median for Senior Software Engineer. It has filed 3,271 Senior Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Redmond, WA.
How much does Microsoft pay a Senior Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $185k median in FY2024. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Microsoft pay Senior Software Engineers above the market?
Microsoft's all-years median against every employer's certified Senior Software Engineer LCAs — 18% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 3,271 | $155k |
| All employers · Senior Software Engineer | 75,253 | $131k |
How has Microsoft's Senior Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
658 certified Senior Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 30 in FY2024. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 30 | −58% | $185k |
| FY2023 | 71 | −77% | $181k |
| FY2022 | 313 | +134% | $175k |
| FY2021 | 134 | −6% | $160k |
| FY2020 | 142 | −55% | $160k |
| FY2019 | 318 | −66% | $159k |
| FY2018 | 949 | +45% | $156k |
| FY2017 | 656 | 0% | $151k |
| FY2016 | 658 | — | $148k |
Which wage levels does Microsoft file for Senior Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 95% of Microsoft's Senior Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 2,447 Senior Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I0.4%10
- Level II4.7%116
- Level III93.7%2,293
- Level IV1.1%28
Where does Microsoft hire H-1B Senior 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 | 2,769 | $153k |
| California | 270 | $176k |
| Georgia | 54 | $149k |
| Texas | 54 | $150k |
| New York | 33 | $181k |
| Massachusetts | 15 | $161k |
| North Carolina | 15 | $142k |
| New Jersey | 13 | $185k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Redmond, WA | 2,083 | $154k |
| Bellevue, WA | 620 | $153k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 113 | $175k |
| Mountain View, CA | 75 | $179k |
| Issaquah, WA | 59 | $158k |
| Atlanta, GA | 47 | $149k |
| New York, NY | 31 | $181k |
| San Francisco, CA | 27 | $178k |
Also filed as
Microsoft's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Senior Software Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Microsoft
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 29,968 | $142k |
| Software Engineering | 12,539 | $170k |
| Program Manager | 1,799 | $134k |
| Data and Applied Scientist | 1,788 | $141k |
| Senior Program Manager | 1,628 | $162k |
| Product Management | 1,069 | $176k |
| Applied Sciences | 959 | $173k |
| Product Manager | 920 | $169k |
| Data Science | 808 | $164k |
| Service Engineer | 796 | $130k |
Top Senior Software Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Associates | 3,938 | $150k |
| Uber Technologies | 1,271 | $174k |
| Intuit | 1,165 | $138k |
| Capital One Services | 1,115 | $94k |
| Bloomberg L P | 1,027 | $143k |
| Globallogic | 962 | $108k |
| Epam Systems | 941 | $115k |
| 798 | $133k | |
| Optum Services | 764 | $121k |
Common questions about Senior Software Engineer H-1B pay at Microsoft
- How much does Microsoft pay a Senior Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Microsoft's median certified H-1B base salary for Senior Software Engineer is $185k in FY2024, from 30 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $170k and $198k. Across all years the median is $155k.
- How many Senior Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Microsoft filed?
- Microsoft has 3,271 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Senior Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2024), 30 of them in FY2024. That is 4% of its 77,758 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Microsoft pay Senior Software Engineers above the market?
- Microsoft's all-years median of $155k is 18% above the $131k median for Senior Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (75,253 certified filings).
- Where does Microsoft hire H-1B Senior Software Engineers?
- Microsoft's Senior Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in Washington, California, Georgia; the top cities are Redmond, WA, Bellevue, WA, Sunnyvale, 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.
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2016–FY2024). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →