Senior Software Development Engineer H-1B salary at Tesla — 274 certified filings (FY2020–FY2025)
- 8
- Filings · FY2025
- $182k
- Median base · FY2025
- $173k–$185k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +13%
- vs market median · all years
Tesla filed 8 certified H-1B LCAs for Senior Software Development Engineer in FY2025 (down 11% from the year before), with a median base salary of $182k and the middle 50% of offers between $173k and $185k. Across all years its $157k median is 13% above the $139k market median for Senior Software Development Engineer. It has filed 274 Senior Software Development Engineer LCAs since FY2020, most often in Fremont, CA.
How much does Tesla pay a Senior Software Development Engineer?
Certified base salary for Senior Software Development Engineer at Tesla 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 Tesla pay Senior Software Development Engineers above the market?
Tesla's all-years median against every employer's certified Senior Software Development Engineer LCAs — 13% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla | 274 | $157k |
| All employers · Senior Software Development Engineer | 2,849 | $139k |
How has Tesla's Senior Software Development Engineer hiring changed by year?
16 certified Senior Software Development Engineer filings in FY2020 → 8 in FY2025. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 8 | −11% | $182k |
| FY2024 | 9 | −88% | $169k |
| FY2023 | 75 | −13% | $163k |
| FY2022 | 86 | +8% | $155k |
| FY2021 | 80 | +400% | $150k |
| FY2020 | 16 | — | $141k |
Which wage levels does Tesla file for Senior Software Development Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 98% of Tesla's Senior Software Development Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 153 Senior Software Development Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II2.0%3
- Level III96.1%147
- Level IV2.0%3
Where does Tesla hire H-1B Senior Software Development 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 | 236 | $157k |
| Texas | 26 | $157k |
| Washington | 8 | $162k |
| Arizona | 1 | $155k |
| Michigan | 1 | $156k |
| Nevada | 1 | $135k |
| Utah | 1 | $145k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Fremont, CA | 151 | $155k |
| Palo Alto, CA | 75 | $163k |
| Austin, TX | 26 | $157k |
| Bellevue, WA | 7 | $162k |
| San Jose, CA | 3 | $165k |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 3 | $164k |
| Milpitas, CA | 2 | $173k |
| Auburn Hills, MI | 1 | $156k |
Also filed as
Tesla's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Senior Software Development Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Tesla
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Development Engineer | 437 | $140k |
| Mechanical Design Engineer | 354 | $122k |
| Process Engineer | 300 | $103k |
| Manufacturing Engineer | 284 | $114k |
| Manufacturing Equipment Engineer | 245 | $108k |
| Staff Software Development Engineer | 229 | $197k |
| Software Engineer | 154 | $130k |
| Senior Mechanical Design Engineer | 139 | $130k |
| Sr Software Development Engineer | 139 | $183k |
| Sourcing Engineer | 137 | $123k |
Top Senior Software Development Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Expedia | 236 | $156k |
| Microsoft | 228 | $166k |
| Zillow | 132 | $185k |
| Mastercard International | 119 | $91k |
| CVS Shared Services Resources | 100 | $135k |
| United Parcel Service General Services | 98 | $134k |
| Metlife Group | 84 | $96k |
| Workday | 69 | $138k |
| Brillio | 50 | $102k |
Common questions about Senior Software Development Engineer H-1B pay at Tesla
- How much does Tesla pay a Senior Software Development Engineer on an H-1B?
- Tesla's median certified H-1B base salary for Senior Software Development Engineer is $182k in FY2025, from 8 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $173k and $185k. Across all years the median is $157k.
- How many Senior Software Development Engineer H-1B LCAs has Tesla filed?
- Tesla has 274 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Senior Software Development Engineer on record (FY2020–FY2025), 8 of them in FY2025. That is 2% of its 13,893 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Tesla pay Senior Software Development Engineers above the market?
- Tesla's all-years median of $157k is 13% above the $139k median for Senior Software Development Engineer across all H-1B employers (2,849 certified filings).
- Where does Tesla hire H-1B Senior Software Development Engineers?
- Tesla's Senior Software Development Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, Washington; the top cities are Fremont, CA, Palo Alto, CA, 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
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2020–FY2025). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →