Senior Staff Engineer H-1B salary at Palo Alto Networks — 61 certified filings (FY2017–FY2026)
- 6
- Filings · FY2025
- $182k
- Median base · FY2025
- $173k–$183k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +2%
- vs market median · all years
Palo Alto Networks filed 6 certified H-1B LCAs for Senior Staff Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $182k and the middle 50% of offers between $173k and $183k. Across all years its $160k median is 2% above the $157k market median for Senior Staff Engineer. It has filed 61 Senior Staff Engineer LCAs since FY2017, most often in Santa Clara, CA.
How much does Palo Alto Networks pay a Senior Staff Engineer?
Certified base salary for Senior Staff Engineer at Palo Alto Networks by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $182k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Palo Alto Networks pay Senior Staff Engineers above the market?
Palo Alto Networks's all-years median against every employer's certified Senior Staff Engineer LCAs — 2% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | 61 | $160k |
| All employers · Senior Staff Engineer | 1,141 | $157k |
How has Palo Alto Networks's Senior Staff Engineer hiring changed by year?
2 certified Senior Staff Engineer filings in FY2017 → 4 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 4 | −33% | $169k |
| FY2025 | 6 | −14% | $182k |
| FY2024 | 7 | +250% | $178k |
| FY2023 | 2 | −78% | $164k |
| FY2022 | 9 | −31% | $157k |
| FY2021 | 13 | +63% | $137k |
| FY2020 | 8 | +167% | $158k |
| FY2019 | 3 | −57% | $144k |
| FY2018 | 7 | +250% | $161k |
| FY2017 | 2 | — | $164k |
Which wage levels does Palo Alto Networks file for Senior Staff Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 62% of Palo Alto Networks's Senior Staff Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 26 Senior Staff Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II38.5%10
- Level III30.8%8
- Level IV30.8%8
Where does Palo Alto Networks hire H-1B Senior Staff 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 | 61 | $160k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara, CA | 61 | $160k |
Also filed as
Palo Alto Networks's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Senior Staff Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Palo Alto Networks
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Principal Software Engineer | 163 | $204k |
| Principal Engineer Software | 139 | $209k |
| Senior Staff Software Engineer | 139 | $178k |
| Staff Software Engineer | 114 | $143k |
| Software Engineer | 107 | $130k |
| Technical Support Engineer | 101 | $87k |
| Senior Staff Engineer Software | 99 | $178k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 70 | $165k |
| Senior Product Manager | 62 | $194k |
| Software QA Engineer | 61 | $130k |
Top Senior Staff Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Austin Semiconductor | 74 | $198k |
| Mediatek USA | 59 | $174k |
| Comerica Management | 59 | $116k |
| Geosyntec Consultants | 49 | $70k |
| Marvell Semiconductor | 40 | $153k |
| Samsung Semiconductor | 39 | $180k |
| The Tjx Companies | 35 | $165k |
| Terracon Consultants | 34 | $85k |
| Uber Technologies | 21 | $243k |
Common questions about Senior Staff Engineer H-1B pay at Palo Alto Networks
- How much does Palo Alto Networks pay a Senior Staff Engineer on an H-1B?
- Palo Alto Networks's median certified H-1B base salary for Senior Staff Engineer is $182k in FY2025, from 6 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $173k and $183k. Across all years the median is $160k.
- How many Senior Staff Engineer H-1B LCAs has Palo Alto Networks filed?
- Palo Alto Networks has 61 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Senior Staff Engineer on record (FY2017–FY2026), 4 of them in FY2026. That is 2% of its 3,836 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Palo Alto Networks pay Senior Staff Engineers above the market?
- Palo Alto Networks's all-years median of $160k is 2% above the $157k median for Senior Staff Engineer across all H-1B employers (1,141 certified filings).
- Where does Palo Alto Networks hire H-1B Senior Staff Engineers?
- Palo Alto Networks's Senior Staff Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California; the top cities are Santa Clara, 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
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2017–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →