Staff Software Engineer H-1B salary at Palo Alto Networks — 114 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 16
- Filings · FY2025
- $151k
- Median base · FY2025
- $151k–$151k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- −12%
- vs market median · all years
Palo Alto Networks filed 16 certified H-1B LCAs for Staff Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $151k and the middle 50% of offers between $151k and $151k. Across all years its $143k median is 12% below the $163k market median for Staff Software Engineer. It has filed 114 Staff Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Santa Clara, CA.
How much does Palo Alto Networks pay a Staff Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Staff Software 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. $151k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Palo Alto Networks pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
Palo Alto Networks's all-years median against every employer's certified Staff Software Engineer LCAs — 12% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | 114 | $143k |
| All employers · Staff Software Engineer | 11,475 | $163k |
How has Palo Alto Networks's Staff Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
1 certified Staff Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 11 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 11 | −31% | $149k |
| FY2025 | 16 | +45% | $151k |
| FY2024 | 11 | +57% | $148k |
| FY2023 | 7 | −42% | $143k |
| FY2022 | 12 | +20% | $148k |
| FY2021 | 10 | +25% | $135k |
| FY2020 | 8 | −77% | $122k |
| FY2019 | 35 | +1067% | $134k |
| FY2018 | 3 | +200% | $137k |
| FY2016 | 1 | — | $135k |
Which wage levels does Palo Alto Networks file for Staff Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 17% of Palo Alto Networks's Staff Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 70 Staff Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I1.4%1
- Level II81.4%57
- Level III15.7%11
- Level IV1.4%1
Where does Palo Alto Networks 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 | 110 | $145k |
| Texas | 3 | $109k |
| Washington | 1 | $137k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara, CA | 106 | $143k |
| San Francisco, CA | 4 | $148k |
| Plano, TX | 2 | $94k |
| Austin, TX | 1 | $109k |
| Lynnwood, WA | 1 | $137k |
Also filed as
Palo Alto Networks's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Staff Software 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 |
| 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 |
| Senior Staff Engineer | 61 | $160k |
| Software QA Engineer | 61 | $130k |
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 |
| 240 | $258k | |
| 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 Palo Alto Networks
- How much does Palo Alto Networks pay a Staff Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Palo Alto Networks's median certified H-1B base salary for Staff Software Engineer is $151k in FY2025, from 16 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $151k and $151k. Across all years the median is $143k.
- How many Staff Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Palo Alto Networks filed?
- Palo Alto Networks has 114 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Staff Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 11 of them in FY2026. That is 3% of its 3,836 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Palo Alto Networks pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
- Palo Alto Networks's all-years median of $143k is 12% below the $163k median for Staff Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (11,475 certified filings).
- Where does Palo Alto Networks hire H-1B Staff Software Engineers?
- Palo Alto Networks's Staff Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, Washington; the top cities are Santa Clara, CA, San Francisco, CA, Plano, TX.
- 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–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →