AI Researcher H-1B wages

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

Employers filed 36 wage applications for AI Researcher jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 20 employers. The median offered wage was $236,393, 37.6% above the government's prevailing wage for the job. Cisco Systems, Inc. filed the most (9, median $199,700).

Filings: 36
Positions covered: 111
Employers: 20
Median offered: $236,393
Median prevailing wage: $177,820
Filings since FY2020: 62
Median offer change since FY2024: +26%

AI Researcher, all employers36 filings, July 2025 to June 2026

$236,393Median wage employers told the government they would pay

$184,264 to $296,250Where the middle half of the filings fall

$177,820Prevailing wage: the legal minimum for these jobs

Offered wage since 2020

The median wage offered for AI Researcher jobs rose 26%, from $181,900 in fiscal 2024 to $230,000 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it was 38.1% above the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2025, with 19 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 Researcher by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Filings	Median offered	vs year before	Median prevailing	vs prevailing
2026 (Oct to Jun)	31	$230,000	+9.8%	$164,403	+38.1%
2025	19	$209,566	+15.2%	$188,667	+14.6%
2024	7	$181,900	n/a	$115,586	+22.6%
2023	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2021	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2020	4	$110,180	n/a	$101,224	+8.8%

Employers that file for this title

Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage

Employer	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
Cisco Systems, Inc.	9	$199,700	+23.7%
Workato Inc.	4	$360,000	+72.2%
FL2024-008, Inc.	3	$340,000	+62.6%
Tavus Inc.	2	$225,000	+7.6%
WorkCo International LLC	2	$170,000	+13.7%
Traversal, Inc.	2	$242,500	+120.4%
DRW Associates LLC	1	$237,786	+44.6%
Netflix, Inc.	1	$184,018	at the minimum
Balyasny Asset Management, L.P.	1	$185,000	+38.1%
Vatic Labs Operations, LLC	1	$265,000	+38.1%
WizardQuant LLC	1	$300,000	+82.5%
Chai Research Corp	1	n/a
Avm, L.P.	1	$150,000	+59.9%
Atlassian US, Inc.	1	$171,000	+47.5%
Writer, Inc.	1	$265,000	+24.1%

Showing the 15 employers with the most filings of 20. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.

Where AI Researcher jobs are filed

Worksite	Filings	Median offered	vs prevailing
San Francisco, CA	18	$250,200	+36.3%
New York, NY	4	$250,100	+75.8%
Palo Alto, CA	4	$237,786	+44.6%
Holmdel, NJ	2	$163,600	+23.9%
Boca Raton, FL	1	$150,000	+59.9%
Los Angeles, CA	1	$184,018	at the minimum
Milpitas, CA	1	$199,700	+22.3%
Rockville, MD	1	$171,000	+47.5%
San Jose, CA	1	$160,100	+23.9%
Santa Clara, CA	1	$300,000	+82.5%
Sunnyvale, CA	1	$190,000	+15.6%
West Hollywood, CA	1	$400,000	+117.4%

Seniority of the jobs filed

Level I, entry9%

Level II, qualified38%

Level III, experienced6%

Level IV, fully competent47%

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.
1 filing is for part-time work. Hourly wages are shown as full-time equivalents (2,080 hours a year).

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