Salaries / Biological Scientists, All Other / San Diego
Biological Scientists, All Other salaries in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Auto-summary H-1B filings: DOL disclosure data Prevailing wages: DOL wage year 2026-27
Employers filed 108 certified H-1B applications for biological scientists, all other in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA area (July 2025 to June 2026), from 37 employers.
The middle half of offers were $79,000 to $121,500 a year, with a median of $97,500: 15% above the national median for this job ($85,000).
The most common wage level was Level I (39% of filings).
The 2026-27 prevailing wage floor here is $75,795 at Level I and $95,930 at Level II.
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Wage levels
DOL sets four wage levels by experience. The share of filings at each level, and the minimum the employer must pay for that level here.
| Level | Share of filings | Prevailing wage (minimum) |
|---|---|---|
| Level I (entry) | 39% | $75,795 |
| Level II (qualified) | 30% | $95,930 |
| Level III (experienced) | 22% | $116,085 |
| Level IV (fully competent) | 10% | $136,219 |
Who sponsors biological scientists, all other here
| Employer | H-1B filings | Median offer | Green card filings (PERM, this job, US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Salk Institute for Biological Studies | 16 | $79,500 | — |
| The Scripps Research Institute | 12 | $81,500 | — |
| La Jolla Institute for Immunology | 10 | $82,500 | 1 |
| Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute | 6 | $120,000 | — |
| Genentech, Inc. | 6 | $116,500 | 4 |
| Illumina, Inc. | 5 | $116,500 | 12 |
| Eli Lilly and Company | 5 | $135,500 | 2 |
| Illumina Software, Inc. | 5 | $129,500 | — |
| Altos Labs Inc. | 4 | $135,500 | 3 |
| Fate Therapeutics, Inc | 3 | $122,000 | 3 |
| University Of California, San Diego | 3 | $85,000 | — |
| PathAI, Inc. | 3 | $121,500 | 1 |
| Zifo Technologies, Inc | 2 | $90,000 | 3 |
| San Diego State University Research Foundation | 2 | $71,000 | — |
| Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. | 2 | $107,000 | 13 |
More in San Diego
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Common titles filed under this occupation: Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Associate, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Associate, Research Scientist, Postdoctoral Scholar, Scientist, Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
About this data
Offers are the wages employers put on certified Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) for H-1B workers: Certified H-1B LCAs decided July 2025 to June 2026. An LCA is filed before a petition, so not every filing became a job, and pay excludes bonus and stock. Annual pay; hourly offers are multiplied by 2,080. Pages appear only where there were at least 100 filings. Source: DOL disclosure data and OFLC wage data. Not legal or financial advice.