Staff Software Engineer H-1B salary at Tesla — 108 certified filings (FY2017–FY2025)
- 26
- Filings · FY2025
- $218k
- Median base · FY2025
- $199k–$240k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +10%
- vs market median · all years
Tesla filed 26 certified H-1B LCAs for Staff Software Engineer in FY2025 (up 8% from the year before), with a median base salary of $218k and the middle 50% of offers between $199k and $240k. Across all years its $181k median is 10% above the $163k market median for Staff Software Engineer. It has filed 108 Staff Software Engineer LCAs since FY2017, most often in Fremont, CA.
How much does Tesla pay a Staff Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Staff Software Engineer at Tesla by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $218k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Tesla pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
Tesla's all-years median against every employer's certified Staff Software Engineer LCAs — 10% 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 | 108 | $181k |
| All employers · Staff Software Engineer | 11,475 | $163k |
How has Tesla's Staff Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
2 certified Staff Software Engineer filings in FY2017 → 26 in FY2025. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 26 | +8% | $218k |
| FY2024 | 24 | +1100% | $188k |
| FY2023 | 2 | 0% | $186k |
| FY2022 | 2 | −88% | $166k |
| FY2020 | 17 | −15% | $163k |
| FY2019 | 20 | +33% | $156k |
| FY2018 | 15 | +650% | $150k |
| FY2017 | 2 | — | $139k |
Which wage levels does Tesla file for Staff Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 100% of Tesla's Staff Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 52 Staff Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level III5.8%3
- Level IV94.2%49
Where does Tesla 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 | 90 | $180k |
| Texas | 7 | $191k |
| Washington | 6 | $199k |
| Nevada | 3 | $153k |
| New York | 2 | $145k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Fremont, CA | 66 | $166k |
| Palo Alto, CA | 15 | $218k |
| Bellevue, WA | 5 | $199k |
| Austin, TX | 4 | $184k |
| San Jose, CA | 4 | $191k |
| Sparks, NV | 3 | $153k |
| Buffalo, NY | 2 | $145k |
| Bothell, WA | 1 | $210k |
Also filed as
Tesla's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Staff Software 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 |
| Senior Software Development Engineer | 274 | $157k |
| 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 |
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 Tesla
- How much does Tesla pay a Staff Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Tesla's median certified H-1B base salary for Staff Software Engineer is $218k in FY2025, from 26 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $199k and $240k. Across all years the median is $181k.
- How many Staff Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Tesla filed?
- Tesla has 108 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Staff Software Engineer on record (FY2017–FY2025), 26 of them in FY2025. That is 1% of its 13,893 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Tesla pay Staff Software Engineers above the market?
- Tesla's all-years median of $181k is 10% above the $163k median for Staff Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (11,475 certified filings).
- Where does Tesla hire H-1B Staff Software Engineers?
- Tesla's Staff Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Texas, Washington; the top cities are Fremont, CA, Palo Alto, CA, Bellevue, WA.
- 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–FY2025). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →