H-1B wage filings in Santa Cruz, CA
Jobs with a worksite in Santa Cruz, California. Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026.
141 wage applications for H-1B and similar visas named Santa Cruz, CA as the worksite from July 2025 to June 2026, from 24 employers. The median offered wage was $158,727, 21.8% above the government's prevailing wage for those jobs in the area. The most-filed job was Assistant Professor (7).
- Filings
- 141
- Positions covered
- 156
- Employers
- 24
- Median offered
- $158,727
- Median prevailing wage
- $121,816
- Filings since FY2020
- 877
- Median offer change since FY2020
- +46%
Offered wage since 2020
The median wage offered for jobs in Santa Cruz, CA rose 46%, from $109,294 in fiscal 2020 to $159,084 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 21.4% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2022, with 146 filings.
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wageFilings per year
Fiscal years run October to September. Fiscal 2026 is still running: these figures cover October 2025 to June 2026.
Santa Cruz, CA by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Filings | Median offered | vs year before | Median prevailing | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Oct to Jun) | 114 | $159,084 | +7.2% | $127,254 | +21.4% |
| 2025 | 141 | $148,400 | +1.2% | $114,650 | +24.5% |
| 2024 | 135 | $146,700 | +9.4% | $112,133 | +26.5% |
| 2023 | 126 | $134,129 | +9.9% | $95,481 | +29.0% |
| 2022 | 146 | $122,000 | +10.9% | $92,976 | +29.5% |
| 2021 | 115 | $110,000 | +0.6% | $88,587 | +25.3% |
| 2020 | 100 | $109,294 | n/a | $88,587 | +15.5% |
Employers filing for jobs in Santa Cruz
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage
| Employer | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joby Aero, Inc. | 78 | $175,500 | +28.0% | |
| University of California, Santa Cruz | 25 | $111,048 | at the minimum | |
| Amazon.com Services LLC | 11 | $175,600 | +54.2% | |
| RJT Compuquest Inc. dba Apolis | 3 | $99,840 | +0.3% | |
| Henry Labs Inc | 2 | $92,700 | +73.2% | |
| Altimetrik Corp. | 2 | $121,701 | at the minimum | |
| University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources | 1 | $123,000 | +35.4% | |
| DTEN, Inc. | 1 | $149,000 | +1.2% | |
| Antra, Inc. | 1 | $87,800 | +0.1% | |
| Paystand, Inc. | 1 | $206,064 | +3.0% | |
| Veeva Systems Inc. | 1 | $136,000 | +41.3% | |
| Coalition Inc. | 1 | $152,156 | +58.1% | |
| Precision Physical Therapy & Fitness | 1 | $96,000 | +8.0% | |
| Five Branches University, Inc. | 1 | $89,440 | +0.2% | |
| Affiliated Engineers W, Inc. | 1 | $106,000 | +13.8% | |
| Editorialist, Inc. | 1 | $160,000 | +95.5% | |
| Caremark LLC | 1 | $148,526 | +0.9% | |
Showing the 17 employers with the most filings of 24. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.
Most-filed job titles in Santa Cruz
| Job title | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Professor | 7 | $130,000 | +22.2% | |
| Postdoctoral Scholar | 7 | $79,881 | at the minimum | |
| Software Dev Engineer I | 4 | $148,400 | +54.2% | |
| Software Dev Engineer II | 4 | $197,800 | +51.1% | |
| Software Engineer | 4 | $121,701 | at the minimum | |
| Assistant Project Scientist | 3 | $86,400 | at the minimum | |
| Computer Programmer | 3 | $99,840 | +0.3% | |
| Global Supply Manager | 3 | $118,000 | +18.1% | |
| Senior Global Supply Manager | 3 | $160,000 | +28.0% | |
| Senior Software Engineer | 3 | $156,197 | +6.1% | |
| Staff Battery Algorithms Engineer | 3 | $210,000 | +42.7% | |
| Systems Senior Engineer | 3 | $189,100 | +14.2% | |
| Ground Support Equipment Lead | 2 | $192,672 | +28.0% | |
| Lead Software Engineer | 2 | $159,921 | at the minimum | |
| Product Designer | 2 | $92,700 | +73.2% | |
| Professor | 2 | $206,850 | at the minimum | |
| Senior Embedded SW Test Engineer | 2 | $187,600 | +35.2% | |
| Software Engineering Lead | 2 | $217,000 | +25.7% | |
| Software Verification Engineer | 2 | $135,900 | +17.2% | |
| Supplier Industrialization Sr. Engineer | 2 | $169,000 | +42.2% | |
| System Test Senior Engineer | 2 | $167,375 | +25.9% | |
| 3DX Senior Software Engineer | 1 | $165,000 | +35.6% | |
| Acting Associate Professor | 1 | $148,500 | +74.3% | |
| Actuator Test Software Lead | 1 | $241,272 | +28.5% | |
| Adaptive Optics Simulation Scientist | 1 | n/a | ||
Seniority of the jobs filed
The government assigns each job one of four wage levels. A higher level means a higher legal minimum.
What these numbers are
- They are wages employers attested to on Labor Condition Applications (Form ETA-9035), not paychecks. Bonuses and stock are not included.
- A filing is not a visa or a hire. One filing can cover several positions, and some are later withdrawn. Wage figures use certified filings only.
- The prevailing wage is the minimum the employer must pay for that job in that area, set from government wage surveys.
- The city is the worksite on the filing, which can be a client's office or a remote worker's home, not the employer's headquarters.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.