Staff Research Scientist H-1B salary at Visa U.S.A. — 74 certified filings (FY2019–FY2026)
- 9
- Filings · FY2025
- $165k
- Median base · FY2025
- $155k–$180k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- −9%
- vs market median · all years
Visa U.S.A. filed 9 certified H-1B LCAs for Staff Research Scientist in FY2025, with a median base salary of $165k and the middle 50% of offers between $155k and $180k. Across all years its $153k median is 9% below the $169k market median for Staff Research Scientist. It has filed 74 Staff Research Scientist LCAs since FY2019, most often in Palo Alto, CA.
How much does Visa U.S.A. pay a Staff Research Scientist?
Certified base salary for Staff Research Scientist at Visa U.S.A. by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $165k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Visa U.S.A. pay Staff Research Scientists above the market?
Visa U.S.A.'s all-years median against every employer's certified Staff Research Scientist LCAs — 9% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Visa U.S.A. | 74 | $153k |
| All employers · Staff Research Scientist | 203 | $169k |
How has Visa U.S.A.'s Staff Research Scientist hiring changed by year?
17 certified Staff Research Scientist filings in FY2019 → 9 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 9 | 0% | $169k |
| FY2025 | 9 | +125% | $165k |
| FY2024 | 4 | −60% | $124k |
| FY2023 | 10 | +25% | $140k |
| FY2022 | 8 | −11% | $144k |
| FY2021 | 9 | +13% | $142k |
| FY2020 | 8 | −53% | $130k |
| FY2019 | 17 | — | $158k |
Which wage levels does Visa U.S.A. file for Staff Research Scientist?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 52% of Visa U.S.A.'s Staff Research Scientist filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 69 Staff Research Scientist filings with a wage level · all years
- Level I8.7%6
- Level II39.1%27
- Level III37.7%26
- Level IV14.5%10
Where does Visa U.S.A. hire H-1B Staff Research Scientists?
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 | 60 | $158k |
| Georgia | 7 | $123k |
| Texas | 6 | $136k |
| Massachusetts | 1 | $142k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto, CA | 43 | $153k |
| Foster City, CA | 17 | $169k |
| Atlanta, GA | 7 | $123k |
| Austin, TX | 6 | $136k |
| Cambridge, MA | 1 | $142k |
Also filed as
Visa U.S.A.'s other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Staff Research Scientist LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Visa U.S.A.
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Sr. Sw Engineer | 309 | $100k |
| Staff Sw Engineer | 303 | $128k |
| Director | 284 | $152k |
| Data Scientist | 153 | $109k |
| Sr. Data Scientist | 105 | $137k |
| Sr. Sw Test Engineer | 101 | $99k |
| Sr. Product Manager | 92 | $145k |
| Software Engineer - Sr. Consultant Level | 77 | $149k |
| Sr. Director | 75 | $189k |
| Staff Sw Test Engineer | 72 | $117k |
Top Staff Research Scientist sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| IBM | 42 | $239k |
| 8 | $267k | |
| Boston Dynamics | 8 | $178k |
| Washington University | 7 | $57k |
| Kennedy Krieger Institute | 7 | $58k |
| Upstart Network | 7 | $160k |
| Fireeye | 5 | $158k |
| Shockwave Medical | 3 | $159k |
| Chewy | 3 | $217k |
Common questions about Staff Research Scientist H-1B pay at Visa U.S.A.
- How much does Visa U.S.A. pay a Staff Research Scientist on an H-1B?
- Visa U.S.A.'s median certified H-1B base salary for Staff Research Scientist is $165k in FY2025, from 9 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $155k and $180k. Across all years the median is $153k.
- How many Staff Research Scientist H-1B LCAs has Visa U.S.A. filed?
- Visa U.S.A. has 74 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Staff Research Scientist on record (FY2019–FY2026), 9 of them in FY2026. That is 2% of its 3,631 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Visa U.S.A. pay Staff Research Scientists above the market?
- Visa U.S.A.'s all-years median of $153k is 9% below the $169k median for Staff Research Scientist across all H-1B employers (203 certified filings).
- Where does Visa U.S.A. hire H-1B Staff Research Scientists?
- Visa U.S.A.'s Staff Research Scientist LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Georgia, Texas; the top cities are Palo Alto, CA, Foster City, CA, Atlanta, GA.
- 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 (FY2019–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →