What Microsoft certifies it pays.
Base-pay bands from 39,470 certified Department of Labor wage filings across every fiscal year on record, through FY2026. (The /pay index card counts FY2026 alone.) Filed under penalty of perjury — not self-reported.
Related record: Microsoft’s full H-1B sponsor file
Base-salary bands by role
Software Developers
18,932 filingsSoftware Developers, Applications
5,874 filingsInformation Technology Project Managers
3,967 filingsData Scientists
2,859 filingsSoftware Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers
1,619 filingsElectrical Engineers
982 filingsSearch Marketing Strategists
683 filingsComputer and Information Research Scientists
614 filingsMedian by state
| WA | 27,040 filings | $163K |
| CA | 4,070 filings | $182K |
| TX | 2,318 filings | $141K |
| GA | 1,836 filings | $131K |
| NC | 837 filings | $137K |
| NY | 684 filings | $170K |
| MA | 542 filings | $154K |
| NJ | 374 filings | $165K |
Median by seniority level
| Level I · Entry | 3,829 filings | $125K |
| Level II · Qualified | 16,665 filings | $149K |
| Level III · Experienced | 14,301 filings | $178K |
| Level IV · Fully competent | 3,823 filings | $211K |
OES prevailing-wage levels from the filings — a defensible seniority proxy, not job ladders.
H-1B sponsorship profile
Microsoft certifies 39,470 H-1B / E-3 wage filings through FY2026 — filing volume cooling. Below, how those offers compare to the legal prevailing-wage floor each role must clear.
Median certified offer runs 25% above the floor.
The rest are set exactly at the prevailing wage — legal, and common among high-volume filers.
vs. $129K prevailing-wage floor.
Seniority mix (OES wage level)
Filing volume by fiscal year
Filed across 1 legal entity under this brand — largest: Microsoft Corporation (39,470).
Every H-1B role carries a legally required prevailing-wage floor (the OES rate for that occupation, area, and level). The offered wage on the certified filing must meet or exceed it — so “% above floor” distinguishes employers who genuinely pay a premium from those who file at the minimum. Certified DOL disclosure data, offered base wage only; reusable under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.
Green-card sponsorship record
Microsoft has 36,651 certified permanent-residency (PERM) applications on the federal record through FY2026 — filing volume rising. The question this answers: does this employer put workers on the path to a green card, or only on visas?
All fiscal years on record · applications, not people
Of 38,036 decided applications (certified + denied)
Certified green-card applications per 100 certified H-1B wage filings (36,651 vs 39,470) — filings and applications, not headcount
Source: DOL OFLC PERM (Form ETA-9089) disclosure data, decision-basis by federal fiscal year; the current fiscal year is partial by construction. PERM has no prevailing-wage field — this card reads sponsorship posture, not pay.
Two public records, side by side
What Microsoft filed with state workforce agencies, next to what it filed with the U.S. Department of Labor in the same period. The record speaks for itself.
Microsoft filed 7 WARN notices in WA between Sep 8, 2023 and Sep 4, 2026, covering at least 4,083 workers per the published counts (source: official state WARN filings).
- Sep 4, 2026· WA· 605 workersOfficial source
- Nov 7, 2025· WA· 42 workersOfficial source
- Oct 3, 2025· WA· 40 workersOfficial source
In the same period, DOL received 3,419 permanent-residency (PERM) applications from the employer that were later certified, of which 2,711 attested to a layoff in the same occupation and area within the preceding six months (source: DOL OFLC, Form ETA-9089 disclosure data).
The PERM layoff question (Form ETA-9089, Section G) is scoped to the specific occupation and area of intended employment — it is not evidence of a company-wide layoff, and an application without the attestation is not a contradiction of a WARN notice. The two records are shown side by side without asserting any causal link. PERM disclosures lag receipt — applications received recently are largely still pending, so in-window certified counts are floors, not totals.
What this data is — and isn't
These bands come from certified H-1B Labor Condition Application disclosures — the base salary employers commit to on the record. They exclude equity, bonus, and benefits, and they cover only roles companies sponsor, which skews technical. Read them as a conservative, citable floor on what Microsoft pays — not total compensation. Our sources.
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