Software Engineer 2 H-1B salary at Paypal — 950 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 82
- Filings · FY2025
- $135k
- Median base · FY2025
- $126k–$140k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +20%
- vs market median · all years
Paypal filed 82 certified H-1B LCAs for Software Engineer 2 in FY2025, with a median base salary of $135k and the middle 50% of offers between $126k and $140k. Across all years its $120k median is 20% above the $100k market median for Software Engineer 2. It has filed 950 Software Engineer 2 LCAs since FY2016, most often in San Jose, CA.
How much does Paypal pay a Software Engineer 2?
Certified base salary for Software Engineer 2 at Paypal by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $135k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Paypal pay Software Engineer 2s above the market?
Paypal's all-years median against every employer's certified Software Engineer 2 LCAs — 20% 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 | 950 | $120k |
| All employers · Software Engineer 2 | 6,947 | $100k |
How has Paypal's Software Engineer 2 hiring changed by year?
99 certified Software Engineer 2 filings in FY2016 → 2 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 2 | −98% | $141k |
| FY2025 | 82 | +15% | $135k |
| FY2024 | 71 | +22% | $134k |
| FY2023 | 58 | −29% | $127k |
| FY2022 | 82 | −25% | $126k |
| FY2021 | 109 | −16% | $124k |
| FY2020 | 130 | +6% | $123k |
| FY2019 | 123 | −25% | $119k |
| FY2018 | 164 | +447% | $115k |
| FY2017 | 30 | −70% | $105k |
| FY2016 | 99 | — | $110k |
Which wage levels does Paypal file for Software Engineer 2?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 3% of Paypal's Software Engineer 2 filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 622 Software Engineer 2 filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I0.6%4
- Level II96.8%602
- Level III2.3%14
- Level IV0.3%2
Where does Paypal hire H-1B Software Engineer 2s?
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 | 702 | $124k |
| Arizona | 79 | $95k |
| Texas | 53 | $113k |
| Massachusetts | 32 | $100k |
| Illinois | 21 | $110k |
| Maryland | 16 | $97k |
| Nebraska | 8 | $82k |
| New Jersey | 8 | $128k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | 691 | $124k |
| Scottsdale, AZ | 79 | $95k |
| Austin, TX | 48 | $112k |
| Newton, MA | 27 | $100k |
| Chicago, IL | 21 | $110k |
| Timonium, MD | 15 | $97k |
| San Francisco, CA | 10 | $122k |
| New York, NY | 8 | $120k |
Also filed as
Paypal's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Software Engineer 2 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 |
| MTS 2, Software Engineer | 402 | $188k |
| Software Engineer | 288 | $130k |
| Sr Software Engineer | 141 | $170k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 140 | $166k |
| Manager, Software Development 2 | 138 | $191k |
| Data Scientist 1 | 110 | $140k |
| Staff Software Engineer | 100 | $208k |
| Data Scientist | 92 | $140k |
Top Software Engineer 2 sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Capgemini America | 3,102 | $83k |
| eBay | 735 | $123k |
| Microsoft | 533 | $130k |
| Emc | 343 | $105k |
| Asurion | 120 | $103k |
| Dell Products L P | 78 | $116k |
| Bill ME Later | 60 | $95k |
| Paypal Data Services | 58 | $105k |
| Garmin International | 46 | $92k |
Common questions about Software Engineer 2 H-1B pay at Paypal
- How much does Paypal pay a Software Engineer 2 on an H-1B?
- Paypal's median certified H-1B base salary for Software Engineer 2 is $135k in FY2025, from 82 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $126k and $140k. Across all years the median is $120k.
- How many Software Engineer 2 H-1B LCAs has Paypal filed?
- Paypal has 950 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Software Engineer 2 on record (FY2016–FY2026), 2 of them in FY2026. That is 10% of its 9,295 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Paypal pay Software Engineer 2s above the market?
- Paypal's all-years median of $120k is 20% above the $100k median for Software Engineer 2 across all H-1B employers (6,947 certified filings).
- Where does Paypal hire H-1B Software Engineer 2s?
- Paypal's Software Engineer 2 LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Arizona, Texas; the top cities are San Jose, CA, Scottsdale, AZ, Austin, 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.
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–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →