San Francisco, CA
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H1BIndex City Grade
i
A
FY 2026
2023
A+
2024
A+
2025
A+
City Visa Volume i
2,044
Filings in FY 2026
Median City Pay i
$187,574
Typical yearly salary
True Purchasing Power i
$123,641
Adjusted for Cost of Living
Green Card Rate i
21.30%
Transition to Residency
City Data Overview
An automated review of San Francisco's tech ecosystem, salaries, and residency sponsorship.Massive Visa Demand: "A"
Professionals in the local area enter a highly active job market. We tracked 2,044 corporate sponsorships, resulting in an H1B Index Rating of "A".
Remote Work Culture
About 23.8% of professionals based in the local area work entirely remotely for businesses headquartered in different states.
Core Internal Teams
Most businesses in this city hire directly for their own daily needs. Around 97.8% of sponsored workers focus entirely on internal tasks.
Senior Compensation Scale
Federal data shows a clear jump in salaries. Professionals who reach senior status in this area make about 1.9x more than entry-level workers.
Low Experience Required
This market is a great starting point for permanent residency. Local companies only require an average of 24 months of experience.
Stable Job Market
The local job market is fairly safe. Only 0.5% of companies in San Francisco reported layoffs, and the visa denial rate is 0.9%.
Layoff Radar & Risk Indicators
Minor Displacement Notice
Some City Job Cuts: Federal records show that 0.5% of San Francisco employers had recent layoffs.
Top Companies
The leading companies driving the foreign talent market in San Francisco.Salesforce, Inc.
130 Local Filings
$233,778
+24.6% City Avg
University Of California, San Francisco
68 Local Filings
$86,500
-53.9% City Avg
Amazon.com Services LLC
49 Local Filings
$178,296
Market Rate
Uber Technologies, Inc.
46 Local Filings
$196,550
Market Rate
Anthropic, Pbc
45 Local Filings
$165,000
-12.0% City Avg
Openai Opco, LLC
37 Local Filings
$310,000
+65.3% City Avg
Linkedin Corporation
35 Local Filings
$165,021
-12.0% City Avg
Ernst & Young U.S. LLP
34 Local Filings
$159,912
-14.7% City Avg
Hiring & Green Card Data
How companies acquire and retain talent.Talent Origin Pipeline
Fresh Hires (34.7%)Transfers/Poached (65.3%)
Green Card (PERM) Conversion i
21.30% of active filings transition to residency.
Top Startup Employer in San Francisco
If you are targeting a newer employer, there is currently one fast-growing startup sponsoring work visas in the San Francisco market.
10-Year Salary Trends
Tracking the 10-year salary growth for tech workers in San Francisco. Strong Regional Wage Growth: +80.7%. Total average pay baselines inside this localized job hub have expanded steadily over the ten-year window.
Lower Permanent Wage Baseline: -$19,470. Local data reveals current permanent residency filings match a 10.4% reduction compared to temporary contractor price values.
Most Common Job Titles i
The most frequently sponsored positions.Job Title & Market DataTotal Approvals
7.6% Share
156
3.7% Share
75
2.3% Share
46
1.8% Share
36
1.4% Share
29
O*NET Wage Level Distribution
Experience requirements matched against pay tiers.| Experience Level | Total Filings | Cohort Size | Minimum Base | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry Level (Level I) | 190 | 9.3% | $40,080 | $121,612 |
| Qualified (Level II) | 571 | 27.9% | $75,000 | $165,000 |
| Experienced (Level III) | 580 | 28.4% | $83,200 | $194,513 |
| Fully Competent (Level IV) | 508 | 24.9% | $125,000 | $230,000 |
| Not Disclosed (Blank) | 195 | 9.5% | $58,600 | $151,545 |
Top Local Industries
The top sectors operating in San Francisco.| Economic Sector | Total Filings | Market Share | Median Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Tech Services | 1,033 | 50.5% | $190,000 |
| Information & Tech | 471 | 23.0% | $199,176 |
| Finance & Insurance | 164 | 8.0% | $188,537 |
| Unspecified / Blank | 105 | 5.1% | $172,479 |
| Retail Trade | 87 | 4.3% | $180,261 |
| Educational Services | 82 | 4.0% | $89,346 |
| Manufacturing | 62 | 3.0% | $183,882 |
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 27 | 1.3% | $124,509 |
| Wholesale Trade | 8 | 0.4% | $212,700 |
| Construction | 5 | 0.2% | $134,992 |
Law Firms & Third-Party Work i
Leading legal counsel for visas.Law Firm & Market DataTotal Approvals
18.4% Share
332
12.2% Share
220
5.1% Share
92
3.4% Share
61
3.2% Share
57
Top Third-Party End Clients i
Where consultants are deployed.End Client & Placement DataTotal Approvals
8.9% Share
4
4.4% Share
2
4.4% Share
2
4.4% Share
2
4.4% Share
2
Highest Density Zip Codes i
The most active areas for talent.Zip Code & Hub DemographicsTotal Approvals
36.0% Hub Share
735
12.1% Hub Share
247
10.7% Hub Share
218
9.9% Hub Share
202
8.6% Hub Share
175
Historical Visa Volume
10-Year Labor Condition Application history for San Francisco.💡 Click on the legend labels below to filter data.
Historical Green Card Data
10-Year Permanent Residency sponsorship volume.💡 Click on the legend labels below to filter data.
Noticing a difference in dates? Salary metrics reflect real-time DOL filings, while approval metrics rely on finalized USCIS historical data. View timelines
Complete Employer List
A detailed ledger of all employers operating in San Francisco.| Local Employer | Total Filings | Market Share | Maximum Salary | Median Salary | Minimum Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce, Inc. | 130 | 6.4% | $543,344 | $233,778 | $87,500 |
| University Of California, San Francisco | 68 | 3.3% | $402,000 | $86,500 | $58,600 |
| Amazon.com Services LLC | 49 | 2.4% | $350,000 | $178,296 | $80,891 |
| Uber Technologies, Inc. | 46 | 2.3% | $285,200 | $196,550 | $133,000 |
| Anthropic, Pbc | 45 | 2.2% | $500,000 | $165,000 | $113,000 |
| Openai Opco, LLC | 37 | 1.8% | $555,000 | $310,000 | $165,000 |
| Linkedin Corporation | 35 | 1.7% | $311,000 | $165,021 | $123,000 |
| Ernst & Young U.S. LLP | 34 | 1.7% | $299,775 | $159,912 | $101,700 |
| Crusoe Energy Systems, Inc. | 30 | 1.5% | $310,000 | $240,500 | $165,000 |
| Airbnb, Inc. | 24 | 1.2% | $336,000 | $191,000 | $145,000 |
| Google LLC | 21 | 1.0% | $280,000 | $212,000 | $138,000 |
| Resolve Ai, Inc. | 20 | 1.0% | $300,000 | $240,000 | $200,000 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 18 | 0.9% | $275,770 | $188,547 | $162,030 |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | 18 | 0.9% | $289,786 | $222,250 | $151,131 |
| Autodesk, Inc. | 18 | 0.9% | $355,700 | $197,940 | $163,613 |
| Doordash, Inc. | 17 | 0.8% | $387,600 | $196,914 | $96,000 |
| Amazon Web Services, Inc. | 15 | 0.7% | $229,994 | $175,000 | $121,091 |
| Adobe Inc. | 14 | 0.7% | $405,000 | $210,000 | $166,000 |
| Lendingclub Bank National Association | 13 | 0.6% | $272,750 | $194,305 | $125,000 |
| Sephora USA, Inc. | 13 | 0.6% | $306,300 | $164,112 | $133,952 |
| Scale Ai, Inc. | 12 | 0.6% | $340,000 | $240,250 | $180,000 |
| Pinterest, Inc. | 12 | 0.6% | $264,514 | $225,608 | $157,647 |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | 12 | 0.6% | $323,600 | $161,117 | $109,970 |
| Sierra Technologies, Inc. | 11 | 0.5% | $360,000 | $200,000 | $170,000 |
| Databricks, Inc. | 11 | 0.5% | $328,600 | $178,506 | $125,694 |
| Mercor.Io Corporation | 11 | 0.5% | $500,000 | $161,637 | $120,000 |
| Social Finance, LLC | 10 | 0.5% | $297,000 | $219,885 | $173,250 |
| Atlassian Us, Inc. | 10 | 0.5% | $280,000 | $185,000 | $120,000 |
| Discord, Inc. | 10 | 0.5% | $315,000 | $242,128 | $186,125 |
| Docusign Inc. | 10 | 0.5% | $395,500 | $204,175 | $161,637 |
| Boston Consulting Group, Inc. | 10 | 0.5% | $268,400 | $225,400 | $149,365 |
| Notion Labs, Inc. | 9 | 0.4% | $265,000 | $231,000 | $165,000 |
| Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Inc. | 9 | 0.4% | $362,000 | $214,000 | $114,795 |
| Deloitte Consulting LLP | 9 | 0.4% | $227,730 | $161,637 | $100,339 |
| Decagon Ai, Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $350,000 | $267,500 | $180,000 |
| Pricewaterhousecoopers Advisory Services LLC | 8 | 0.4% | $227,000 | $197,000 | $145,000 |
| Jpmorgan Chase & Co. | 8 | 0.4% | $325,000 | $175,000 | $166,400 |
| Ebay Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $276,573 | $209,404 | $176,000 |
| Lyft, Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $222,000 | $148,000 | $100,000 |
| Ziphq, Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $235,000 | $165,000 | $150,000 |
| Together Computer, Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $310,000 | $200,626 | $159,328 |
| Thumbtack, Inc. | 8 | 0.4% | $220,000 | $175,000 | $126,610 |
| Dropbox, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $388,100 | $225,300 | $185,700 |
| Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $165,000 | $96,762 | $84,926 |
| Reddit, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $320,000 | $300,000 | $213,450 |
| Skwid Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $250,000 | $240,000 | $170,000 |
| Okta, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $330,000 | $203,836 | $139,235 |
| Chime Financial, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $400,000 | $170,000 | $133,300 |
| Baseten Labs, Inc. | 7 | 0.3% | $315,000 | $161,637 | $133,952 |
| Ucsf Medical Center | 6 | 0.3% | $375,066 | $156,874 | $124,509 |
Complete Salary Matrix by Job Title
Salary breakdown across all job titles in this city.| Local Job Title | Total Filings | Salary Variance | Maximum Salary | Median Salary | Minimum Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 156 | $388,000 | $500,000 | $188,000 | $112,000 |
| Senior Software Engineer | 75 | $213,632 | $361,000 | $200,000 | $147,368 |
| Member Of Technical Staff | 46 | $365,861 | $500,000 | $191,417 | $134,139 |
| Staff Software Engineer | 36 | $261,000 | $445,000 | $247,800 | $184,000 |
| Software Engineering Smts | 29 | $63,455 | $257,000 | $220,000 | $193,545 |
| Product Manager | 22 | $212,000 | $342,000 | $166,700 | $130,000 |
| Postdoctoral Scholar | 19 | $14,146 | $84,908 | $77,030 | $70,762 |
| Associate Specialist | 18 | $12,400 | $88,000 | $83,600 | $75,600 |
| Data Scientist | 17 | $186,048 | $320,000 | $190,600 | $133,952 |
| Software Engineering Lmts | 16 | $83,754 | $293,754 | $248,855 | $210,000 |
| Research Engineer | 16 | $380,000 | $500,000 | $240,000 | $120,000 |
| Product Designer | 13 | $159,594 | $279,594 | $153,691 | $120,000 |
| Chief Technology Officer | 12 | $190,000 | $310,000 | $184,253 | $120,000 |
| Software Engineering | 11 | $37,913 | $212,913 | $199,176 | $175,000 |
| Specialist | 10 | $20,300 | $110,300 | $93,200 | $90,000 |
| Sr. Software Engineer | 10 | $96,452 | $279,100 | $191,576 | $182,648 |
| Software Development Engineer Ii | 10 | $47,200 | $200,000 | $165,240 | $152,800 |
| Associate | 10 | $270,000 | $370,000 | $242,500 | $100,000 |
| Senior Product Manager | 9 | $80,000 | $245,000 | $185,994 | $165,000 |
| Founding Engineer | 9 | $170,205 | $285,000 | $187,574 | $114,795 |
| Member Of Technical Staff (Software Engineer) | 8 | $115,000 | $325,000 | $255,000 | $210,000 |
| Senior Data Engineer | 8 | $68,500 | $259,000 | $191,000 | $190,500 |
| Software Engineer Ii | 8 | $65,000 | $215,000 | $175,000 | $150,000 |
| Engineering Manager | 8 | $250,000 | $400,000 | $244,922 | $150,000 |
| Machine Learning Engineer | 8 | $126,500 | $325,000 | $235,150 | $198,500 |
| Forward Deployed Engineer | 7 | $149,077 | $275,000 | $160,000 | $125,923 |
| Software Development Engineer I | 7 | $36,800 | $169,900 | $148,400 | $133,100 |
| Member Of Technical Staff (Hardware Engineering) | 7 | $245,000 | $555,000 | $380,000 | $310,000 |
| Software Engineering Pmts | 7 | $51,819 | $325,000 | $295,000 | $273,181 |
| Senior Data Scientist | 7 | $187,070 | $325,200 | $195,000 | $138,130 |
| Director | 7 | $170,000 | $330,000 | $196,000 | $160,000 |
| Software Engineering Mts | 7 | $21,497 | $189,000 | $174,556 | $167,503 |
| Manager, Engineering | 7 | $70,637 | $275,000 | $246,050 | $204,363 |
| Data Engineer | 6 | $125,000 | $270,000 | $220,000 | $145,000 |
| Software Development Engineer | 6 | $109,600 | $249,600 | $187,188 | $140,000 |
| Senior Machine Learning Engineer | 6 | $124,400 | $315,400 | $202,256 | $191,000 |
| Analyst | 6 | $55,000 | $150,000 | $123,750 | $95,000 |
| Senior Product Designer | 6 | $58,875 | $245,000 | $191,775 | $186,125 |
| Senior Manager | 6 | $51,000 | $227,000 | $210,000 | $176,000 |
| Sr Software Engineer | 6 | $76,477 | $259,000 | $209,000 | $182,523 |
| Senior Associate | 5 | $255,000 | $400,000 | $157,000 | $145,000 |
| Chief Of Staff | 5 | $75,000 | $210,000 | $170,000 | $135,000 |
| Assistant Professional Researcher | 5 | $5,700 | $99,100 | $93,400 | $93,400 |
| Research Operations | 5 | $375,000 | $500,000 | $125,000 | $125,000 |
| Head Of Engineering | 5 | $50,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 | $200,000 |
| Manager | 5 | $106,868 | $284,800 | $179,285 | $177,932 |
| Vice President | 5 | $105,000 | $300,000 | $242,500 | $195,000 |
| Ai Engineer | 5 | $100,635 | $250,000 | $215,000 | $149,365 |
| Speech Language Pathologist | 5 | $52,999 | $142,397 | $89,398 | $89,398 |
| Account Executive | 5 | $232,500 | $327,500 | $112,778 | $95,000 |
Historical Compensation Averages
Year-over-year salary data comparing historical averages.| Fiscal Year | YoY Growth | Maximum | Median | Average | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | In Progress | $750,000 | $187,870 | $189,615 | $66,560 |
| 2025 | +3.9% | $690,000 | $175,000 | $173,549 | $45,760 |
| 2024 | +6.3% | $800,000 | $168,500 | $166,807 | $47,840 |
| 2023 | +1.3% | $530,000 | $158,500 | $158,036 | $31,200 |
| 2022 | +7.7% | $650,000 | $156,459 | $155,911 | $39,520 |
| 2021 | +7.6% | $642,032 | $145,246 | $145,611 | $43,680 |
| 2020 | +8.0% | $550,000 | $135,000 | $133,794 | $41,600 |
| 2019 | +4.8% | $305,000 | $125,000 | $127,796 | $45,760 |
| 2018 | +8.4% | $741,331 | $119,246 | $117,488 | $31,200 |
| 2017 | +5.8% | $640,000 | $110,000 | $109,125 | $31,200 |
| 2016 | - | $514,000 | $103,952 | $103,958 | $33,280 |
Recent Visa Applications (FY 2026)
Raw, unedited federal disclosures showing individual labor applications filed in this city.City Specific Intelligence (FAQ)
Common questions and insights about San Francisco.Do sponsored workers pay high state taxes in San Francisco?
Local state income tax is approximately 9.3%. A professional earning the median wage here pays an estimated $17,444 to the state.
How far does a standard salary go in San Francisco?
Adjusting for the local cost of living and specific state taxes brings the true purchasing power of the median wage to about $123,641.
What company hires the most international workers in San Francisco?
Currently, Salesforce, Inc. drives the local employment market, generating 130 approved work visas in San Francisco.