Staff Research Associate H-1B wages
Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026. Most are classified as Molecular and Cellular Biologists (SOC 19-1029.02).
Employers filed 26 wage applications for Staff Research Associate jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 9 employers. The median offered wage was $81,392, exactly the government's prevailing wage, the legal minimum, for the job. University of California, Los Angeles filed the most (7, median $64,561).
- Filings
- 26
- Positions covered
- 26
- Employers
- 9
- Median offered
- $81,392
- Median prevailing wage
- $75,550
- Filings since FY2020
- 122
- Median offer change since FY2020
- +28%
Offered wage since 2020
The median wage offered for Staff Research Associate jobs rose 28%, from $63,263 in fiscal 2020 to $80,927 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it sat exactly on the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2024, with 24 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.
Staff Research Associate by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Filings | Median offered | vs year before | Median prevailing | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Oct to Jun) | 19 | $80,927 | +6.3% | $72,003 | at the minimum |
| 2025 | 21 | $76,141 | +23.7% | $75,311 | at the minimum |
| 2024 | 24 | $61,573 | −7.8% | $61,573 | at the minimum |
| 2023 | 16 | $66,791 | +2.6% | $65,545 | at the minimum |
| 2022 | 14 | $65,122 | −0.6% | $62,721 | at the minimum |
| 2021 | 13 | $65,545 | +3.6% | $63,371 | at the minimum |
| 2020 | 15 | $63,263 | n/a | $61,162 | at the minimum |
Employers that file for this title
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage
| Employer | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, Los Angeles | 7 | $64,561 | at the minimum | |
| Arc Research Institute | 6 | $107,000 | +39.4% | |
| University of California, Berkeley | 4 | $76,930 | at the minimum | |
| University of California, Davis | 3 | $80,927 | +12.6% | |
| University of California at Santa Barbara | 2 | $90,231 | at the minimum | |
| Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center | 1 | $85,325 | at the minimum | |
| University of California, San Francisco | 1 | $62,442 | at the minimum | |
| University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center | 1 | $53,851 | at the minimum | |
| University of California, Irvine | 1 | $90,000 | at the minimum | |
Where Staff Research Associate jobs are filed
| Worksite | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | 7 | $64,561 | at the minimum | |
| Palo Alto, CA | 6 | $107,000 | +39.4% | |
| Berkeley, CA | 4 | $76,930 | at the minimum | |
| Davis, CA | 3 | $80,927 | +12.6% | |
| Santa Barbara, CA | 2 | $90,231 | at the minimum | |
| Irvine, CA | 1 | $90,000 | at the minimum | |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 1 | $53,851 | at the minimum | |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 | $62,442 | at the minimum | |
| Torrance, CA | 1 | $85,325 | at the minimum | |
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.