2026 Edition · An annual reference on what work pays

Microsoft

Offered base salaries from 6,992 certified H-1B filings, across 30 roles in 41 metro areas.

DOL LCA disclosures · FY 2025 Certified, full-time filings only
Table 1 — The median offer

Half of Microsoft's certified filings offered $170,000 or more.

The middle half of offers fell between $151,616 and $190,872. Offered base salary excludes equity and bonus — read every figure on this page as a floor on total pay, not an average.

Table 2 — Roles

What they hire for

Offered base salary by occupation, nationwide, ordered by filing volume.

RoleMedian offerRangeFilings
Software Developers$170,593$83k – $314k4432
Computer Occupations, All Other$164,980$78k – $250k922
Data Scientists$171,500$86k – $278k745
Electrical Engineers$185,381$109k – $275k174
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$165,150$102k – $235k126
Computer Hardware Engineers$183,140$114k – $271k77
Industrial Engineers$168,800$107k – $290k63
Management Analysts$180,000$88k – $244k59
Information Security Analysts$183,602$118k – $225k47
Computer Network Architects$182,382$123k – $233k41
Table 3 — Metro areas

Where they hire

The same filings by worksite metro area.

Metro areaMedian offerRangeFilings
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$172,379$79k – $290k4677
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$193,970$132k – $314k635
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$144,375$80k – $242k247
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$141,445$84k – $212k241
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$180,000$113k – $270k222
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX$154,000$99k – $214k191
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$186,282$130k – $284k97
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC$138,900$78k – $183k83
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$158,100$105k – $217k68
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$166,400$106k – $219k56
Table 4 — Against the market

Offers beside the local going rate

Each row compares Microsoft's median offer with the median for everyone in that occupation and metro, from federal wage statistics.

Role — MetroMedian offerFilingsvs. market
Software Developers — Seattle$171,1863175+2.3%
Data Scientists — Seattle$173,000536+5.0%
Computer Occupations, All Other — Seattle$173,124494+27.2%
Software Developers — San Jose$196,444428−7.8%
Software Developers — Atlanta$143,600154+8.0%
Computer Occupations, All Other — Dallas$137,235124+7.8%
Software Developers — New York$183,000120+9.7%
Software Developers — Dallas$141,44593+6.1%
Software Developers — Austin$141,06089+5.2%
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists — Seattle$168,00076+64.4%
Sources

How this page was made

Employer pay
US Department of Labor, Labor Condition Application disclosures, FY 2025. Public records.
Coverage
6,992 certified full-time H-1B filings. Groups under 3 filings are excluded throughout.
Market comparison
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

Filings state the offered base salary at time of application; equity and bonus are not recorded, and visa-sponsored hiring skews toward larger employers and technical roles — this page describes Microsoft's visa filings, not its whole workforce. Employer names are normalised from filing entities, so figures cover the filing entity named above. We take no payment from employers for how any figure is presented, and corrections are welcome at press@salaryalmanac.com.