H-1B Wage Lookup

Data through FY2026 Q3 (Jun 30, 2026)

Principal Software Engineer

Occupation profile for Principal Software Engineer covers 2,560 filings across the reporting window. FY2026 certified median offer: $174,681.

FY2026 certified median
$174,681
Total filings
2,560
FY2026 25th–75th percentile
$150,080–$207,079
Top employer
WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.
Certified offers by fiscal year
Fiscal yearFilingsMedian25th percentile75th percentile
FY2024865$158,167$141,898$193,208
FY2025973$165,772$149,781$200,000
FY2026 (Q1–Q3)722$174,681$150,080$207,079

FY2026 is partial (*). Its filing totals are not comparable to a full fiscal year.

Median offer by fiscal year

Certified median offer, Principal Software EngineerFY2024 $158,167; FY2025 $165,772; FY2026 (Q1–Q3) $174,681$0$60,000$120,000$180,000FY2024$158,167FY2025$165,772FY2026 (Q1–Q3)$174,681Certified median offer, Principal Software EngineerFY2024 $158,167; FY2025 $165,772; FY2026 (Q1–Q3) $174,681$0$60k$120k$180kFY2024$158,167FY2025$165,772FY2026*$174,681
Certified H-1B LCAs, $15k–$2M, DOL OFLC

Top employers

  1. WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.223 filings
  2. Palo Alto Networks, Inc.86 filings
  3. Citizens Financial Group, Inc.55 filings
  4. Cadence Design Systems, Inc.52 filings
  5. Mastercard Technologies, LLC45 filings
  6. Medtronic, Inc.37 filings
  7. CBRE, INC.36 filings
  8. The MathWorks, Inc.36 filings
  9. Intuit Inc.34 filings
  10. Roblox Corporation30 filings

Top cities

  1. Santa Clara142 filings
  2. Sunnyvale126 filings
  3. San Jose106 filings
  4. Bentonville73 filings
  5. San Francisco57 filings
  6. Austin56 filings
  7. Dallas55 filings
  8. Charlotte46 filings
  9. Mountain View45 filings
  10. Natick41 filings

Filings by employer and title

  1. WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC. · Principal Software Engineer223 filings
  2. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Principal Software Engineer86 filings
  3. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. · Principal Software Engineer55 filings
  4. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. · Principal Software Engineer52 filings
  5. Mastercard Technologies, LLC · Principal Software Engineer45 filings
  6. Medtronic, Inc. · Principal Software Engineer37 filings
  7. CBRE, INC. · Principal Software Engineer36 filings
  8. The MathWorks, Inc. · Principal Software Engineer36 filings
  9. Intuit Inc. · Principal Software Engineer34 filings
  10. Roblox Corporation · Principal Software Engineer30 filings

Prevailing wages by area and occupation

The OFLC wage year runs from July through June. Worksites use the area of the most frequently reported county with a matching wage area for their city.

Annual prevailing wage levels
Wage yearAreaSOCLevel ILevel IILevel IIILevel IV
2026-27San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAArea 4194015-1252$152,797$187,075$221,374$255,653
2026-27Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXArea 1910015-1252$95,202$116,896$138,590$160,285
2026-27San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CAArea 4186015-1252$137,093$165,131$193,149$221,187
2026-27Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHArea 1446015-1252$114,275$138,237$162,198$186,160
2026-27New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJArea 3562015-1252$109,845$137,717$165,589$193,461
2026-27Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAArea 4266015-1252$111,613$143,104$174,595$206,086
2026-27Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVArea 4790015-1252$102,086$127,462$152,838$178,214
2026-27Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TXArea 1242015-1252$95,888$119,642$143,395$167,149
2026-27Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, ARArea 2222015-1252$70,054$89,814$109,554$129,314
2026-27Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAArea 1206015-1252$91,915$113,776$135,658$157,518