Principal Software Engineer H-1B salary at Walmart Associates — 333 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 40
- Filings · FY2025
- $153k
- Median base · FY2025
- $153k–$161k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +23%
- vs market median · all years
Walmart Associates filed 40 certified H-1B LCAs for Principal Software Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $153k and the middle 50% of offers between $153k and $161k. Across all years its $186k median is 23% above the $151k market median for Principal Software Engineer. It has filed 333 Principal Software Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Sunnyvale, CA.
How much does Walmart Associates pay a Principal Software Engineer?
Certified base salary for Principal Software Engineer at Walmart Associates by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $153k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Walmart Associates pay Principal Software Engineers above the market?
Walmart Associates's all-years median against every employer's certified Principal Software Engineer LCAs — 23% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Associates | 333 | $186k |
| All employers · Principal Software Engineer | 7,525 | $151k |
How has Walmart Associates's Principal Software Engineer hiring changed by year?
8 certified Principal Software Engineer filings in FY2016 → 51 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 51 | +28% | $186k |
| FY2025 | 40 | −15% | $153k |
| FY2024 | 47 | −4% | $162k |
| FY2023 | 49 | +69% | $168k |
| FY2022 | 29 | −34% | $214k |
| FY2021 | 44 | +57% | $214k |
| FY2020 | 28 | +22% | $203k |
| FY2019 | 23 | +109% | $192k |
| FY2018 | 11 | +267% | $187k |
| FY2017 | 3 | −62% | $181k |
| FY2016 | 8 | — | $181k |
Which wage levels does Walmart Associates file for Principal Software Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 100% of Walmart Associates's Principal Software Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 250 Principal Software Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II0.4%1
- Level III72.0%180
- Level IV27.6%69
Where does Walmart Associates hire H-1B Principal 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 | 225 | $186k |
| Arkansas | 67 | $165k |
| Texas | 15 | $179k |
| New Jersey | 10 | $215k |
| Washington | 8 | $220k |
| Virginia | 6 | $180k |
| Colorado | 1 | $217k |
| Oregon | 1 | $188k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale, CA | 168 | $186k |
| Bentonville, AR | 67 | $165k |
| San Bruno, CA | 14 | $187k |
| Mountain House, CA | 11 | $199k |
| Hoboken, NJ | 10 | $215k |
| Dallas, TX | 9 | $181k |
| Lathrop, CA | 7 | $153k |
| Bellevue, WA | 6 | $210k |
Also filed as
Walmart Associates's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Principal Software Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Walmart Associates
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer III | 5,143 | $117k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 3,938 | $150k |
| Staff Software Engineer | 1,608 | $160k |
| Software Engineer II | 831 | $79k |
| Senior Data Scientist | 656 | $160k |
| Programmer Analyst | 532 | $74k |
| Senior Product Manager | 439 | $147k |
| Data Scientist | 383 | $130k |
| Data Engineer III | 374 | $117k |
| Staff Data Scientist | 295 | $171k |
Top Principal Software Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 237 | $190k |
| Cadence Design Systems | 171 | $138k |
| Palo Alto Networks | 163 | $204k |
| Nisum Technologies | 135 | $120k |
| Symantec | 122 | $139k |
| Intuit | 112 | $192k |
| Veritas Technologies | 100 | $138k |
| Staples | 98 | $113k |
| Splunk | 90 | $220k |
Common questions about Principal Software Engineer H-1B pay at Walmart Associates
- How much does Walmart Associates pay a Principal Software Engineer on an H-1B?
- Walmart Associates's median certified H-1B base salary for Principal Software Engineer is $153k in FY2025, from 40 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $153k and $161k. Across all years the median is $186k.
- How many Principal Software Engineer H-1B LCAs has Walmart Associates filed?
- Walmart Associates has 333 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Principal Software Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 51 of them in FY2026. That is 1% of its 24,981 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Walmart Associates pay Principal Software Engineers above the market?
- Walmart Associates's all-years median of $186k is 23% above the $151k median for Principal Software Engineer across all H-1B employers (7,525 certified filings).
- Where does Walmart Associates hire H-1B Principal Software Engineers?
- Walmart Associates's Principal Software Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in California, Arkansas, Texas; the top cities are Sunnyvale, CA, Bentonville, AR, San Bruno, CA.
- 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 →