Silicon Engineer H-1B salary at Microsoft — 694 certified filings (FY2016–FY2024)
- 94
- Filings · FY2024
- $166k
- Median base · FY2024
- $142k–$184k
- Middle 50% · FY2024
- −6%
- vs market median · all years
Microsoft filed 94 certified H-1B LCAs for Silicon Engineer in FY2024 (down 24% from the year before), with a median base salary of $166k and the middle 50% of offers between $142k and $184k. Across all years its $150k median is 6% below the $160k market median for Silicon Engineer. It has filed 694 Silicon Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Morrisville, NC.
How much does Microsoft pay a Silicon Engineer?
Certified base salary for Silicon Engineer at Microsoft by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $166k median in FY2024. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Microsoft pay Silicon Engineers above the market?
Microsoft's all-years median against every employer's certified Silicon Engineer LCAs — 6% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 694 | $150k |
| All employers · Silicon Engineer | 947 | $160k |
How has Microsoft's Silicon Engineer hiring changed by year?
1 certified Silicon Engineer filings in FY2016 → 94 in FY2024. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 94 | −24% | $166k |
| FY2023 | 124 | −56% | $160k |
| FY2022 | 281 | +58% | $148k |
| FY2021 | 178 | +1013% | $145k |
| FY2020 | 16 | +1500% | $135k |
| FY2016 | 1 | — | $121k |
Which wage levels does Microsoft file for Silicon Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 49% of Microsoft's Silicon Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 687 Silicon Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I13.0%89
- Level II38.3%263
- Level III40.3%277
- Level IV8.4%58
Where does Microsoft hire H-1B Silicon 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 |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 215 | $128k |
| California | 207 | $174k |
| Oregon | 144 | $151k |
| Texas | 78 | $157k |
| Washington | 36 | $160k |
| Colorado | 9 | $130k |
| New York | 2 | $147k |
| Georgia | 1 | $160k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Morrisville, NC | 210 | $127k |
| Mountain View, CA | 147 | $176k |
| Hillsboro, OR | 106 | $156k |
| Austin, TX | 74 | $162k |
| Redmond, WA | 34 | $161k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 33 | $157k |
| Portland, OR | 31 | $150k |
| Santa Clara, CA | 12 | $181k |
Also filed as
Microsoft's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Silicon Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Microsoft
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 29,968 | $142k |
| Software Engineering | 12,539 | $170k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 3,271 | $155k |
| 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 |
Top Silicon Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| 164 | $179k | |
| Meta Platforms | 73 | $186k |
| Waymo | 12 | $225k |
| 3 | $170k | |
| Matx | 1 | $185k |
Common questions about Silicon Engineer H-1B pay at Microsoft
- How much does Microsoft pay a Silicon Engineer on an H-1B?
- Microsoft's median certified H-1B base salary for Silicon Engineer is $166k in FY2024, from 94 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $142k and $184k. Across all years the median is $150k.
- How many Silicon Engineer H-1B LCAs has Microsoft filed?
- Microsoft has 694 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Silicon Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2024), 94 of them in FY2024. That is 1% of its 77,758 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Microsoft pay Silicon Engineers above the market?
- Microsoft's all-years median of $150k is 6% below the $160k median for Silicon Engineer across all H-1B employers (947 certified filings).
- Where does Microsoft hire H-1B Silicon Engineers?
- Microsoft's Silicon Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in North Carolina, California, Oregon; the top cities are Morrisville, NC, Mountain View, CA, Hillsboro, OR.
- 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–FY2024). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →