Senior Software Engineer H-1B salary at Paypal — 140 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 54
- Filings · FY2025
- $180k
- Median base · FY2025
- $160k–$200k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +27%
- vs market median · all years
Paypal filed 54 certified H-1B LCAs for Senior Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $180k and the middle 50% of offers between $160k and $200k. Across all years its $166k median is 27% above the $131k market median for Senior Software Engineer. It has filed 140 Senior Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in San Jose, CA.
How much does Paypal pay a Senior Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Senior Software Engineer at Paypal by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $180k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Paypal pay Senior Software Engineers above the market?
Paypal's all-years median against every employer's certified Senior Software Engineer LCAs — 27% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Paypal | 140 | $166k |
| All employers · Senior Software Engineer | 75,253 | $131k |
How has Paypal's Senior Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
1 certified Senior Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 44 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 44 | −19% | $177k |
| FY2025 | 54 | +500% | $180k |
| FY2024 | 9 | +125% | $165k |
| FY2023 | 4 | −75% | $143k |
| FY2022 | 16 | +220% | $151k |
| FY2021 | 5 | +150% | $154k |
| FY2020 | 2 | 0% | $121k |
| FY2019 | 2 | +100% | $129k |
| FY2018 | 1 | −50% | $140k |
| FY2017 | 2 | +100% | $116k |
| FY2016 | 1 | — | $130k |
Which wage levels does Paypal file for Senior Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 90% of Paypal's Senior Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 63 Senior Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I1.6%1
- Level II7.9%5
- Level III77.8%49
- Level IV12.7%8
Where does Paypal 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 |
|---|---|---|
| California | 90 | $179k |
| Texas | 22 | $143k |
| Arizona | 9 | $125k |
| Illinois | 8 | $150k |
| New York | 3 | $210k |
| Maryland | 2 | $118k |
| Delaware | 1 | $132k |
| Massachusetts | 1 | $129k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | 84 | $180k |
| Austin, TX | 20 | $143k |
| Scottsdale, AZ | 9 | $125k |
| Chicago, IL | 8 | $150k |
| New York, NY | 3 | $210k |
| Timonium, MD | 2 | $118k |
| Alhambra, CA | 1 | $161k |
| Bellevue, WA | 1 | $151k |
Also filed as
Paypal's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Senior Software Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Paypal
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer 3 | 1,374 | $141k |
| MTS 1, Software Engineer | 1,018 | $162k |
| Software Engineer 2 | 950 | $120k |
| MTS 2, Software Engineer | 402 | $188k |
| Software Engineer | 288 | $130k |
| Sr Software Engineer | 141 | $170k |
| Manager, Software Development 2 | 138 | $191k |
| Data Scientist 1 | 110 | $140k |
| Staff Software Engineer | 100 | $208k |
| Data Scientist | 92 | $140k |
Top Senior Software Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Associates | 3,938 | $150k |
| Microsoft | 3,271 | $155k |
| 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 Paypal
- How much does Paypal pay a Senior Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Paypal's median certified H-1B base salary for Senior Software Engineer is $180k in FY2025, from 54 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $160k and $200k. Across all years the median is $166k.
- How many Senior Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Paypal filed?
- Paypal has 140 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Senior Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 44 of them in FY2026. That is 2% of its 9,295 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Paypal pay Senior Software Engineers above the market?
- Paypal's all-years median of $166k is 27% above the $131k median for Senior Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (75,253 certified filings).
- Where does Paypal hire H-1B Senior Software Engineers?
- Paypal's Senior Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, Arizona; the top cities are San Jose, CA, Austin, TX, Scottsdale, AZ.
- 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 (FY2016–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →