AI Research Scientist H-1B wages

Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026. Most are classified as Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221).

Employers filed 75 wage applications for AI Research Scientist jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 13 employers. The median offered wage was $235,586, 68.9% above the government's prevailing wage for the job. Meta Platforms, Inc filed the most (58, median $265,762).

Filings: 75
Positions covered: 80
Employers: 13
Median offered: $235,586
Median prevailing wage: $134,139
Filings since FY2020: 160
Median offer change since FY2021: +43%

AI Research Scientist, all employers75 filings, July 2025 to June 2026

$235,586Median wage employers told the government they would pay

$200,110 to $280,216Where the middle half of the filings fall

$134,139Prevailing wage: the legal minimum for these jobs

Offered wage since 2020

The median wage offered for AI Research Scientist jobs rose 43%, from $163,736 in fiscal 2021 to $234,885 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 85.9% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2025, with 29 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.

AI Research Scientist by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Filings	Median offered	vs year before	Median prevailing	vs prevailing
2026 (Oct to Jun)	69	$234,885	+11.0%	$134,139	+85.9%
2025	29	$211,584	+3.2%	$159,930	+24.6%
2024	22	$205,000	+14.9%	$162,202	+20.9%
2023	12	$178,448	+6.2%	$147,150	+10.2%
2022	13	$168,000	+2.6%	$147,014	+16.8%
2021	12	$163,736	+9.2%	$142,147	+15.8%
2020	3	$150,000	n/a	$113,859	+22.8%

Employers that file for this title

Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage

Employer	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Meta Platforms, Inc	58	$265,762	+90.2%
Domyn, Inc.	2	$148,000	+0.1%
Autodesk, Inc.	2	$209,082	at the minimum
Helport AI Inc.	2	$130,305	+49.5%
Chai Research Corp	1	$300,000	+26.2%
Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.	1	$165,000	+15.3%
Two Sigma Investments, LP	1	$220,000	+100.0%

Showing the 7 employers with the most filings of 13. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.

Where AI Research Scientist jobs are filed

Worksite	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Menlo Park, CA	44	$280,000	+108.7%
New York, NY	10	$218,764	+53.8%
Bellevue, WA	4	$1,200,000	+574.1%
San Francisco, CA	3	$209,082	at the minimum
Sunnyvale, CA	3	$230,000	+39.9%
Pittsburgh, PA	2	$161,790	+36.2%
San Diego, CA	2	$130,305	+49.5%
Cambridge, MA	1	$273,000	+90.4%
Coram, NY	1	$190,000	+9.1%
Denton, TX	1	$90,542	at the minimum
Jersey City, NJ	1	$148,000	+0.1%
Palo Alto, CA	1	$300,000	+26.2%
Princeton, NJ	1	$165,000	+15.3%
Redmond, WA	1	$211,778	+19.0%

Seniority of the jobs filed

Level I, entry10%

Level II, qualified73%

Level III, experienced6%

Level IV, fully competent11%

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.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.